Uninformed Reviews of a Well-Informed Film

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2014)

After much anticipation of this film's release, I wasn't disappointed after watching it last night via Charter On-Demand. In fact, it ranks among the top 5 best "combat" endeavors I've seen, preceded only by timeless, military-based classics such as 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Platoon', & 'Full Metal Jacket'. Those thoughts aside, only one issue leaves me scratching my head this morning: reviewers casting their "tiny detail spotlights" on what they believe to be major tactical and equipment snafus ~ Or, what's 'possible' or 'impossible' for a Navy SEAL operator to physically or mentally accomplish during the course of a 2-hour dramatic performance.
With military films in particular, prop details, factual precision, and period accuracy are invaluable. The directors and producers of 'Lone Survivor' did their Naval Special Warfare homework to ultimately accomplish the element of combat realism ~ their successes were even noted above in one review posted by an individual in a NAVSPECWARCOM support role ... Yes, someone who's actually *familiar* with the SPEC-OPS community, their tactics, weapons, uniforms, and overall cognitive / physical capabilities.
Other reviews, however, were ill-informed critiques of what the SEALs "should have done", or how impossible it is for SEALs to kill most of the converging enemy personnel with "single shooting". Again, seemingly small details like these are critical in assuring we *believe* the experience on the screen, so here's why this film hit its mark, and why a few negative reviewers didn't:
1) Claymore mines and tripwires? Navy SEALs operate in small teams of 4-6 men. They're notorious for doing three things extremely well ... moving, communicating, and shooting. These three things are done quickly, with overwhelming aggression, violence, and deadly precision firepower. Historically, SEALs have been quick-insertion forces who don't linger around the campsite waiting on the enemy to arrive. SEALs are trained to act in a proactive manner, initiate the contact, neutralize the target / accomplish the goal, and get OUT. Given their small numbers, they have little use for additional weight on their backs in the form of claymore mines and rolls of detonation cord. Those types of armament are typically used by Army and Marine personnel with longer mission ranges. In the time it takes to set up these "claymores and tripwires", SEALs are back at the FOB smoking cigars, Skyping, and cleaning their weapons.
2) Speaking of weapons ... It's 100% accurate that 4-6 Navy SEALs would "single shoot" (to use a reviewer's term) rather than sling 1000s of rounds of ammunition at an enemy hiding behind rocks and trees. SEALs are trained to kill quickly with a double-tap trigger method resulting in a "keyhole" pattern. This was evident numerous times during the mountain firefight scenes... the SEALs fired one well-placed head shot, then followed quickly with a second "finishing" body shot. When you're taxed with needing to enter and exit a mission area quickly, the last thing you want are 8 boxes of ammo weighing you down. A small team of SEALs, inserted quickly into an area saturated with enemy personnel, must kill with one or two well-placed shots to the head or center mass. These guys are the best shooters in the world, and the directors of the film nailed this one.
3) With regard to weapons, once more ... the Taliban do love their AK-47 assault rifles, but rest assured -- an AK-47 doesn't utilize .45 caliber rounds (as noted in the same reviewer's post). A Kalishnikov (like that depicted in the film) operates on 7.62mm rounds, the equivalent of the civilian .308 caliber.
4) Totes m'Goats ... or, leave them? Would a REAL Navy SEAL tie a goat herder to a tree, or let him go, or kill him, or take him along for a stroll to the top of a 9,000 ft. Afghan mountain? There are 4 or 5 of you, and potentially 100s of the enemy right down the hill. Arriving at the best possible solution to this problem (on the fly, under controlled stress, in the presence of your enemy) wouldn't be easy, and would likely have no clear-cut answer. As one SEAL notoriously said after a mission, "The best designed plans change after the first shot is fired."
Are there elements of Hollywood dramatics in 'Lone Survivor'? Absolutely... such as multiple 200-foot ass-bashing tumbles down boulder-ridden hillsides, and several of the SEALs soaking up multiple gunshots from 7.62mm rounds (which normally would rip an arm off). But, kudos to the film-makers for an overall great war film, and depiction of our incredibly talented Special Ops warriors. Definitely a 9/10.