Jingoism Never Had A Finer Hour

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2013)

Spoiler Alert. Enjoy the movie first if you don't want to be sullied by another's opinion.
This movie is based on a book of the same title by Marcus Luttrell and assistance by Patrick Robinson. The screenplay was written by the director Peter Berg. Of all the people listed as being involved with the book or the movie, only Luttrell has any experience with special operations. That said:
Like all efforts to depict the "reality" of warfare or war fighting operations, a lot of romanticism is involved. Also besides the base story, writers and directors try to make statements using the situation of the book or movie as a backdrop to the message they want to convey. In this effort, the message is obvious: In a war of insurgents, it's difficult to tell friend from foe and allegiances crop up in the most unlikely places.
The plot is simple: Four Navy Seals are sent on a mission to "scout" the whereabouts of a Taliban leader and take him out, call in air support or call for air support and a Quick Reaction Force (QRF.) Their job is to terminate the chief but as life can be a series of mishaps, so can well planned operations. There is a scene where the new guy is hazed. He has to do that crazy dance from "Napoleon dynamite." That dance has become a "right of passage" kind of event. Here, it didn't fit but may have been factual. Hazing is common when new people are brought into existing structures. Spec Ops teams are tight. I never witnessed anything like this but times have changed. Mostly it was a test of drinking ability not dancing.
From the appearance of the planning in the movie and the book, this was not a well planned op. Problems arose and these lead one to believe that the unit involved operated with such a high level of confidence and hubris that simple precautions went out the window. It's the kind of thinking that led to the mess at Benghazi.
There is a long history of special operations recon protocol. There have been hundreds of books written about "how to" do it and "how not" to do it. These guys, unfortunately appeared to take whole chapters from the "How Not" to do it book.
Communications broke down even before the mission made contact with the objective. There was no backup comm plan other than open or unrestricted satellite (SAT) phones that would not have been part of the TOE of the unit.
But there are other problems, the whole way they moved in the daytime might make for a good movie but if the team operated as they did by walking ridges, often allowing themselves to be profiled against a bright blue sky, not using any of the natural cover the AO afforded and not having any map or satellite photo of the AO and surrounding territory so if things went bad, they would have a way out, no medical supplies and not enough water to sustain a team member who became exhausted due to any number of factors.
This is supposed to be a story, in part, about the brave US soldiers prevailing against a larger number force of insurgents led by a really nasty guy who we want for any number of reasons. They make a heroic stand but this is no Alamo where a stand was are based on principles. But bravery is interesting. Is a soldier brave who enters into a conflict with overwhelming technological superiority? Is the fighter brave who wears no armor, has limited ammunition and training, marginal communications and even less medical support?
What constitutes bravery? In this movie, the bravest role is that played by the villager who helps Luttrell, the lone SEAL survivor after a Taliban attack on the team, avoid the Taliban. In the film, his whole village is threatened with destruction if he does not hand over Luttrell. His defiance was a real act of bravery if indeed it played out as depicted. But again, an opportunity missed in the search for that "atta boy" attitude that so permeated "Rescue Dawn."
Now it might seem that the Seal team members were brave and they certainly displayed heroics. SEALs are highly trained, professional soldiers. They are some of the best soldiers in the world. This type of operation is their bread and butter. But nothing they do as part of their job is as brave as the villager who defied the Taliban to give aid and comfort to the enemy.
This whole defiant line could have been used to make this an important movie but while it is touched on, it's more of an opportunity missed and that is a huge miss. Yes the story of the Seal team is compelling but so was "Bravo Two Zero" about the British SAS team that suffered a similar fate of a botched operation except they were captured and tortured.
As far as action, the movie holds your attention but with each compounding mistake one finds a lot of head slapping. Acting was fine with no "American" standing out. Of note is Rohand Chand who played the son of the Afghan who stood up to the Tals. There was more expression in his face and body language than most of the rest of the actors in the movie.
M5. Is it really what happened? Probably not but Paladin Press publishes hundred of books in this kind of genre. There is a market for unrestricted jingoism.