Lost Patrol.

Rating: 6/10 (9 February 2015)

Style and acting, fine. Format, familiar. Message -- I don't know.
The true story of a group of SEALS inserted behind Taliban lines in Afghanistan. They are discovered and try to abort the mission but are ambushed by Taliban forces that outnumber them. One by one, they die until only the character played by Mark Wahlberg reaches a Pashtun village. The safety is only temporary. The Taliban soon arrive, demanding the American soldier but are forced off by the villagers. When the Taliban return in force, they are driven off by the arrival of helicopters bearing American troops, and Wahlberg is recovered.
It's a brutal tale. The men suffer multiple wounds before dying and there is blood all over. When these guys jump from a cliff to escape their pursuers, it really HURTS when they hit the ground and roll the rest of the way to the bottom.
None of the performers stands out much because it's an ensemble movie, and, really, not much acting is called for.
At heart, it's a familiar story, like Custer's last stand or John Ford's "Lost Patrol" or "Bataan," except for Wahlberg's titular survivor. It's never been done better but it IS a familiar narrative.
I don't know about the message behind the movie. Of course the invasion of Afghnistan was more or less necessary and the heroism of the real SEAL team can in no way be criticized. Yet, the movie condescends to the viewer in a way that, say, "Saving Private Ryan" or "Blackhawk Down" did not. The movie tells us over and over, and has the characters voice it, that these men are heroes. But that's something we already know. The message of the movie is turned from "These men are brave" into "The audience is pretty dumb." The direction is okay except for the now-trite slow motion deaths and falling bodies. But I don't know just how stupid the director thinks the audience is. After one cliff jump, a character finds that he's landed next to a sizable rattlesnake -- in Afghanistan. Just an added and unnecessary thrill.
A few incidents ring truer than that. The mistake of calling off support from the gun ships, for instance. I can certainly believe THAT happened. The last-minute rescue by the cavalry, no -- not the way it's presented anyway.
It's well worth watching despite the fact that it's regressive and resembles a flag waver from World War II.