Love. Fight. Navy Seal.

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2014)

"I'm a lover. I'm a fighter. I'm a udt navy seal diver." That's the unit's motto in Lone Survivor. And oddly, a perfect description of the movie in general. Enough action scenes to suffice for several movies. Which isn't so much a negative statement as it is a statement of disbelief. I've seen movies with action scene after action scene, sure, they're good, you get what you expect. Action: things blowing up, gun fire, kill shots, blood, quick camera pans, hard cuts, suspense, victory and defeat. Which is all good and dandy, but this wasn't a good and dandy movie, this was a great movie. Yes, great. Never have I seen a movie mix that much action with a powerful human storyline so effortlessly. The fight of a war, the love of a brotherhood. There was hardly anytime spent on the background of the characters and yet the you could believe you knew them for their whole life. Perhaps its the short credit intro revealing the struggles soldiers train through to had become a navy seal. As if just witnessing the cruel initiation tactics made you feel as if you struggled through it with them. As if you had become a member of the team. It is in this connection or bond that you share with these characters that makes the movie so compelling. It's action after action but action used in the way to progress the bond between you and the team. The action isn't used for action's sake but for the sake of the story. Which is why Lone Survivor separates itself from other action movies. By the time you reach the end and the sad fate, that is the title, comes true, you feel like you have lost someone. Like you have lost your brothers. The movie ends with a call to never give up and to always push yourself farther than you think you can go. Which after seeing the pain and suffering they go through, giving up and pushing yourself takes a whole new prospective. These men did more for each other and their country than most people would do for themselves. And as the credits roll and pictures dedicated to the men who this story is based on appear, you start to put yourself into their position. You feel sad and yet you feel this strong bond within you for the people you hold close. And if you reach that point, you've understood the movie. You're hit with a wave of emotion not only for those who sacrificed for our country but imagining fighting for the people you hold close as well. It's about love. It's about fight. It's about a bond greater than surviving. Lone Survivor.