Lone Survivor gives civilians an honest look into the brutal and heroic actions Navy SEALs endure on the job.

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2014)

First of all, let me preface this review by saying that the novel written by Marcus Luttrell was the best book I have ever read, hands down. The amount of detail regarding SEAL training and specializing in the first part of the novel gives civilians a crystal clear picture of how dedicated, intense, and mentally/physically elite these real warriors are. The movie did show us glimpses of real footage from BUDs in California and that was refreshing. I would not have been mad though, if the film included even more footage from SEAL training. One thing that I believe Marcus Luttrell consciously did was not make the movie about himself. That just attests to the character of Marcus Luttrell. He wanted this movie to be about his fallen brothers: Danny Dietz, Mike Murphy, and Matt Axelson. Marcus didn't put anything in the film about himself before he arrived in Afghanistan. How selfless can you be!! Another selfless act by Marcus Luttrell was when he geared up and placed himself in the Chinook helicopter with the other SEALS/armed service men who tragically got shot down by an RPG from an insurgent. I think deep down that Marcus felt an urge to do this, and that just speaks volumes of his character. The directing by Peter Berg (who took a pay cut to make this movie) and acting by Marky Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, and the many others was spot on. All of these great actors wanted this film to be made out of a sense of pride, and that truthfully resounds throughout the film. The firefight was epic and gave people who didn't read the book an honest sense of what happened on that fateful day in June 2005. I only wish that the movie showed two more things: 1) when Marcus's best friend, Mike Murphy, goes to make that radio call to base, he gets wounded and is stranded and screams, "MARCUS, HELP ME!!! Marcus, please help!!" and Marcus puts his gun down in the middle of the gunfight and covers his ears so he doesn't have to hear his best man suffer. That to me is the most powerful moment in the book. That would have been a powerful scene. The second thing I would have liked to see in the movie would be how far Marcus crawled with all of his wounds and broken back and the DAYS stuck in the village. I know that a movie can't go on for 5 hours, but I didn't want the movie to end. All in all, this film was the most realistic and heroic film I have ever seen. Props to everyone who made this movie happen (with a low budget, too!!). I hope that nothing but good things happen to the people that made this movie for the rest of their lives. I am glad that the families of the three fallen SEALs got their sons back for a few hours. I am glad they got to see how brave their sons were. Every American should see this movie. I knew the entire story from reading Marcus Luttrell's novel, and I was still hoping there was a different outcome. Nobody said a word at the conclusion of the pictures of the fallen SEALs at the end of the movie, and it was quite a sobering experience.