Simple, strong, effective

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2014)

4 Navy Seals, deep in Afghanistan on a mission to assassinate two senior Taliban men, are compromised when they encounter 3 shepherds (one old, one teen, and a boy). Faced with a choice to kill them as a matter of self-preservation or let them go, they release them. And all hell breaks loose.
The title of this film rather does away with any suspense which you might have if you don't already know the resolution of this adaptation of Marcus Lutrell's autobiographical book. What you are left with is an opening section which sets up the members of the unit and the beginning of the mission, a central section where they are trying to escape, and a final section where Marcus is given sanctuary in an Afghan village. This final section, which would have benefited from a little more attention being paid to telling us about the aftermath, gives one some hope that not everything about Afghanistan identifies it as a hell-hole which should be wiped from the face of the earth.
But this is not a deep, complicated film, and its raison d'etre is is the lengthy central section, which is extremely well done. It has the visceral intensity of the D-Day Landings sequence from Saving Private Ryan - you are actually with the 4 comrades in arms as they try everything they can, initially to arrange extraction and, finally, just to stay alive. And, as an extended action sequence, it is a masterclass in putting such a sequence on screen in terms of geography of pursuit, what to include and what to exclude, and pacing: it is a long sequence and never gets repetitive because you (the viewer) are always so involved.
The constant bad language is entirely appropriate in this rather good film.