Lone Survivor Review

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2016)

Lone Survivor
Peter Berg's "Lone Survivor" brings an action packed, thriller that truly captures the horrors of war. Based on a true story of Marcus Luttrell's failed special ops mission, Operation Red Wings, Berg focuses not on the politics of war but gives a first hand account of survival and military operations. A gut wrenching, exhausting film that for most people, is difficult to watch.
The film begins with real footage of Navy SEAL training and what kind of sacrifice it takes to become one of these brave soldiers. While these scenes are unnecessary and heavy-handed, it does a good job of setting the tone and serious nature of the film. The movie's setting takes place at a military base in Afghanistan where Axe (Foster), Danny Dietz (Hirsch), Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg), and leader Micheal Murphy (Kitsch) await for their details of Operation Red Wings. The men are assigned to be dropped off in the mountains near a village suspected of hiding a high ranking Taliban leader. They are to find and capture or kill the man without putting innocent lives at risk. The men are flown in and the violent, fierce plot is quickly underway as they are discovered by sheep herders up in the mountains. They cannot kill the herders because of their rules of engagement so they are released, which turns out to be a devastating mistake. The Taliban are quickly notified that men are coming to the village and that's when the action picks up. After all the bullets, grenades, and blood are displayed only Luttrell remained after he was rescued by a villager. The forty or so minutes of pure action are displayed perfectly by Berg and the pure agony those men went through fighting for our country is shown through the work of the four actors that played the parts so well.
The production and acting are not the only aspects that made this film so successful. Another part of that was the film's make-up and costume designers. A large amount of detail went into the uniforms and clothing worn by all actors to really give a realistic feel to the film. Also, this is a war movie so wounds and gore must be present in my opinion. But thankfully, the make-up team did a fantastic job doing this, which really helped show the realities of war and make the film more realistic.
While the movie was mainly shot in Arizona, I don't think anyone could say that affected the setting and feel of the movie. While watching the movie I just automatically assumed that it was shot in the Middle East where the actual mission took place. The sandy, tree-less desert and run down village are perfect spots for the movie trying capture its perfect setting. Another aspect of the movie that is worth mentioning is the cinematography work that made the action packed scenes so real and vivid. With quick camera movements and sharp angles used to capture the intensity of the situation made for a "sitting on the edge of your seat" movie.
The entire movie was done very well from top to bottom and tells a great story of an American hero, but if i had one aspect of the movie that seemed slightly off it was during the action scenes. Those men took bullet after bullet and falling down cliffs while grenades went off next to them. Just when you think there is no way possible they could get back up, they do. The amount of damage each man took seemed humanly impossible to take, almost like they had "super human strength."
Overall, the movie captured what its intentions were. To simply show what happened to these men and tell their story. A courageous, intense film that attracts war movie buffs and adrenaline junkies. While all movies have their flaws and their "well this could be done better" this movie accomplished what it was meant to accomplish and Berg did an amazing job doing this. This was a truly moving movie to watch as it shows what harsh realities this world has.