Fan of Both the Book & Film

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2013)

I had the opportunity to see an advanced screening of Lone Survivor this evening in Chicago. I read the book awhile back, but much of it was still stuck in my head as it's not the type of novel you forget easy. I'll avoid any major spoilers, though I would imagine many people are rather familiar with the story at this point. I will make some comparisons between the book and the film, so for those who want to go 100% blind into the film, please stop reading.
To start I'm a fan of Peter Berg, Battleship wasn't as terrible as it could have been. I think The Kingdom is a very underrated film and Berg has a niche for doing military action movies while telling a good story. Similar to The Kingdom, Berg uses a familiar score to the film, which I really enjoyed. All of the actors in the film do an incredible job in the movie with Taylor Kitch and Ben Foster being the standout performances.
Berg does a great job condensing the first part of the book, being the Navy Seal training segment that Luttrell speaks about in great detail. The film condenses this entire segment into the films intro that aptly summarizes some of the hardships and intensity that is required to even become a Seal. This is done through using what appears to be actual stock footage of Seal Training camps and regiments.
After the Seal Training segment, we are introduced to the four main characters and the brought right into Operation Red Wings. We also get a few cameos of the director, Peter Berg and Marcus Luttrell himself. This portion of the movie may seem "slow" to some people, but one has to take into consideration that this is an abbreviated version of a True Story so it's not going to be non-stop action throughout the film. One our team of Seals are dropped into the Hindu Kush, the film does a fine job of depicting the "hunt" and strategy of their mission. One of the segments I remember most from the book is Marcus and his ghostwriter describing the patience of a sniper and the importance of positioning and background. The film achieves this in a very subtle and effective way.
It isn't long until the team encounters the goat herders and the negotiations amongst the team take place. I was particularly interested in this piece as this was the most controversial part of the book. This segment of the film also does a great job of depicting Marcus' opinion of the American media as illustrated in the negation with his team regarding the fate of the goat herders.
It isn't long before the firefight occurs and this is really where the movie shines while equally became very difficult to watch. As in the book, you can't help but to feel a wide range of emotions during this segment. Sadness, frustration, anger, patriotism are some that come right off the cuff. Berg nails the courage, bravery and epic endurance the four Seals must have went through in those mountains. There are some tough scenes here folks, there were claps, gasps and sniffles in the packed theater.
The closing segment of the film is the largest divergence between the book in the film. You can tell this was done in the interest of time and the changes didn't bother me much as I understand that Berg didn't want to run the film on after such a grueling emotional roller coaster. The manage to sneak a couple of small details into the film that were in the book which I liked, specifically the bottle and the old man. Those parts also stuck with me from the book.
The closing of the film was probably the hardest to watch and if you don't feel anything then you're probably a Taliban yourself. I won't say what Berg does specifically as you should experience it for yourselves. I will say that people were crying all over the theater though.
I hope everyone has a chance to check the film out. My biggest fear when movies like this are made is that people will want to go out, grab a gun and want to shoot up some Taliban. Whatever your political affiliation is, it should bother you that American troops are dying and question what they are exactly dying for. One last point that the film does a great job of slipping in twice. It is mentioned in the film about having a lack of equipment, which is also mentioned several times in Bowden's Black Hawk Down. With the massive scale of the Defense budget, I do not understand how this is even possible. Anyway, hope the review encourages you to see the film and let me know what y'all think when you see it.