Lone Survivor

January 10, 2014

Jays Rating:
Actors: / / /
Director:

Depicted in the book written by Marcus Luttrell, the true-life story and now action film, Lone Survivor, is based on the failed mission code named Red Wing. In 2005, Lt. Commander Erik Kristensen (Eric Bana) briefs SEAL Team 10 about their mission to the Afghanistan mountains to either capture or kill Taliban leader Amaah Shah (Yousuf azami). SEAL Team 10 consists of Lt. Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt ‘Axe’ Axelson (Ben Foster). During the mission, they are taken by helicopter and dropped just a mile and a half from their objective. Immediately they run into trouble when several goat herders stumble onto their hideout and are captured by the SEAL team. Now they are faced with deciding whether they should tie them up, kill them or let them go. The choice to let the goat herders go becomes a deadly mistake because they go back to their village and inform the Taliban. Soon, dozens of Taliban fighters are in relentless pursuit of the four SEAL team members. It is hard to generate much suspense in a film when the title tells the end. Fortunately, this movie is full of tension, is action packed, and has fabulous acting throughout. Director Peter Berg makes the film feel realistic and because of that the viewer really cares about the characters. Remember, Berg directed the bomb Battleship last year making me wonder if I was going to have to hunt for the exit half way through this film. (I checked and the exit sign wasn’t in Braille.) Even with all of my great comments, it still isn’t a perfect film. There are a couple cheesy lines and it just doesn’t rank up there with some of the other classic military films. Of course, I didn’t see it, but the real Marcus Luttrell makes a cameo as the SEAL who tells the rookie SEAL to clean up his spilled coffee. This film does give you a lot to talk about afterward and I’m giving it a B rating.

This movie has been given an R rating by the MPAA