[Movie Review] Lone Survivor (2014)

Posted on January 10, 2014 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Plot Summary: Based on the failed June 28, 2005 mission "Operation Red Wings". Four members of SEAL Team 10 were tasked with the mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd.

Director: Peter Berg

Writer: Peter Berg

Runtime: 121 min

Main Cast:

Mark Wahlberg as Marcus Luttrell
Alexander Ludwig as Shane Patton
Emile Hirsch as Danny Dietz
Taylor Kitsch as Mike Murphy
Eric Bana as Lt. Cmdr Erik S. Kristensen
Ben Foster as Matt Axelson

Review: by Anthony and Lee

Movies depicting US soldiers over seas participating in the Afghanistan war are a touchy subject. Most people have at least a family member or close friend that's in the armed services and could be over seas currently, and ,even worse, chances are they've known someone that's lost their life in battle due to this war. We knew from the plot of the movie this would be an emotionally difficult movie to watch.

What We Liked:

What do you do when your military operation has been compromised? Do you abandon your morals and attempt to finish the mission? Do you follow the protocol and regulations? Or, do you choose the best option for survival? It was interesting to see the characters in Lone Survivor try to make the “right” choice when faced with this issue.

Something that is always enjoyable in these types of movies is the “Good Samaritan” trope of somebody helping and being kind to the person they’re not supposed to. It is especially good to see it in war movies as a moment away from all of the death and horrors of war.

The scenes were very realistically shot, which was both positive and negative. It was beautiful but brutal at the same time, making it very difficult to watch. Not only was the subject matter sensitive, but watching a realistic portrayal of someone falling of a cliff and hitting boulders on the way down was downright disturbing.

There have been plenty of war movies set in Afghanistan in recent years, but few showed the troops in a failed mission. Not all war stories have happy endings. There are hard decisions to be made, and casualties happen. Lone Survivor did a good job of portraying that harsh reality.

What We Didn’t Like:

As previously mentioned, it was terribly difficult to watch due to its subject matter and its graphic nature. It would not be ideal for someone who has lost someone close to them to the war to watch the movie.

Summary

Based on a true story, this war story of a failed mission to capture or eliminate a Taliban leader, took viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, even more so for those with loved ones in the armed forces.

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