Lone Survivor
Universal Studios
Rated R for strong bloody war violence and pervasive language.
Running time: 121 minutes.
Three stars out of four.
We had a lively debate on What the Flick?! recently about “Lone Survivor,” and whether it’s intended as a propaganda film or an anti-war statement. Ben, Alonso and I had different reactions at different points throughout writer-director Peter Berg’s movie, which depicts a botched 2005 mission to take out a Taliban leader in Afghanistan.
Berg’s film, based on the memoir of the same name by former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, is both beautifully shot and brutal to watch. It features men of great skill, dedication and heroism staying true to each other and their goal despite some horrifically messy circumstances, including faulty technology and disastrous miscommunication.
Once it was over, I walked out of “Lone Survivor” feeling that Berg pulled off a tricky balancing act: He crafted a movie that simultaneously inspires admiration and frustration. Ultimately, yes, it does seem to be making an anti-war statement: Here are elite fighters who have given their all in the service of absolutely nothing.
But Berg’s opening title sequence actually feels like a recruiting video, with footage of real-life SEALs undergoing grueling training exercises to test their bodies and minds and forge their bond as a unit. He goes on to introduce us to Luttrell (a smart-ass, no-nonsense Mark Wahlberg) and the rest of the men on his team. They include special-ops leader Mike Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Matt Axelson (Ben Foster) and Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch).
A brilliant sunrise in a vast sky begins their day in striking fashion, as if to suggest that anything is possible. (Tobias Schliessler, who also shot Berg’s “Battleship” and “Friday Night Lights,” provides the gorgeous cinematography.) Images like this might suggest to the audience that this is a film that’s selling a lifestyle; harrowing sequences later on tell a very different story.
Berg efficiently and effectively establishes the vibe of good-natured banter and ball-busting that permeates the air base. Mike and Danny routinely compete in early-morning foot races. Danny ponders the kitchen tile choices his wife back home has presented him. Mike’s fiancee wants an Arabian horse as a wedding gift. Such details make these men feel real, and the well-cast actors’ effortless chemistry early on makes their teamwork under duress seem that much more believable. You absolutely feel like these guys would do anything for each other.
Eric Bana as their cool, all-business commander assigns the foursome a mission: Drop in by helicopter in the middle of the night, then wait all day and the following night in the craggy, merciless mountains above a remote Afghan village. There they will seek a Taliban leader (Yousuf Azami) and his second-in-command, whom they have permission to neutralize. Highly trained as they are, the SEALs seem confident about the task at hand, even as they acknowledge that it has “a lot of moving parts.”
But as they tuck themselves into the woods to lie in wait, a trio of shepherds and their goats stumbles across them and immediately alters their intricate plan. The ensuing debate over what to do with them is both thoughtful and suspenseful, as these four men weigh the various options and their tactical and ethical consequences.
The time for talk ends quickly, though, as the SEALs find themselves surrounded and under siege by well-armed Taliban members. (The depiction of the Afghan people in “Lone Survivor” is a little superficial and one of the film’s few weaknesses. They’re either singularly evil or impossibly altruistic.) But the ensuing battle — one long, punishing firefight — is a marvel of intimate, precise filmmaking. Berg puts us right in the middle of the action, and his use of sound design is superb. We hear and feel every piercing bullet, every crunch of bone. The SEALs tumble down steep, rocky embankments, their repeatedly bodies hitting trees and boulders with loud, hard thumps and thwacks. (Berg probably could have done with less shaky-cam, though — the chaos is clear enough.) Bloodied and battered, they keep getting up to fight — and to protect each other — until they can get up no longer.
We know from the title that there will be only one survivor, yet that doesn’t make the loss of his brethren any less painful to watch. We’ve come to admire and appreciate these men, as Berg obviously does, even as we question the necessity of the mission that claimed their lives. The fact that we know the outcome doesn’t deplete the film of its tension –or its emotion. Actually, it will probably leave you feeling more riled-up than before, no matter how you choose to interpret its message.
Why does there have to be a message? Maybe it’s hard for most civilians to understand, but we do it because it has to be done…simple as that. Most people don’t hear of the failed ops simply because the news doesn’t talk about it. No one is perfect and that includes special forces. The Taliban are a horrible lot and there is no other way they understand. We are infidels and must be eliminated at all costs…being nice to them only makes them think we are weak. It really is black and white. Just the opinion of a 20 year Navy veteran.
The best war movies are basically survival stories – focusing on people caught up in an impossible situation, and trying to make it out in one piece. This one sounds like a quintessential survival story.
Has this reviewer read anything about Lattrell? NO! You think it is an anti war book? Movie? How many years were you in the service? You nothing!!!!
So unless you were in the service you are not allowed to have an opinion about this movie or what its themes might be? That’s like saying you can’t talk about The Hobbit unless you’re a dwarf. It’s a movie.
What a worthless review by a liberal hippie. The movie is not about making a statement. It’s just a movie designed to entertain and make money. Get over yourself, Lemire.
It frustrates me to see the “recruitment video” line in nearly every review that depicts the U.S. Military in a remotely positive light. The opening segments show the dedication required to be a SEAL. It hardly looks glorious. It’s brutal, frankly, but for those who want to push themselves to the limit it could be appealing. That’s a recruitment video? Try “Top Gun.”
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone. Christian, I do think the beginning makes being a part of this sort of elite fighting squad look appealing — brutal, yes, but also a noble challenge worth aspiring toward and a source of pride for those tough enough to make it.
“whether it’s intended as a propaganda film or an anti-war statement.”
— and an anti-war statement would -not- be propaganda… why, exactly?
“Here are elite fighters who have given their all in the service of absolutely nothing.”
— That’s most assuredly not what the participants would have said. Have you ever met any front-line types? As one of them said to me: “We’re not dupes or victims. We knew what we were getting into. We do this because we like doing it; if we didn’t, we’d find another way of making a living.”
There are words to that effect in the book and the movie. You really need to stretch a little and get inside the head of people who do -not- think like you or experience the world the same way.
Great review, enjoyed the write up. Except for one part: “… given their all in the service of absolutely nothing.”
That you could write that just shows, sorry to say, that you truly just don’t “get it.”
I think the bottom line is that this movie doesn’t really make war look like fun. At all. I would not want to be in a war after watching this. It does not make me want to go fight a war.
The lefty critics jumped all over Act of Valor, too, in an obvious attempt to demonize the military. Powerful movies of these types scare the libs to death since they’re afraid anything showing the military and elite spec ops warriors in a positive light will expose their bias against the military. They say these movies smack of “jingoism” which they love to toss out on an effort to deflect. As for the argument it’s just a recruitment movie, it’s apparent they never read the book since Marcus went to great lengths to illustrate the dedication it takes to make it through BUDS. Peter Burg did a splendid job of incorporating that critical part of the book into the movie by utilizing actual footage to enlighten viewers of that part of becoming a SEAL team member.