Lone Survivor
(2013)Live to tell the story.
Mark Wahlberg leads this true war story as Marcus Luttrell, the only survivor of the failed 2005 mission ‘Operation Red Wings’ in Afghanistan. From Peter Berg, director of The Kingdom, co-starring Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and Eric Bana.... More
Based on Luttrell’s non-fiction book of the same name, Lone Survivor details the mission of his 20-member SEAL Team who were sent to capture or kill Ahmad Shahd, a notorious Taliban leader in Afghanistan's Kunar province. While infiltrating the region, the team encounter a shepherd boy and hold him at gunpoint, forced to decide whether to execute him for the sake of the mission or to take a risk and let him go. Choosing the latter, the team are soon confronted by over one hundred Taliban warriors.Hide
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Directed by Peter Berg
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Ludwig, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Jerry Ferrara
Written by Peter Berg (based on the book by Marcus Luttrell)
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Lone Survivor
BY thorinoak superstar
Brutal but an amazing true story brought believably to life by Wahlberg and crew. Keeps you completely invested until the end.
BY DuncanPacey wannabe
The movie starts off with some interesting documentary footage of what I presume is the intense Navy Seal training, and the training of the gentlemen we are about to see in action. As my... More intrigue is peaked and I drift into fond memories of similar war documentaries I have seen in the past (such as Restrepo), we cut to a bleak-sounding narration and a heavily wounded Wahlberg being flown in a helicopter to surgery. Suddenly I’m snapped out of my day dream and thrown into Hollywood – a feeling for me which is never desirable.
However, once that is over we don’t have to deal with it again until the end, and it’s undeniable that this sequence does set the tone quite well for the movie.
And then proceeds the roller coaster of ups and downs.
The Good? Fantastic - and indeed award winning - stunts and action sequences performed during some harsh, brutal combat sequences and upon absolutely fascinating terrain; a well-shot film that throws you into the maelstrom of combat but doesn’t leave you feeling nauseated by what could only be a drunk camera-operator like many Hollywood action sequences; and some really fantastic performances on a number of fronts, especially by Ali Suliman in the last act, leaving me feeling genuinely emotional in the final few sequences. All these wonderful things, plus some amazing sound design – also award winning – contribute to some truly enjoyable ups.
The Bad? Well I’ve touched on it already but here it is in plain sight – there are some needlessly overdramatic moments in this movie, particularly from Mr. Wahlberg. I feel like slow motion should be outright banned or heavily moderated in modern cinema. Sure, sometimes it has great effect, but over using it makes an otherwise interesting and emotional movie something cheesy and Hollywooded There is literally a scene where the four main protagonists jump off a cliff with an explosion behind them – not even joking. Throw in some…eccentric…acting from Wahlberg and you have the downs of this movie. The moments where my immersion and engrossment are booted out a window (with an explosion behind them) and replaced with uninterested nitpicking…which is why I noticed the seam on a wound prosthetic – something I would otherwise miss.
Still, despite all this it’s still a worthwhile-to-watch film. It’s well put together, has more than enough brilliance to outweigh the unbrilliance, and follows an interesting, gut-wrenching story. Add in the fact that’s it’s based on a true story and you have yourself a movie night!Hide
BY Lachjaw12 wannabe
BY jaynine superstar
MINUS the controversial issue the internet talks about this - I found the cinematography, effects, and pacing of the film to be fantastic. It's realistically brutal and heart-racing. The use of sound effects were timed brilliantly, and the acting was just as great.
BY CJRedshaw superstar
Showing 5 of 6 reviews. See all reviews
The Press Reviews
75%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Replete with a certain kind of self-importance and self-forgiveness... has a distinctively martyred America-at-bay feel. Full Review
A severe portrait of fortitude under extreme pressure, somewhat marred by blinkered politics. Full Review
There's moral complexity and a climax in an Afghan village which is tense and surprisingly moving. Full Review
An intense look at 19 American deaths and one survival in a vividly re-created chapter of the fighting in Afghanistan. Full Review
A scorching, often unbearably brutal account. Full Review
The direction pummels and the cast impress, yet Berg’s war movie promises more than it delivers. Full Review
A modest, competent, effective movie, concerned above all with doing the job of explaining how the job was done. Full Review
The first half of this film is really impressive, the second part rather repetitive as the four Americans become wounded and increasingly under siege. Full Review
BY Dominic Corry Flicks Writer
Actor-turned-director Peter Berg (he was great in Wes Craven's Shocker!) has a knack for infusing jingo-istic military gung-ho storytelling with a relatively grounded sense of camaraderie and brotherhood. That ability is tested to its limit in this adaptation of former US Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell's memoir about a violent incident in Afghanistan in 2005. If you smarted at the patriotic fervour in Berg's last film, the underrated (seriously!) Battleship, you'll have similar mountains to climb here.... More
Corralling the best cast of its kind since Black Hawk Down (which this film repeatedly evokes), Berg sets up the relationships and personalities of the soldiers quite well. Once they're out in the field and the s**t starts to go down, we're treated to a tense succession of rough-and-ready action scenes that are pretty compelling. Recalling some of the best “insanity of war” movies, these scenes effectively show how the human element conflicts with the very concept of war. Once the Hollywood-ready third act plays out however, I was struggling with the melodrama of it all, real story or not.
Lone Survivor is a proficiently-made film with plenty to enjoy, but truly embracing it is difficult outside of an American context. Many modern films about such matters acknowledge the wariness with which the world views the American military. This is not one of them.Hide
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