Lone Survivor
Lone Survivor is adapted from the first-hand account of Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan as a Navy Seal, and the name of the movie tells the reader how the film eventually turns out. The grueling picture follows four American soldiers that are held down near the Pakistan border while on the lookout for out the leader of a Taliban local militia. The film that is produced by Tobias Schliesser is shot with visceral intensity, and it makes a robust fist of putting the audience in a tyrannical jumble of random firing of guns, broken bones, pierced skin and gut-wrenching wounds that are factional with volatile squibs and sound effects (Secker et al. 383).
Advice to the Audience
The audience should watch this particular film to view the straight-up action material that is more distinctive compared to other movies of a similar setting such as the Hurt Locker for instance. The movie moves linearly through time through the events so that the viewer can barrel along without mental complication until the end. There is no doubt in the technical depiction of the battle, but the director of the film cannot quite resolve if he wants the viewers to be appalled or excited. Even though the forcefulness in the film is shocking, the story is valiant accompanied with the imageries of real-life soldiers used to inspiring manipulative ends (Secker et al. 386).
The Producer's Refined Touch
The producer displays a much refined touch with collective acts in the piece. There are scenes of elite soldiers teasing through the frightening moments of expectation between the battles (Kehr 23). The best piece of the film takes place when Seal Team associates use an Afghanistan hill to conduct surveillance in the compound of the Taliban frontrunner called Ahmad Shah. The director creates the pressure by keeping the viewers focused to the four Navy Seals balanced in their positions hardly disguised by low pine branches. Gradually, the soldiers are trapped by their geographic advantage. The slow changeover of routine recce to senseless gunfight reminds one of the forest battles in the movie called Predator. Predator was a science fiction film which means that it could effortlessly afford to let the pressure blast into the popcorn-friendly adventures. However, Lone Survivor needs to exchange with reality (Kehr 25).
Whenever one of the soldiers is shot, the sound effects make the viewer close with the progress of the shot through the flesh, borne and other important organs. Under rain of bullets, the soldiers jump down a 75-degree spiky slope smashing giant rocks as they go, dropping and thrashing for so long. The moment is comparable to Eddie Murphy’s Delirious where it took Aunt Bunny endlessly to fall down the stairs. However, the men continue going as blood oozes out, limbs fail but as long as one finger can reach the trigger and one eye can peer through a scope, the soldiers are determined to battle to death. From there, the movie gets tipsy on valor. The residents take in Marcus and protect him as if he was their own. The villagers lightly scrape away the terror and suspicion of Marcus even though there is no translator (Kehr 27).
Weak Points in the Movie
The movie means well but what it has to demonstrate concerning the cost of contemporary combat is not new or enlightening. The movie makes the political interest redundant to the faith of soldier which is all about withstanding all the hardships thrown at the soldiers while protecting your fellow combatant. Besides, the movie concentrates on a single incident during the war in Afghanistan, and one is not able to see past the stresses in the faces of the navy seals (Secker et al. 389). The film fails to link the absence of air support and the failure of communication in the mountains to the government that diverted almost all the personnel and resources to the disastrous occupation of Iraq leaving men such as Luttrell with a task that was impossible. The movie also fails to suggest that one reason the soldiers had a difficult time in winning the hearts and minds of the villagers was due to the torture that the prisoners gone through in places like Bagram where the seal team was based. Instead, the director of the film leads the viewer to the conclusion that the soldiers were too good and respectful. The lives and the operation RED WING could have been saved if they could have executed the three by-passers that were herding goats rather than following the rules of engagement (Secker et al. 401).
The film could have been much more than it is given that the storyline was based on a true story from a narrator who was present when the events were ensuing. However, the director chooses to highlight the horrors of what happened to the soldiers and forget about the characters or the men themselves. The story of Luttrell exemplifies bravery, patriotism and honor but none of the themes is captured in the movie. It becomes frustrating to the viewer to watch the events of the actual story being diluted and uncomplicated with lackluster dialogue and shoddy lead performance (Chapin et al. 81).
Strong Points in the Film
Produced through close consultation with Marcus Luttrell a former Navy Seal, the film has self-reverence and sincerity to the troops that should not be confused with profoundness (Chapin et al. 84). The movie curses poor operational planning and faulty equipment that affected Luttrell and his fellow soldiers. The soldiers agonize over broken phones, unavailable helicopters, and broken radios. It was generally moral impression to show the audience the actual videotape of the men working out to be Navy Seals through the initial credits. The training gives the viewers an understanding of how brutal and difficult the exercise is, and it makes one accept the tough and brave combatants who always go through even so much more.
The combat scenes do a great job in displaying what Marcus and colleagues underwent through a terrifying ordeal. The movie has a moral complexity as the soldiers clash on a moral ground as they argue whether to kill the old man and his sons who bumped on them in their hideout. The film is beautifully paced and shot, and one can tell that both the producer and the actors have a true affection for men in combat and must portray them honorably. Berg as the producer of the film has proved that he is comfortable in roving the evil of religious extremists with unflinching clarity when compared to the year 2007 movie called The Kingdom (Chapin et al. 86).
Works Cited
Chapin, John, Marissa Mendoza-Burcham, and Mari Pierce. "Third-Force Influences: Hollywood's War Films." Parameters47.3 (2017): 79-88.
Kehr, Dave. Movies that Mattered: More Reviews from a Transformative Decade. University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Secker, Tom, and Matthew Alford. "Why are the Pentagon and the CIA in Hollywood?." American Journal of Economics and Sociology 76.2 (2017): 381-404.
