By Riaz Mamdani
Staff Writer
There are many different types of war films, some are uplifting and provoke patriotism, while others show the true reality of war. The film “Lone Survivor” is an outstanding sum of all three.
Director Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” is an exceptional war film, fast and action-packed. It also does a great job in depicting the enormity of war along with a few short, but gory scenes, which adds to the realism of the movie, although there were some unrealistic scenes as well.
The film is based on the actual U.S. Special-Ops mission, operation Red Wings, where four SEALs, Marcus Luttrell (Mark Whalberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matt “Axe” Axelson (Ben Foster), are deployed in Afghanistan to terminate an Al-Qaeda terrorist leader, Ahmad Shah, but end up fighting for their lives against Shah’s men.
Although most of the movie is an intense battle with Muslim extremists in the Taliban, Berg did a great job of making the movie intriguing and suspenseful, with clear and unambiguous scenes, without costing any confusion for the viewers.
There is also some anti-stereotypical scenes in the film. For instance when random Muslim villagers gave their lives to help conceal and protect a foreign American soldier hunted by the Taliban, it was a real eye-opener to the alternate, more peaceful side to a community of 1.5 billion people who are all stereotypically branded as terrorists.
The film also has a considerable amount of unrealistic scenes as well. Considering the amount of times each one of the SEALs is shot compared to the opposing side was pretty unrealistic. Although many of the shots are to unfatal areas of the body, such as the feet and hands, one of the SEALs, Axe is shot in the head and doesn’t feel anything until it was pointed out by another soldier.
Another factor that adds to the impracticality of the film is several moments where the SEALs would jump of cliffs and almost suffer no casualties. Also a scene where an enemy RPG is impeccably fired into the hull of a helicopter from over 800 yards away adds more unrealism to this film.
To counter this unrealism is some great special effects and intense suspense. Director Berg did a great job of allowing the viewer to see almost exactly what the SEALS were, some times literally through the scopes on their guns, and at the same time overall coverage of what was going on.
The main reason why this movie is a success is due to Mark Whalberg’s acting. His passionate emotions and actions added dramatically to the feel of the film. Although most of the movie revolved around Whalberg, the other three SEALs also did an acceptional job playing their roles.
The ending isn’t a surprise due to the title being the movie’s own spoiler, but all the events leading up to the ending, from the encounter with the goat herders, to the inconsistency of the radio and satellite phones, is all a foreshadow for what is to come.
Overall “Lone Survivor” is a success. The acting, the special effects and the constant suspense is amazing. This film has earned its place in the upper echelons of war films like Zero Dark Thirty and Saving Private Ryan.
“Lone Survivor” is rated R and now playing in theaters Nationwide.
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