Viewed in
2014
Formats
Movie theater.
Premise
Based on true events, the harrowing tale of four American Navy SEALS in Afghanistan, in their doomed mission to take out a top Taliban leader in 2005.
Loved
Emotional pathos at the end.
Liked
Easy to understand battle scenes, interesting mountain fights, realistic violence.
Disliked
Distracting score.
Thoughts
A really well-done, and violent, film. War movies tend to be confusing and nauseating; by nature, soldiers are meant to look similar, and gunfights can fall victim to over-editing or violent handheld cameras. I was relieved that this was not the case.
Thanks to thoughtful writing, directing, and casting, it was pretty easy to distinguish between the four brothers-in-arms.
Director Peter Berg also did a very good job of story-telling the chaotic battles that took place throughout the treacherous mountains and forests of Afghanistan. My inner filmmaker was in awe of the technical detail that went into the precarious choreography between the actors, stunts, and camera operators to create shots that perfectly captured the realistic, gritty frenzy of battle.
And boy, was the grittiness turned up to ten. There were no unscathed superheroes in the skirmishes, uniforms got dirty, wounds kept bleeding, line of sight was non-existent, and gravity brought the pain. Yup, gravity. On steep mountains. The steep terrain played such a huge part of the skirmishes in ways I had never seen on screen before. Kudos to the makeup department for maintaining the consistency as lacerations, contusions, burns, and broken bones accumulated on the distressed characters.
There was an interesting turn which involved a SEAL in a tumultuous village without translators or communication. It had a subplot with a young village kid. In a lesser-written movie, this could've gone badly, probably with a patronizing tone. Instead, it was realistic, and unexpectedly funny.
Upon the incredible resolution, very much like Captain Phillips, I couldn't help but burst into a cathartic release of tears.
The biggest flaw was Berg's music choice. He's had magic with Explosions in the Sky previously, but the band's poetic, ethereal score was a bad fit amongst the sequences of unrelenting violence and uneasy quiet moments.
Lone Survivor was intense, intimate, and interesting. Its uncompromising vision and tone soberly reminded me of the one many costs of war, while paying tribute to those who sacrificed for our country. In the end, I felt grateful, and not just for excellent filmmaking.
