REVIEW:

At beginning of the film, the producer gave the viewers a very good glimpse of what training is like for U.S. Navy Seals and how only a few survive the difficult training. The movie shows video clips of the rigorous training. Those who do survive the training, are the elite members in the United States military.

As the movie begins it shows a man, who appears to be a SEAL, dying and it seems like he will not survive. As the image of the dying man sinks in with the viewer, the movie goes back three days earlier.

There are four SEALs that go on a mission to take down or capture an al-Qaeda leader in a small village.

As the SEALs travel to their location, they scout the position and soon figure out there is an army of Taliban in the village, totaling about 200 targets.

The mission goes south when there are two kids and an old man herding their goats, from the village, up to where the SEALs are located. They literally walk right into the SEALs, so they take action and capture the villagers.

They have three choices  to continue their mission: they can let them go risking allowing them to alert the Taliban in the village, they could tie them up and deserting them to freeze or starve to death or even get eaten alive by wolves, and finally terminate the compromise. Kill them.

Their ultimate decision was to cut them loose. Soon after that,  the Taliban was notified and the SEALs fall back to a position where they can engage into a firefight.

One of the SEALs goes out to scout  a position and he sees a line of Taliban overlooking their position. They know a gunfight is eminent.

They SEALs prepare for the conflict and then engage.

As the firefight on the mountain continues, the men are taking a beating. Despite this disadvantage they put up a tough fight for only their small squad of four.

Three SEALs go down and only one SEAL is left alive, Marcus. Villagers find him and try to help him. Soon after the villagers take him in, the Taliban comes into the village looking for Marcus, they find him and the leader of the villagers tell the Taliban to leave him alone and to get out of the village.

They leave but they come back ready to fight against the villagers and to capture and kill Marcus. The villagers hold off until other SEALs, with air support, arrive and take down the attacking Taliban.

The villagers were in the same village as the Taliban earlier in the movie and it is unclear as to why they protected Marcus. At the end of the movie it says, “The Afghan villagers who protected Marcus did so out of duty to their 2,000 year old code of honor, known as Pashtunwali. Pashtunwali requires a tribe to undertake the responsibility of safeguarding an individual against his enemies and protecting him at all costs. The brave men and women still thrive today in the harsh mountain environment of Afghanistan and their fight against the Taliban countries…”

Marcus, who was shown at the opening scene of the movie, was revived by doctors and he is the Lone Survivor.

Movie: *9 out of 10*

“8/10. A very inspirational film. Maybe a little bit of false info to give it the movie like feeling but it really makes you proud to be an American. After seeing it you see how grateful you are and how great we have it in our country compared to others and what our soldiers go through and what they do for us. Recommend to watch” -Sophomore, Vince Guerreri

QUICK QUOTES:

“Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards.

You can die for your country, I’m gonna live for mine.

Never out of the fight.”

QUICK FACTS:

Marcus Luttrell (The movie is based on his story) appears in the movie playing a small role. At about the 12:30 mark of the movie he’s the SEAL that spills the coffee and tells the rookie to clean it up. Marcus is credited as ‘Navy Seal (uncredited)’. His character is ‘Frank’ or ‘Frankie’. He appears again on the helicopter which was sent to rescue the team and subsequently shot down, killing all aboard.

Actual military veterans were used in the film to fulfill extra and acting roles.

Though it is not mentioned in the movie Luttrell was personally awarded the Navy Cross by (then) President George W. Bush. Lieutenant Michael Murphy would be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Before filming began, director Peter Berg visited the families of the dead. The father of Danny Dietz, played by Emile Hirsch, read him an autopsy report detailing the 11 bullets that tore through his son. “He was reading that and crying,” says Berg, “and then he said, ‘That’s who my son was. That’s how hard he fought. Make sure you get that right.'”

MAIN ACTORS: