No guessing how this movie turns out - it's all in the title. It's the getting there that is the interesting part.
This film is based on a real mission which occurred in Afghanistan in June 2005.
The lone survivor, Marcus Luttrell wrote a book about his experiences in 2007 and this has now been made the subject of the film, released in UK cinemas on 31st January 2014.
The essence of the story is that a team of four US Navy SEALs were fast-roped into Afghanistan from an MH-47 to form an OP and provide intelligence on the strength, location and movements of a group of Anti-Coalition Militia led by their leader Ahmad Shah.
Compromised by a goat herder stumbling over their LUP, they were forced to make the decision to terminate the compromise for their own safety or abort the mission and try to make it out to the exfil position, knowing they would most likely be pursued by the people they were there to watch.
The film Lone Survivor is basically the story of the insertion, compromise, the fire-fight that ensued and how Luttrell became the only survivor, being rescued by US forces some five days later.
On the surface, its a good film for military buffs and lovers of war films, but there is also a secondary human story there too. With a lot of controversy about the accuracy of the film compared to the real mission, it's important to remember that the movie is only based on reality - its not a documentary.
It seems that Hollywood has added and embellished slightly, as it is often prone to do in the interests of entertainment.
Mark Wahlberg plays Luttrell and does a sterling job, although I don't think they look much alike. Comparing the photos of the other guys in the team and the actors portraying them, I think casting otherwise did a pretty good job.
The real story of Operation Red Wings is a much longer and more complex story and I feel that the movie makers have focussed on just a part of the whole story and simplified the tactical nature of the mission to make it more graspable in the 2-hour run time. I understand that the four-man insertion formed only the first phase of what was intended to be a five-phase mission.
Filmed in New Mexico, the photography in Lone Survivor is superb. The mountains and coniferous woodland representing Sawtalo Sar in the "Stan" are beautiful and the camera work is excellent.
I know of people watching this film in advance of the official release date, but in my opinion, it was worth waiting for it to come to the big screen. I don't believe you would get the same full effect watching it on a computer.
As I say, there are some disputed discrepancies. One of these relates to the number of enemy killed by the SEALs. Depending on what you read, the number of the enemy facing them fluctuates from about 35 up to 200. In the film, its certainly clear that an AK47 with iron sights is no match for the US M4 SOPMOD weapons with their zeroed optics and grenade launchers.
I understand that the director, Peter Berg even studied autopsy reports, such was his desire for accuracy.
However, watching the SEAL team being hit by repeated enemy fire, it's hard to accept that the human body could take this kind of punishment from 7.62mm AK rounds before succumbing - I never saw any evidence of body armour. The fire-fight sequence has to be the longest I've ever seen in a movie. The sequence where they slide down the rock face, thudding into things, had me squirming on my seat. The contact engagements had me wanting to be there, helping them to return fire, such was the quality of the action.
The top lying message in the film is that there are bad people in this world and good people often have to put their lives on the line so that the masses like you and I can live in peace and safely do everyday things like write movie reviews for our blogs.
It's a story about people making humanistic decisions even though it would be easier and safer to take the path of least resistance.
Were the members of the SEAL team brave ? - yes I think so.
All four SEALs were decorated for their actions by the US Navy. The leader Lt Mike Murphy who it is believed made the mission changing decision and who it is said, sacrificed himself to get a much needed satellite mayday call out, posthumously received the Medal of Honor. Watching the film, I wonder if I would have done the same as them - would I have taken the easier way out when coming face to face with a goat herder who would give my position away to a large group of armed people wishing to kill me ?
You could argue that special forces know the risk of these missions, but what is tragic, is the loss of life involved in trying to rescue them. Sixteen more servicemen were killed when their rescue helicopter crashed trying to get to them.
Although the reality and the film plot seem to diverge quite a lot in the way that Luttrell came to be rescued, what is binding is that he was undoubtedly saved by Afghan villagers who lived by the Pashtunwali code.
Invoking Nanawatai, the villagers protected him from the group that had killed the other SEALs until he could be rescued by US Forces. Mohammed Gulab, the Afghan who helped Luttrell has arguably paid the greatest price of all, with a family member killed, threats of violence and having to be relocated in Afghanistan for his own safety. Will he, his wife and their ten children ever be able to stop looking over their shoulder for doing what they felt was the right thing ?
Luttrell has brought Gulab to the states to visit his home and he has repeatedly tried to get him a green card.
Ahmed Shah was killed 3 years later in a shoot-out with Pakistani police.
Lone Survivor is worth watching. It's a good film on a number of levels and is thought provoking. Just don't expect a gung-ho feel-good movie. I came out of the cinema admiring the bravery of those concerned but nevertheless feeling sad about the waste of human life that war involves.
