"Lone Survivor" Movie Review
The gripping true story of Operation Red Wings is not for the faint of heart...or for the weak of stomach, for that matter. Marcus Luttrell and his team went into Afghanistan on a mission to capture a known highly dangerous terrorist. The mission seemed to be going as planned until something completely random happens. A herd of goats along with the herder and his two kids are wandering the mountain and stumble upon the Navy SEALs team. After much debate, they decide to let the man and the kids go, then fall back for extraction. The herder and the youngest child were both grateful, but the eldest child was filled with too much hatred. He ran to the very terrorist the SEALs were hunting. What followed was an impossible situation, one that would shatter so many lives.
If you haven't read the book, I certainly recommend it. There's so much information about the military's rules and the vigorous training the SEALs undergo. But, to see marcus Luttrell's words about the actual mission that killed his team is absolutely haunting. I can't imagine what Marcus goes through mentally day in and day out because of this.
In conclusion, the film will render you speechless and shocked, but the book will surprise, inform, and haunt you. The only issue I had with the film is that it felt like director Peter Berg put in a bunch of "fu--" words just because he could. I normally don't have a problem with language, but this seemed excessive to me. I still gave the film a 3.5 out of 4 because the meaning most definitely outweighs the language.
© 2016 Nathan Jasper