In late June of 2005, in the midst of the war in
Afghanistan, the United States Navy SEALs began ‘Operation Red Wings’ in the
Kunar Province of Afghanistan. Their goal was to capture and kill Ahmad Shah,
the leader of a group of fighters in the area who had pledged his allegiance to
the Taliban. Four Navy SEALs were sent in to carry out this mission, but by the
time the operation had ended only one of them, Marcus Luttrell, came back alive
while the other three members of his squad, along with 8 other SEALs and 8
members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment lost their
lives. Their story was initially told in a 2007 book, ‘Lone Survivor’, which
was written by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robertson. In 2013, that story was
translated to film by director Peter Berg under the same name.
The film itself is very intense, right from the moment the
SEALs are first attacked by Shah’s men. Two scenes where they fall down hills
are especially brutal. But at the same time, the film benefits from the fact
that everyone involved in the production clearly had the upmost respect for
those who had lost their lives that day. This is easily one of Peter Berg’s
best directorial efforts and Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben
Foster all do terrific jobs in the four lead roles. Their camaraderie is
exceptional and you really see how they are like ‘a brotherhood’. Now, if I do
have one complaint, it is that I feel like there could have been a few more
scenes between the four men so that their characters could develop more. And
for the record, I’m not referring to the actual four men and the performances
of the cast. I’m just saying that the action does takes up the bulk of the film
and I wish that there could’ve been just a few more moments amongst the
characters so we could get to know them more. Again, this is just from a film
perspective, not in regards to the actual events that took place during the
Operation and the men who did lose their lives during it. Even with that in mind, ‘Lone Survivor’ is a very well-made war
film.
Rating: 4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment