When the closing credits rolled down the screen, the first word I could manage to get out of my mouth was wow. Awed by the amount of action and violence I had just witnessed, I really appreciated the ability to go home to a safe house. The Lone Survivor was extremely graphic and bloody, but in a good way. I grimaced and covered my mouth out of shock the entire movie, but my eyes wouldn’t leave the screen.
It starts off somewhat slow, with lots of conversation to introduce the characters. Once the action kicked in though, I was on the edge of my seat until the screen went black at the end.
The title kind of gives away the ultimate ending of the movie, but the story building up to the climax was worth watching. Mark Wahlberg plays the main character, Marcus Luttrell, and it’s apparent he put his all into the role. The pain and panic in his voice convinced viewers and gives the movie heart. The acting was great, and the tension of the movie was very strongly felt.
The Lone Survivor focuses on a 2005 mission of four members of SEAL team 10, whose objective was to find and kill Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd. The mission goes wrong when they come across three Taliban people walking through the woods. They capture them and have to decide what to do with them. After a heated discussion they make their decision, and without spoiling anything a huge gunfight ensues between the four main characters and the Taliban army.
From that point on the movie was all about them trying to outgun the Talibans and reach a place where they can contact the base. Each character takes their fair share of bullets, and director Peter Berg doesn’t shy away from playing these violent moments in slow motion, making sure whoever was watching gets a good look at the gruesome outcome. It was very difficult to watch the characters that I grew to like getting shot at with RPG’s and machine guns.
Overall the movie portrays a very realistic war like atmosphere and gives plenty of action to go around. This was one of the best movies I’ve seen this year, if not the best. The scenery was great and the action very eye opening. I would recommend this movie to everybody with a strong stomach and taste for violent movies.
