Lone Survivor

Coming out very late last year but arriving wide just in time for the Oscar nominations tomorrow is Lone Survivor.

Director Peter Berg ditches sci-fi action, ala Battleship, for real-life action. Specifically, it's about Operation: Red Wings. The operation and its results are detailed below:

In 2005, soldiers Matthew Axelson (Ben Foster), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Marcus Luttrell (Marc Wahlberg) and Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) have been given the task to eliminate Taliban official Ahmad Shah (Yousuf Azami). They stake out Shah's hometown from the comfort of the nearby forest. They're then accidentally spotted by goat-herders. They let the goat-herders go after an ethical debate.

Now that their cover's been possibly blown, the four men hike back to an extraction point. They get into a firefight with Taliban soldiers. Before long, three of the men and a Chinook helicopter carrying sixteen are lost. The last man survives thanks to a local villager honor-bound to defend him. Who is the last man?

Well, the film is based on Luttrell's 2007 memoir of the same name. Not much of a point to keep that a surprise.

This is an OK film at best. The firefights keep you on edge thanks to the sound designers. Editor Colby Parker Jr. does a good job, especially with the Chinook hope spot. And it's overall well shot by Tobias Schliessler.

But I had a hard time following the main characters, except for Luttrell. Their characterization made it hard to care when they died. Meanwhile, Luttrell's hiding out at the Afghan village makes up a relatively and disappointingly minuscule portion of the movie. A huge third is the mission from initial surveillance to the ill-fated firefight. And there were a few scenes of injuries (i.e. tumbling down cliffs and labored breathing) that stretch out a bit too long.

One good bit from the Afghan village scenes: Luttrell asking for a knife and instead getting a duck.

Anyway, Lone Survivor is a respectable film that points out how one man survived the hell that is war. If the story was adjusted a bit, it could've been a great film.