February 23, 2014
With heavy breathing, crazed eyes and blood dripping down their faces, four men attempt to save themselves from the horror of being captured by the Taliban. Lone Survivor, directed by Peter Berg, creates a raw emotion in the viewer, the instinct and will to survive.
Based on a true story featured in the novel Lone Survivor, four Navy SEALs, Marcus Luttrell (Mark Whalberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt ‘Axe’ Axelson (Ben Foster), set out on mission Operation Red Wings. The goal is to assassinate an important leader of the Taliban, Ahmad Shah. While the four men reside in the mountains of Afghanistan preparing for the assassination, the mission is compromised. This forces the team to retreat up the mountain only to find that the mountain is now occupied by Taliban forces. The men fight valiantly, protecting one another as if they were brothers. As stated by the title, only one of the four members survives the onslaught by the Taliban.Finally, the remaining SEAL member escapes the mountains. He is taken in by a man called Gulab of a nearby Pashtun village. He surprisingly finds kindness in a world or hatred toward America. This kindness alone is what ultimately saves his life.
This movie had my stomach churning and my hands sweating. Although it is rated R and gory at times, I didn’t want to look away. This movie opened my eyes to the brutality of war, but at the same time, the kindness that can come from someone helping a human in need.
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