Lone Survivor
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Lone Survivor
Based on the book by the same name by Marcus Luttrell
Directed by: Peter Berg (Also directed Colateral, with Tom Cruise, Battleship, Friday Night Lights, and Handcock)
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dan Bilzerian, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsh, Ben Foster, Alexander Ludwig
Released December 25, 2013
Budget: $40M ($45.9M in 2021)
Box Office: $154.8M worldwide ($177.5M 2021), $125.1M Domestically, $29.7M Internationally
-Became the highest-grossing film among recent "post-9/11 war films"
Ratings: IMDb 7.5/10 Rotten Tomates 75%
Metacritic 60% Google Users 91%
It gathered a smattering of award nominations, including 2 academy award nods for Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing, but didn't win either. It did, however, win 2013 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, for Best Action Film. It also won Critics' Choice Awards for Best Action Film and Mark Wahlberg won, Best Actor in an Action Movie.
Plot:
Divers being pulled out of the water, asked questions. We watch men training, probably to become seals. Men working together, needing medical help, trainers training, some guys ringing the bell and leaving. Finally they're shown graduating, stating how they're brothers singing silent night. Based on a true story. A helicopter flies over a large basin, Mark Wahlbergs Marcus Luttrell bloody and being worked on. The black hawk lands at an air base, with a voice over about survival and pushing ourselves into dark corners. He speaks of fights as they work to revive him and a quick cut to three days earlier. Barracks living is shown, pictures, drawings, family, siblings, a picture of Ron Burgandy. Michael gets an email about a wedding present, a horse, so he goes to Luttrell for advice. After making sure the rest of the squad is up, a morning run. Axelson is messaging a woman, as the others run. Murphy wins by one second, a discussion of punishment and they decide to shave Dietzs head. Shane is anxious to go on an op. They're briefing about getting their targets, Shah, and waypoints named after beers. It flashes back and forth between briefing and the Afghans taking a man they think they helped Americans, and behead him. They finish the briefing with a lot of moving parts. The team is eating as Deitz tries to get help choosing a color with his wife/girlfriend. Patton enters into newbie intro: and does a hilarious dance routine. As they vote to push him through, he has to recite a SEAL shanty, as they are also shown preparing for the op. As he finishes, they're in the choppers heading towards the op.
S:
-Right off the bat... I love the camaraderie with these guys. The whole head shaving thing, the back and forth, "You are Mike Murphy"... Thats history. Legend even.
-I like pacing of the story, already. It pulls you in, makes you feel part of the fun side and the "military" side.
-Love the SEAL shanty
The SEALS deploy down the rope and take positons. They confirm comms check, and move out from Budweiser. They hit Miller. Corona. Heineken. They're on a mountaintop, setting position, and their last way point, malt liquor. As they settle in, their AC130 cover departs. They move to phase 2 of the op, move to another positon to dig in and see the village better. They settle in and ID their target. Rick James, Bitch. Though they don't have comms, Deitz is to fall back and make it work, they're too exposed to take the shot where they were. Luttrell and Murphy discuss the Arabic horse, again. Axe is taking photos, drawing of the village. They rest. As they rest, Deitz hears a bells, and goats moving near them. It wakes the others. Then the shepherds appear and move though them... eventually they step on Luttrell. They come out and take them. They find a radio on one of them. They don't have coms and they're struggling on what to do. They decide to use an unsecured-satellite phone as Murphy calls it a cursed OP. Patton answers the phone, and asks for the skipper, so he goes to get him. But they lose the connection before they can speak. Murphy suggest 3 options, let them go, tie them up and go, eliminate them. They argue that if they let them go, Shah will leave too, but Luttrell doesn't want to kill them. Axe argues that Shah killed 20 marines last week, and its their job to stop him. They argue and Murphy finally comes up with a plan that the OP is compromised, they're going to release them and head up the mountain to get comms. They release them, and one kids starts heading down in a hurry, they start to move to the mountain top. As they move, Luttrell keeps looking back. The boy is shown quickly moving down the mountain, while the SEALS are shown slowly climbing up. They get to a false summit, and still can't get comms. Axe tells them this is a bad spot. Kristensen calls his commanding officer, but doesn't receive help. Axe sees movement, and you can start to hear voices. They shoulder and search, but nothing concrete. Murphy goes too recon, and sees about 20 dudes on the ridge above him. Goes back and tells Axe he's about to get contacted. They prepare for a fight. Luttrell sees the first one, and takes the shot.
S:
-Just their ragged breathing makes me nervous.
-They seem to have a lot of low/angled shots... keeps it grounded/real.
-I like the use of slow motion showing them going up the mountain and the kid running down.
Luttrell sees the first one, and takes the shot. They're engaged, and move through the woods, taking down targets. Deitzs is shot in the hand, then Axe in the shoulder. One jumps on Axe, who he fights off, and kills. The taliban opens up with a belt fed gun, right as Luttrell says left is good, it's not, they push right and stay low. Axe moves and is hit in the leg, Lutrell is hit in the back/butt area. They're taking random bullets, foot, arm, they keep falling back. They jump off a cliff and violently roll down a hill as they're spot was hit with an RPG. They gather themselves, and check themselves. Murphy is shot in the foot, Deitz takes another to the shoulder. Deitz falls and Luttrell drags him. They recoup in some rocks, Luttrell shoves mud in Deitz leg. Murphy packs mud in his stomach. Deitz starts to lose it. The taliban move in and they move down more and jump off another cliff, and another violent roll down, but Luttrell dropped Deitz above. He's shown staring at Shah. They discuss how they can get Deitz, and how they can take the taliban on flat ground. The locals are going though all of Deitzs pockets, curiously. The remaining SEALS resolve to go back up and get him. One of the taliban pulls the colors swatch Deitz was looking at earlier, crumples it and throws it away. Murphy says he's going to make the satellite call, and motions towards a wide open rock, which Luttrell protests against. Murphy gives Luttrell his extra mags, they talk, and he tells him he's never out of the fight. He starts to move right to the rock as Axe and Luttrell cover him. Murphy makes it to the rock, bullets flying around him, and he calls the base for air support. He's peppered with bullets as Deitz looks at the crumbled paper, Murphy stands and is shot in the back several times, and falls. Deitz stares at the paper and his eyes shut, Murphy slumps.
S:
-Why doesn't Deitz have a silencer?
-They're getting hit with 7.62 think it would do a bit more damage compared to their 556.
-Jesus, the terror these guys must've felt, just trying to survive.
-The tumbles down the mountains. All the sounds of the bullets whizzing and hitting off stuff, no wonder they were nominated for an academy award. Should've won. Damn.
-My god, the way they just go over Deitz... picking through his stuff.
-My God that was fucking emotional
As the other team is about to head to help, they're grounded since there aren't apaches for cover. Axe and Luttrell regroup, and they discuss their situation. The attack continues. Kristensen in the chinook hears the apaches aren't coming and ask the pilots to get them on the ground. Axe and Luttrell are separated, but they see the chinooks and scream in happiness. Patton is about to be the first one out and he's overjoyed... When an RPG is launched, and hits the chinook, and it crashes. The second one pulls out without deploying help under heavy fire. They watch it leave and sink. Axe takes two more shots, is wheezing, and can't stand. He's surrounded and only has his pistol. He crawls to a tree, shooting until it locks back, he breathes a few final breaths, and watches a taliban shoot at him, until one gets him in the head. His head drops, then drops his pistol. Luttrell is looking for Axe, and tumbles down the mountain. He hides as the apaches check the area, but since they see no movement, and they are low on fuel, they head back to base. It fades to a sunset as Luttrell realizes he's on his own. He comes to, and starts to self asses. He pushes a compound fracture back into his shin. He then gets up and starts to walk. He finally comes across a creek and dives in. He comes up and there are men watching him, he threatens them with a grenade, but they seems friendly. When they hear shouting coming from the hills, the man gestures to help him. They pull him out and carry him to a village. Everyone is staring. In the house, the man shows him on a map where they are, while another man seems angry and is shouting. Luttrell pulls the grenade again, asking if he's taliban, they arguing back and forth. The second man leaves, and Lutrell gives him a map to take to the American base. A man sets out on foot. Men are going through the forrest looking for him; they arrive in the village and find Luttrell. They start to drag him to the same log used to cut a mans head off earlier...As he raises the machete to cut his head off, a gun fires and it's the man that helped aiming at the taliban. He says the American is his guest, and for them to leave. He asks if he will die for an American? Threatening him. He threatens they'll all be slaughtered, as the villagers with AKs watch them leave. He asks the boy for a knife, but the boy brings a goose. The man gets it for him. He uses it to get the shrapnel out of his leg, then passing out. They clean and clothe him.
-I realize some of this is dramatized. BUT, my God. Just the unwillingness to give up.
-Walking with a compound fracture to your shin... That's got to be impossible, right?
-Again, the fear of being brought to that village, no one speaks english.
-My god, recognizing that log and the blood on it...
-Talk about tough as fuck, taking out that shrapnel with just the knife?
The villagers are milling about and seem nervous. The taliban is showing in the woods gearing up, and the villagers wait. They wake him, bring him some water and food. As they talk, the attack begins, the room exploding. Luttrells letter has arrived to the base, and they send the calvary. Luttrell and the friend move, and they're separated, they find Luttrell, and the friend finds one of the leaders, struggles with him, and shoots him. Luttrell is getting beat, and choked, then the boy brings him the knife, which he uses to kill the guy. As the taliban begins to enter the town, the apaches, and AC130s show up, and drive them back. Ground forces move in, red smoke is popped, and they blackhawk lands. They search building to building, they find him and confirm it's him, and take him out. He wants the friend to come, but they don't let him. He thanks them, hugs the boy, and they go. We're basically back to the beginning of the movie, the voice over mentions multiple gunshot wounds. Wahlberg voice overs about brave men fighting and dying, building a reputation he has to uphold. But he died up on that mountain. That a part of him will be on that mountain that died with his brothers. But that part survived, and that no matter what, you're never out of the fight. His heartbeat starts, and it fades to black. Text appears: Dedicated to the men of Operation Red Wings, pictures of the real seal team, and the men who died, which we'll repeat after this.
TEXT:
The Afghan villagers who proctected Marcus did so out of duty to their 2,000 year old code of honor, known as (PASH-TUN-WALI) Pashtunwali.
It requires a tribe to undertake the responsibility fo safeguarding an individual against his enemies and protecting him at all costs
These brave men and women still thrive in the harsh mountains of Afghanistan and their fight against the taliban continues...
It ends with a picture of Marcus Luttrell and Mohammad Gulab in 2010, laughing and huging.
Fallen soldiers:
S-Chris J. Scherkenbach
C-Michael L. Russell
T-Stephen C. Reich
T-Marcus V. Muralles
S-Kip A. Jacoby
C-Corey J. Goodnature
T-Shamus O. Goare
T-Jeffrey S. Taylor
S-Michael M. McGreevy Jr
C-Jeffery A. Lucas
T-Erik S. Kristensen
T-Jacques J. Fontan
S-Danny P. Dietz
C-James Suh
T-Daniel R. Healy
T-Eric S. Patton
S-Matthew G. Axelson
C-Michael P. Murphy
-It's kinda weird to think about the fear of the taliban now, seems so long ago.
-Again, I know dramatized, but I want to know more about the friend and boy, if they're real. Luttrell sees the first one, and takes the shot.
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