Movie Review: Lone Survivor

So I've heard nothing but great things about the newest war movie.  I love war movies! I love things based off of actual events and learning about the hardships people have been through so we can live here in the USA comfortably.  This movie has been compared to Saving Private Ryan in it's authenticity.  The difference in the two, in my opinion, is that Lone Survivor was based on an actual failed mission, and retold through the eyes of the lone survivor of the mission, Marcus Luttrell, whereas Ryan was loosely based on the Niland brothers. I feel that this makes LS a much more powerful story. (Though I do enjoy SPR very much!)  

Lone Survivor

Released: January 10th, 2014
Watched: January 19th, 2014
My Rating: 9/10 stars

Starring:
Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Taylor Kitsch and Eric Bana

Director:
Peter Berg

Okay - so this is based on a true story and book by Marcus Luttrell.  The book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10  which I have not yet read, but will most likely add to my Kindle wishlist.  SPOILER ALERT: don't read the title if you don't want to know how it turns out.

Operation Red Wings was a Navy SEAL mission in 2005.  The SEALs sent in a four-man team to observe a village and capture or kill a leading Taliban member thought to be allied with Osama bin Laden - Ahmad Shah.

From what I have read, the main difference between the book and the movie is that the movie left out Luttrell's pre-war life.  But it focused in on the training, camaraderie and loyalty of the SEALs.  I thought that the acting in the movie was superb.  I knew how it was going to end, but I didn't know how it was going to get there.

Top: SEALs from Operation Red Wings - Bottom: Still from Lone Survivor Movie

This is one of the best war movies I've ever seen.  The suspense, gut-wrenching at times, was amazing.  Some people may find it uncomfortable to watching something like this, but in my mind - we are watching a true story, men who fought and died for our country, what's a little anxiety and uncomfortableness learning about it, them.

The actors had some serious training for this movie, you can tell just by watching.  But Wahlberg made sure that people know that training for a movie, and actually being in war are not comparable.  I thought this was extremely noble of him to announce and admit.  You can see what Luttrell thought about it here. 

I recommend to anyone who likes war movies, historical movies, action movies, or suspenseful dramas.  I definitely laughed and cried during this movie, and at the end I just sat there in awe.

Has anyone else seen it? Anyone read the book?