Just finished it... 10 out of 10. At first, I was upset with the ending because I thought it was a play on our heart strings - then I actually researched exactly what happened with Operation Red Wings. The movie is true to what actually happened for the most part. WARNING: This is a gut-wrenching film, not one you'll be chomping on popcorn with. The last time I felt ill watching a movie was the Passion of the Christ beating scenes, this film is easily as disturbing. It is just relentless and brutal action for about 45 straight minutes.
Thanks for your review. I'm still waiting for the film to be released here. I'm encouraged to read reviews like yours because the story is as you put it "gut wrenching". I was praying Hollywood wouldn't screw this up. Its too important (at least to me). I read the book some 6+ years ago, and I've never forgotten the valor described within nor how unbelievably heartbreaking the story seemed at times. After finishing it, I've yet to pick it up again to read as the description of what you witnessed on film is very upsetting to read. Put another way, its the only book that ever made me tear up. I actually had the honor to meet Marcus Luttrell at a book signing back in April of 2010. I've also exchanged a short note on Facebook with the father of Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy (Daniel Murphy). Both men couldn't have been more gracious and helped to drive home that this really happened, and that real heroes died that day. I was thrilled to see that both men were satisfied with the end result of the finished film. I sincerely hope that Marcus gets a chance to start moving beyond this story. I heard him say in a recent interview (paraphrasing)..."Everyone who meets me always wants to talk to me about the worst day of my life." I can imagine that even the strongest person would be affected by that after enough time. I hope for his sake this film will fill in for him so he can move on and live a happy and full life.
I wanted to see this movie, but after re-reading this thread, there's no way I can't see this movie. I hope this guy gets to go to medical school (as he told Lauer) and fulfills his goals. As far as his dog goes - maybe those boys didn't know what they were doing, but what they did was pure and utter disgrace. I can't imagine what that dog meant to him, and I honestly would not have blamed him if he had killed all of them.
I am a huge Peter Berg fan, and he really did the story and the men justice. You can't help but feel empathy for them as they go through the hell of that day... and you can see in shot after shot that is exactly how Berg meant to make you feel. He wanted you to feel uneasy as you watched. Short of the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan and a few scenes in Band of Brothers and The Pacific, I've never felt so worthless after watching a piece of film.
This movie was phenomenal. Constantly had me on the edge of my seat. Strong, emotional movie. Best film I've seen in a while.
I just read Luttrell's Wiki page, and got to this part. What in the hell is wrong with people?? How can you just walk up to an innocent dog (who was probably sleeping since it was 1 A.M.) and shoot it? And then on top of that, to threaten the owner after you've been apprehended?? Those 4 guys are complete wastes of life.
I'm probably going against the grain here. I just got back from watching the movie. I finished the book Tuesday. Was super pumped for the movie. Thoughts: I really liked it. Really really liked it. I almost teared up at the end, to be honest. That being said, I thought the movie strayed from the book at times that I really wished it hadn't. Some things were seemingly done to make it more dramatic. Spoiler I feel like they concentrated a lot on the battle, and I feel like even though they did this, they didn't even stay totally true to the battle in the book. Certain parts...In the book, it seems they did more cliff jumps (falls). In the book, Dietz's thumb was blown off, not the other four fingers on his hand. I wish they had followed what Murphy said (per the book) word for word. I think it (like I said, per the book, which I tend to believe more) made him seem even more courageous than the movie did. I think the movie did a good job showing the courage of these men, but to read it in words, is a whole other thing. I wish the movie had shown more of Luttrell's time after the battle. It did a good job highlighting what courage the village had in protecting him, though. I also wish they would have highlighted what his family went through at home with reports of his death, and then reports of him just being MIA, etc. I think it would have added another emotional tone. Sorry for all the criticisms. I truly believe it's a great movie, though. And I realize some of this is controversy, and I'm taking the book as absolute fact, and certain circles believe part of the book was embellished itself. Regardless, I think Luttrell is a true American hero. Honestly, my favorite part of the movie is the fact that he played another SEAL in it. One that died on that mountain. I have to assume that that was by his choice. I've heard him say that very thing in interviews, and they mentioned it in the movie. Love the symbolism there.
I feel the same way about Band of Brothers. While the mini-series is probably my favorite piece of cinema ever created, there are aspects of the book that weren't covered that I wished were. That is just how it is when transforming from one medium to another. Films have to compact so much detail in to two hours, stuff has to be cut. They have to think about pacing, and test screenings and all kinds of other crap to appease the masses (and the theaters). Spoiler In the end I think they showed all of the most important aspects of what took place. I think they had to show the normality of the day before they leave for the mission. I also think they had to show the sacrifice that the villagers made at the end, even though it seems like such a "Hollywood Ending," since it was true they had to show it. So they condensed as much as they could down... and to be honest, I am not easily upset but I couldn't take much more of them going through abuse, and I imagine your regular movie goer couldn't either. The falling scenes were brutal to watch, and I don't think I could have handled much more than the few that they included. As far as Luttrell is concerned, I think he would rather it focused on the overall story than him after the fact. As others have said, he wanted it to be more about what he and the others went through, rather than him.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...-grant-him-green-card-or-citizenship/KcvMBQg2 It's not right that this petition only has 93 signatures.
The book I'm sure was good but this movie was terrible. One long gun battle, sweet. No emotional attachment to any of the characters, didn't care about the mission, didn't care if they got the targets or not, didn't care who died.
Well, next time if anyone is in a similar situation, I would not let those folks go. They really didn't deserve to live based on what they did when they were let go. I would pop caps in them and not give it a second thought as I would be in complete soldier mode. By letting them go, they paid dearly. It's got to be a us or them mentality. I suppose they could have just left them tied up...but that probably wouldn't have worked out, either. Their mistake was giving those "civilians" the benefit of the doubt. But, they didn't even really do that. They knew what would happen...and did it anyway. That makes them more than heroes in my eyes...because they chose their own deaths by letting civilians go rat them out just as they figured they would. But, civilians ratting them out are not civilians...they are the enemy.
