Lone Survivor

RELEASE DATE: August 2014
RATING:13V
GENRE: Action
RUNNING TIME: 121 mins
STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch
DIRECTOR: Peter Berg
WRITERS: Peter Berg
PRODUCERS: Sarah Aubrey, Randall Emmett

FIRST THOUGHTS

Jack of all trades but master of none. With due respect if Mark Wahlberg FKA Marky Mark ever ventured down the biographical route the aforementioned idiom could prove for a satisfying tag line. Lets face it, the guys action to comedy transition ratio is well impressive.

WHY OWN IT?

In Lone Survivor every mans man Wahlberg, plays Marcus Lutrell a Navy Seal who alongside his team – Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Matt Axelson (Ben Foster), Emile Hersch (Danny Dietz) are sent on a mission to kill a notorious Taliban front runner. En-route our men run into a few mountain herders of which they decide to release, as the title suggests the results of their actions lands them into an infernal region where a deathly shootout between the Taliban and Lutrell’s team awaits.

On first impressions  Lone Survivor  looks like another war film with tricky plot twists and and sometimes even trickier marine-lingo, thankfully a somewhat alternative opening sequence effectively dusts away any preconceived ideas. Instead Lone Survivor focuses on the ghastly realistic battle between the four Navy Seals and their opposition; blood thirsty Taliban riflemen, it’s just unfortunate that the story really hasn’t got much rhythm until the mission begins. Admirably Lone Survivor does great in other areas such as the solid performances from the ensemble cast which features Ben Foster  and Emile Hersch who bring along the same intensity as when they stared together in Nick Cassavettes crime drama Alphadog back in 2007. Side note: the make up and costume styling are equally as great.

Lone Survivor is beyond reasonable doubt a good buy to add to your DVD assortment and I say this because its hugely entertaining for the most part, I guess it may not match the sophistication and depth of Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now but it is based on the real life Operation Red Wings which happened in 2005 and at the end credits you get to see to what these bad-asses (bless their souls) looked life in real life.

Those fortunate enough with surround sound will be in for a treat as this film features some impressive visuals in the form of colossal explosions and also deadly cocktails of bullet wounds, broken bones and timeless Navy Seal braggadocio. Its provocative fun all in the name of modern warfare.

Sadly movie buffs might be put off with the absence of extra features on this DVD. Yes, that just happened.

Unless I’ve just been trolled by this particular DVD distributor, I will take this as another harsh reminder that South Africa is a far cry from the land of milk and honey and extra DVD features.

Technically this film does a worthy portrayal of the consequences of combat. Its almost always brutal albeit for a more humane climax. The scenes of battle are shot with such dramatic realism that I  continually had to check if my assault rifle (hand pistol) had enough rounds left, so it’s definitely got that going for itself – which is great right?

SPECIAL FEATURES

No special features included