Lone Survivor

The introduction is OK. The middle – and longest – survival part of the film is stunning, visually well-arranged and efficiently conveyed, with several chillingly brutal scenes. The climax is ridiculously simplistic political propaganda for the average US viewer. Overall, Lone Survivor is good film for relaxation, but it will sink into oblivion as fast as all of Peter Berg’s action flicks. (17/01/2014)

It is closest in its formal concept to Black Hawk Down, but it doesn't have the same quality action or the same narrative value. Peter Berg made it for blokes, but he only managed to create a mediocre raw survival action flick where marines, shot up like a sieve, fly around rocks and perform all kinds of stunts that you can imagine. He was able to create a good military atmosphere, and has observed and listened, but unfortunately the ending  terrible, similar to Tears of the Sun, to which is this one is very similar in terms of the screenplay. (27/07/2014)

Berg serves us with cool action in another bungled Navy Seals raid in Afghanistan. Because it’s based on real events makes the movie that more powerful. Especially the number of hits the heroes take before they really expire. The fairly realistic treatment then slips into Bay-isms, but that doesn’t bother me so much, it’s just that Lone Survivor doesn’t turn out so naturalistic. The cast is excellent, especially Kitsch and Foster are outstanding. (15/01/2014)

Following Gravity and All Is Lost (and, to some extent, Captain Phillips), Lone Survivor is another high-contact fight for survival, placing vicarious experience over a complicated plot. Instead of examining the film’s content, it suffices to read the title. With the exception of the introductory panoramas of the picturesque Afghan landscape (which can be understood as part of an effort to not demonise the whole country, but only the Taliban…though the film was shot in New Mexico), Berg relies predominantly on point-of-view shots and close-ups. The camera’s close proximity to the characters occasionally results in a lack of clarity, though it also adds an unpleasant veracity. The impression of rawness is aided by the film’s R rating, thanks to which we can “enjoy” every shot-off finger and every bone-breaking impact on a rock. The film’s long, superbly intensified action core with minimum pathos is unfortunately put in a context that is not very sophisticated. After a broad introduction, the members of the team blend together, the Taliban are evil because they cut off heads, and any indication of the current American military’s inadequacies is quickly suppressed (the unpleasant hazing of a new recruit rapidly transmutes into an inspiring rhyme). In contrast to what we have witnessed (a fatally botched mission) and what in places had a refreshing tinge of ambivalence (the argument about what to do with a captured enemy combatant), the film ends with the cheap pre-credits glorification of the soldiers involved. – SPOILER: With most of them, it’s impossible to avoid the not-insignificant feeling that we are supposed to consider them heroes simply because they didn’t die. END SPOILER – After All is Lost, where I was bothered by the lack of value added, I wouldn’t have expected that I would write this, but this time I would have preferred a pure survival flick without any information aimed at bringing depth to the story. 65% (09/01/2014)

I suspect an agitational order from the Department of Defense selling one of its "based on a true story" films. I do not deny the power of the plot, nor the willingness to bow before the fallen and salute the bereaved. From the middle onwards, I was just terribly annoyed by Berg's direction, which pushes pathos out of the screen (in slow-mo so long that it borders on parody), gradually losing contact with the protagonists, who become nothing more than bodies falling from rocks, covered in bloody welts. The first contact, without music and with a "predator" camera, is flawless, but I simply don't think the constant subjective close-ups of faces create the right action military drama. In the final act, I felt ashamed for the creators. It’s only functional as an acted intermezzo for "Medal of Honor." (02/11/2014)