MovieChat Forums > Lone Survivor (2014) Discussion > What a lame, forgettable, war movie

What a lame, forgettable, war movie


I don't want to re-hash everything some of the one-star rating reviewers have already said, but this film was a huge disappointment. I will throw a bit out there, though; Totally lame hero dialogue that never once strayed from the "Chuck Norris" formula, characters I never cared about for a moment (we're supposed to care that one of the guy's fiancé wants an expensive horse as a present??), enemy soldiers who just run up one and after another like complete dopes and get shot, US soldiers who somehow fall off cliffs at least three times and land on back-breaking rocks and get up and still run around, the sappy doe-eyed little boy and the "hero" local who saved him, and the list goes on and on. The only time I was interested was in the first couple of minutes when they were showing how tough SEAL training was- now that would have made an interesting movie.

Now don't get me wrong here- I absolutely love war movies; 2 or 3 are in my all-time top 10. My message is simply this for people who have grown up during our current conflicts. If you think this is a great war, fine, but I hope you have taken the time to see the real greats; Platoon, Apocalypse Now (original), The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, and The Band of Brothers. Sometimes I get the feeling that today's younger movie goers never bothered to watch older movies, when they fawn over a dreadful film such as this one. Hell, even a western like The Good, the Bad and The Ugly had more memorable things to say about warfare than Lone Survivor did.

Now I get this is based on a true story and that these guys were heroes and brave and gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, but that doesn't make the film great. I do hope that someday, maybe when our current wars are long over with, a worthy film is made about the Afgahn and Iraq conflicts. Sorry, but Sniper and Survivor ain't it.

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[deleted]

you are mistaken its entirely possible to still go on fighting with a broken back because thats what happened to marcus luttrell, he had a number of fractures, a broken back, and numerous shrapnel wounds.

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Well....I have learned a LOT from the responses here. I've learned everyone knows everything about everything. They know about war...fighting in Afghanistan how the Taliban are supposed to fight. How soldiers are supposed to fight and react under extreme conditions. They also know how a movie is supposed to be made under all these adverse conditions. They ALL know how missions are supposed to go down, how the soldiers react, how it's supposed to be portrayed in a movie. They know how ISIS fights, the minutia they act upon in every battle.

It really is truly amazing how much the American Moviegoer Citizen knows about all global warfare!. I am surprised they don't actually go fight the Taliban themselves since they know so much. They know every last detail about what happened and what should always happen. AMAZING!

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this was great, really tense and fast paced.

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I agree, typical American macho crap, Wahlberg...what a clown. The only wars the American ever win are fictional - brains in their bellends!

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Forgettable???

Nope, not for me. When every time my friends ask me anything based on war movies or soldiers related movies; the first thought would be this movie and The Hurt Locker. American Sniper would be behind them. Saving Private Ryan, My Way (Korean), and Pearl Harbor would be the next. Act Of Valor would be sitting on the fourth stage. And etc. etc. etc.

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Yeah I kind of feel the same way. I didnt dislike the movie, but I didnt think it was that particularly good.

Now I get this is based on a true story and that these guys were heroes and brave and gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, but that doesn't make the film great.


This is a very important point. The story of these guys and their sacrifice is powerful and emotional, but it doesnt fit a traditional narrative well. If you think about it, the plot was that that they went on a recon mission, ran into some locals and had to abort, were pursued by Taliban and shot at, and several of them died before reinforcements showed up. No twists, no character development, no change in scenery, no real climax. The problem with adapting true stories into film is that they don't always work out so well.

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