Lone Survivor (2014): Mormon Movie Review

Quality:

   Based on the true autobiographical story of Marcus Luttrell and Seal Team 10 who set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious al Qaeda leader Ahmad Shahd, in late June 2005. Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare. As you might be able to tell by the title of the movie, things don't go well.

   It is a hard thing to find a film based on any conflict after 1943 that paints our armed forces in a positive light. Lone Survivor is one of those films. It does not glorify war or tell the story or immortals who kick butt and chew bubble gum. Instead it is the very real and gritty telling of a group of brothers who were willing to do anything to make sure they made it home. 

   Lone Survivor is getting a lot of buzz, and rightfully so.  It does an excellent job at putting you in the situation.  I heard the feedback, “there was wave after wave of attacks; I thought it would never end.”  I felt the same thing, but I think that was the point.

 

Content:

   When I was in the singles ward we had a fast and testimony meeting where the guy next to me went up and bore his testimony about seeing The Passion of the Christ. Immediately after our Stake President stood up and admonished the congregation about rated R movies (my opinion) and that there was a perfectly acceptable film produced by the church to help us better understand The Lamb of God.

   Needless to day the guy next to me was mortified and I never saw him again. Now our stake president was not wrong in his assessment. If you choose to not watch rated R movies do not feel like you should break that commitment so you can gain a better respect for our armed forces. There are many other great films that can help you do this.

   If you base your movie going choices solely based on content, this is what you are in for 147 F-bombs and a lot of shooting. The F-word is used so often and freely, I stopped noticing it.  (Which might not be a good thing) A similar thing happened with the word "like" while watching Clueless.  There is a lot of war violence; not gratuitous violence, but certainly realistic. There is mild sexual content as a soldier recites a mock creed with some inappropriate references.  Then he does the dance from Napoleon Dynamite, so that balances things out.  If hearing the F-word is like sticking a needle in your ear or if seeing broken bones a needle in your eye, you might want to skip this one.