Ive noticed when I am not really interested in a movie, I will either start playing chess or check my email on my iPhone (during the movie). If the movie is particularly bad, I will start writing emails and doing other tasks (also during the movie). The less interesting a movie is, the more “checks” or time I spend on my phone, and it almost always happens at least 2-3 times no matter how good the movie is.
While watching Lone Survivor last night, I made zero phone checks, simply because I was so committed to the story and characters and I forgot about everything else. It is riveting and engaging. Despite all the death, blood and gore, I would recommend it everyone over the age of 16, because it was a small glimpse into the price our soldiers pay for freedom.
There is SO much trash out there, like the Wolf Of Wall Street, a film that glories the most obscene and despicable morals as something worthy of any attention.
I really hope that Lone Survivor is a huge success and Hollywood figures out that not only are soldiers stories worth telling, they are also very profitable. Our theater was sold out, and I have a feeling it will do well all over the country.
Michael’s Notes – Spoilers
I have also read the book (several years ago), so I am familiar with the original account. I think anyone who watches the film would have to ask themselves what they would do in that type of “compromised” situation. Hind sight is always 20-20, but I think the right move would have been to either:
1. Leave them tied up and abort the mission. Someone would have realized they were missing and would have sent someone to look, I don’t think leaving them their was the same as killing them.
2. Split the team into 2 groups, one half to watch the prisoners, the other to get to a place where communications could be safely made with base and have support (preferably Apaches and C-130 Specters) enroute before cutting them loose. I still didn’t understand why the goat herders had to have been released immediately.
3. I do not believe killing them was an option at all.
The second tactical error they made was resting after retreating a little, if I knew the enemy had knowledge of our general position, we would have absolutely not stopped.
There is also a lot of controversy over how many enemy combatants there were, different accounts range from 8-10 (as reported by a forensic investigation) to 80, to as many as 200. Luttrell himself says there were between 30-40 combatants in his report after he was rescued. I believe Luttrell’s original version because he was there and fought them and the memory was fresh. I also have a very hard time believing that 8-10 Taliban fighters could give any kind of fight to 4 Navy Seals (all of which were Expert Marksmen), they had to have been vastly outnumbered.
Just my thoughts, in any event go see Lone Survivor in theaters if you can!
It’s interesting to hear people various opinions of movies. People have different perceptions, which is exciting! I want to share mine about "The Wolf of Wall Street". For me the movie, was not in favor for obscene behavior and despicable morals. Quite the opposite! It showed how sick those people are and where it leads to.. I hope people who have those kind of life style, or those aiming for it, are reminded, that this a way of destruction of others and oneself. Great movie, great message!
Ive changed my view recently about movies that glorify criminals. Take Pain and Gain for example, based on a true story of a band of thieves who decide to kidnap and murder innocent people. Why should anyone profit from these crimes? I lost respect for the Rock and Mark Whalberg when they starred in this movie, and I refused to see it after reading the background. We live in a society now that gives way too much attention to the wrong kind of people, and when movies are made about them, they are immortalized in a sense. I would much rather watch movies about strong core values like honor, courage, sacrifice, valor..etc these things matter.
You have a deep disrespect for the price of freedom. Enemies of the United States, like the Taliban or Al Qaeda, would kill every American man, woman and child if given the opportunity simply because we are not of their faith. If you cannot wrap your mind around that idea, it would be a waste of time to have any discussion about morals with you. If you are an American, you should leave the United States.
You are twisting my words, being emotional and rude. This is not a healthy ground for discussion.
David: You’re making the tragic mistake that so many have made and listening to the politicians who twist reality for their own gain. Sadly, it’s working for them. There’s a very weird and twisted element out there that wants to hack your head off with a dull knife. Don’t ask me to make sense of it since I cannot nor can you, but that doesn’t make it any less real. The goal is to help those who really seek peace in the Middle East to create and sustain a government that will allow such a condition. Our men and women have/are doing just that even though being undermined by those at home (especially now, but it did start a few weeks after 9/11). How some "leaders" can put their own selfish interests above all else is beyond my comprehension, but try to not fall for it. Our men and women in uniform understand the real mission. At least respect what they’re doing to, ultimately, try to prevent these people from their ultimate goal of bringing their irrational hatred and violence to the United States.
The solution of force simply deals with the symptom of an even greater problem. While I completely comprehend the rationalizations behind this type of intervention, it’s a byproduct of something I call backwards thinking. The "conflicts" themselves are symptoms of this phenomenon. Someone else I know calls it outside in thinking and I hear it all the time in the language people use. While this other person says it’s a byproduct of the industrial age mindset I say it goes back even further in history. Things like hate and even certain elements of fear can be directly attributed to childhood conditioning. When we are born, we are perfect. Love, peace, and joy are internal states that are natural to who we are. Anything that falls outside of that state is simply an aberration created by those around us during our formative years. I’m not saying that our caretakers are being malicious in our upbringing, they just don’t comprehend how the mind works.