Reviewing Movies

I'm uncomfortable with American Jingoism, Militarism, and Gun Culture. I'd not feel safe holding a gun in my hand. I became aware of the Vietnam Conflict growing up in Canada. In college I met scores of draft dodgers and have since learned the folly of American interference in the lives of the Indochinese. I have come to think that George Bush sees the principal Weapon of Mass Destruction when he looks in a mirror. Having failed to learn the lessons of History America sent troops into Afghanistan and sucked Canadians and Britains into the enterprise after Russian might failed miserably to quell the situation.

The families of young men who died in this conflict and those who returned wounded in body and spirit cling to the hope that their lives mattered and that they accomplished something positive with their sacrifice.

The training Navy Seals undergo is highlighted in the opening scenes of this movie but it concentrates on the fire-fight the four-man team loses against Taliban fighters who overwhelmingly outnumber them. The conditioning these men have undergone tells as they continue fighting after sustaining wounds the shock from which would have killed most men long since. They fight on even while their bodies are dying. Marcus Luttrell survived because an Afghan Village accorded him sanctuary in a code held sacred in their Muslim heritage.

So why did I watch the movie after reading the book? Whatever my thoughts about the futility of the effort this is great film-making. The special effects and stunt teams worked overtime. The young lad who runs down a talus slope on a mountain to alert the Taliban negotiates the terrain like a mountain goat. The firefight I suppose is no more gruesome than the video games children routinely play these days. In the end I continue to attempt to understand the mythos that motivates young men to go to war and believe that killing is justified.

This movie is remarkably short on jargon but in typical military euphemism Luttrell says, “Terminate the compromise” rather than kill their hostages. In the end these men died because their rules of engagement didn't cover their situation and their coms didn't allow them to get authorization from a higher authority.

Nothing here should be a spoiler for anyone who already read Luttrell's book which I'd recommend. The fact that the other members of his team died is implicit in the title, “Lone Survivor”.