A Review of The Movie Lone Survivor

The award-winning movie Lone Survivor is a true story in homage to the men that died, Lone Survivor closely mirrors the true story of Operation Red Wings, a tragic 2005 mission gone wrong in Afghanistan. Non-Fictional films, such as Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor, are valuable to teach the audience that life can be challenging. Films based on real events show viewers the struggles and hardship real people had to endure to overcome a situation by being courageous and to do things for the greater good. Films such as these advocate that to overcome something it takes dedication and hard work to achieve the greater good.

The movie shows leadership and teamwork when the soldiers are in the hills taking surveillance when a small group of goat herders stumble into where they were hiding; the soldiers took the men and tied them up to trees; they had to decide whether to kill them or to let them go so they could continue on their journey. This is a moral dilemma between the soldiers because Matthew Axelson and Danny Dietz wanted to let the goat herders die whilst Michael Murphy and Marcus Luttrell did the morally right thing and let them go. Using camera angles convinced the audience there was a dilemma going on; camera angles used in the movie to show the power given to one person over another, this can be seen when the camera is pointing at the goat herders they are portrayed as powerless with the use of high angles and the use of low angles towards the soldiers showing they are the ones in power in this situation. Another camera technique use in the film is the quick transitions of camera shots between the soldiers to show the audience they were arguing. The message that the audience can take away from this scene in the movie would be to show leadership and teamwork in situations that making the correct decision can be hard, but you will overcome the situation if you work as a team.

Second the movies also shows the resilience and dedication in the scene when Mike Murphy decides that he will sacrifice his life for the rest of his platoon by climbing up to the tip of a cliff to call for support, the only concern was that the Taliban are along the tree line where the cliff was. Mike decided to do the task, this is a very good part of the movies as it is showing that the men will sacrifice their lives for the greater good of the surrounding people. The film portrayed this part very well as the use of camera angles, music and lighting towards the end of the scene shows the audience that this is an important part of the film. The camera angles use in this scene are low and high angles as the film portrayed that the Taliban as the ones in power by the use of low-angle shots and the Americans are the ones powerless in this situation, the music that is heard in this scene is very heroic suggesting that Mike is being valiant in sacrificing himself for the greater good of his platoon, the music plays an important role as it sets the mood for the last segment of this scene where Mike reaches the point on the cliff where he calls in for the help. The lighting that Is use in this scene is dazzling and heavenly making the character more angelic and he looks into the bright light as a way of showing that because of his courageous act he is therefore going to heaven. Murphy is portrayed as heroic and courageous for the act of sacrificing himself for the greater good of his platoon.

In conclusion, biopics such as this brilliant movie Lone Survivor, whilst still being entertaining, are also great for enlightening the audience. Biopics share the amazing stories of human sacrifice and triumph which make us wonder what we could do with our lives if we all show resilience and dedication to the things we cherish most in life. These films show us the important lessons of humanity, kindness, courage, dedication and resilience which we should all strive to achieve in our lives.  

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