Act of Valor (2012)
Directed by Mike McCoy
When a covert mission to rescue a kidnapped CIA operative uncovers a chilling plot, an elite, highly trained U.S. SEAL team speeds to hotspots around the globe, racing against the clock to stop a deadly terrorist attack.
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What critics compared Act of Valor to
Unlike the similar but ridiculously cartoonish Act of Valor, Lone Survivor's reverence for Navy SEALs seems sincere, beginning with documentary-style montage of the extreme conditions each goes through from boot camp on, a stark reminder that they are meant to be the elite.
The resulting film is somewhere between docudrama and infomercial, not unlike the fictional, all-SEALs-cast action-thriller Act of Valor.
“Lone Survivor” more easily avoids charges of propaganda that befell 2012’s unfairly maligned “Act of Valor” (an engrossing, if flawed, actual SEAL-starring spin on a traditional procedural).
In 2012, Act of Valor, in an act that could be the most expensive and exclusively sourced military recruitment video to date, used real, active-duty American special forces personnel in service of a jingoistic narrative that peddled tidy, action-oriented conflict resolution.
That makes it superior to “Act of Valor,” the risible picture (“based on real acts of valor,” said its posters) in which soldiers were portrayed as personality-free saints.
Among Zero Dark Thirty, Act of Valor, and The Road to Fallujah, comes Lone Survivor.
The combat sequences possess a visceral power in Black Hawk Down fashion, with live ammunition reportedly used, although presumably not for the graphic kill shots.
They make the battle scenes in Black Hawk Down seem like well-ordered, precise depictions of modern warfare.
There’s an authority to the combat sequences (via engrossing frontline action) that few military films have been able to capture in recent memory (with the exception of a few projects such as Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down).
Worst of all, the director — Scott Waugh, of the army drama/recruitment film “Act of Valor” — orders digital cameras strapped to the cars, to be used for Xtreme collision shots.
It’s no surprise, then, that director and co-editor Scott Waugh ( Act Of Valor ) happens to be a veteran stuntman.
Director Scott Waugh, who captured the jaw-dropping feats of real Navy Seals in "Act of Valor" forgoes CGI for the practical stunts which are the primary draw of a film whose story set ups strain credibility.
His previous film, 2012’s Act of Valor, was a glorified, but effective, Navy SEAL recruitment video, sporting action scenes starring real soldiers using real live ammunition.
Director Scott Waugh ("Act of Valor") doesn't even bother hiding it.
Scott’s own resume includes “Act of Valor,” “Spider-Man,” “Speed” and “Batman Forever.”
And they seem to fall into either one of two categories: shameless shoot-em-up videogames draped in patriotic bunting ( American Sniper , Act of Valor ) or more sober and nuanced examinations of what it means to fight ( Zero Dark Thirty , Restrepo ).
War never goes out of fashion as a cinematic staple; even during the Obama-era, Lone Survivor, Act of Valor and 13 Hours flew the flag for the brave US soldier as global policeman.
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While there are countless examples of period war titles, few have captured the zeitgeist of modern conflicts, often relying on blind jingoism to deliver an agreeable message for popcorn-munching audiences (12 Strong and Act of Valor are primary offenders).
But like other recent true-story-inspired military action movies ( American Sniper , Lone Survivor , Act of Valor ), 13 Hours has a tone of such extreme hero worship that it distorts the reality it’s meant to portray.