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Excited about this...
By John
Though I can't figure out when it's supposed to release --
Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg writes, directs, and produces this true-life tale of survival set in Afghanistan and involving a Navy Seal whose entire squadron was killed in a Taliban ambush. Marcus Luttrell was a Navy Seal who led a team of soldiers into Afghanistan on a dangerous mission to kill a Taliban leader. One day, while preparing for their mission on the side of a mountain, the team was surprised to encounter an Afghan man, a farmer, and a young boy. Subsequently struggling with the decision whether to kill them and violate the military rules of engagement or to let them go and risk blowing their cover, the team took a vote and found themselves deadlocked at an even split. As the leader of the team, it was up to Luttrell to make the final call. Determining that the three were simple civilians, Luttrell made the call to release them. An hour later, his entire team was wiped out by dozens of heavily armed Taliban. When the smoke cleared, Luttrell was clinging to life -- the sole survivor of the brutal ambush. In the following days Luttrell would use his military experience to stay alive in a hostile landscape and avoid detection by the Taliban.
Peter Berg did an amazing job with The Kingdom, in that he refused to inject his opinion on US foreign policy during the film. Kept true to the story, which I admired. Plus, The Kingdom was just damn well done. If Berg handles Operation Red Wing with the same care and attention to detail that he's treated previous works, this film should kick a US Navy SEAL level of ass.
By the way, if you haven't read the book -- you should.
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Former Petty Officer Luttrell is in the news, today.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365427.html
Marcus Luttrell for President, one of these days, OK?
I too liked THE KINGDOM. However, LONE SURVIVOR (the book) holds a special place in my family's heart. The movie is anxiously awaited in our house! I hope Berg does it right.
And yes, SEALS are Sailors, operators first, but Sailors at the core. (I'm currently toasting all the Boat Guys out there, especially those down range.)
DS
Did you hear about those thugs killing luttrell's dog and him chasing them down? Man, there are some sick people in this world.
Yes, read the book. Couldn't put it down. Awesome and at the same time disturbing. The gut ripping decision not to kill the intruder because of their personal values and fear of reprisals cost many lives...I've nothing but admiration for Markus and his team...and those who risked their lives to rescue them.
From what I can glean, it looks like late 2009 at the earliest.
I eagerly await this.
And I agree about the scumbags that shot his dog.
checked IMDB-it said in production, whatever that means
I have to disagree. Try as I might, I only see failure in this story. Yes they fought valiantly when surrounded. But that never should have happened.
Their deaths are directly attributable to 2 flawed decisions: 1. Their decision not to kill the 3 civilians. 2. After letting the civilians go, they should have aborted the mission, or moved out of the area.
They allowed themselves to be compromised then waited to be attacked by an overwhelming force. I just don't get the "feel good story" here. All I see is a waste of US sailors lives for nothing.
Have we become so soft that not violating the ROE is more critical then mission accomplishment? Wasn't an over restrictive ROE one of the contributing factors to the US defeat in Vietnam? Isn't the refusal to kill one afghan civilian in the process of killing 20 taliban hampering our efforts in Afghanistan now?
BuffaloRanger, your comments on ROE are understandable, and it would be hard to question a decision to kill the man to protect his team and mission. Still, I think the positive to this story is that LT Murphy chose not to kill an innocent civilian, even though he knew it might be a bad decision from a tactical perspective. Not knowing the man personally (but recognizing the type), I suspect it came down to having to live (or die) with this decision, and choosing potential death over a lifetime of having that dead civilian haunt his conscious. Sounds like character to me.
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It was a very nice idea! Just wanna say thank you for the information you have shared. Just continue writing this kind of post. I will be your loyal reader
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BTW, Lutrell was not the leader of the team. LT Michael Murphy, subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during this mission, was in command. Also, SEALs are sailors, not soldiers.