Lone Survivor

This explosive passion project from writer-director Peter Berg takes an unrelentingly gruesome look at Operation Red Wings, the failed 2005 mission in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of 19 American soldiers. Most of the movie centers on the four Navy SEALs dropped into hostile territory, and how an unfortunate civilian encounter and communications problems led to a massive gunbattle with insurmountable odds. Mark Wahlberg plays Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL who co-wrote the book this movie is based on. Luttrell, along with SEALs Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster), were performing reconnaissance for a mission meant to capture or kill a notorious Taliban leader when a trio of goat herders stumbled upon their camp. The resultant ambush is filmed with many gory details, and will be a hard watch for some. The stuntmen who worked on this movie did an incredible job, and the cast is one of 2013’s strongest ensembles. This is a nice comeback for Berg after Battleship.