Line #70 Film/LoneSurvivor


1	%%
2	%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16675718970.84518500
3	%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e55a30e5_d9d5_45e3_b270_f0854a10f247.jpg]]
6	%%
7
8	The FilmOfTheBook by the same name, Lone Survivor tells the story of Operation Red Wings and the death of SEAL team 10. Starring Creator/MarkWahlberg and featuring an extended cameo by Marcus Luttrell himself (though not ''as'' himself), the story is slightly changed from Luttrell's original telling, and considerably truncated.
9
10	----
11
12	!!This work contains examples of:
13
14	* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Axelson's final conversation with Luttrell. It's quickly broken up by the fight continuing, though.
15	* AgonyOfTheFeet: ''Multiple'' gunshot wounds to feet. By the time they end up separated, Marcus is the only soldier that wasn't shot in his feet yet.
16	* AllThereInTheScript: Numerous characters aren't named in the movie, but get both their names listed in the credits and are identified by their - often full - names in the book.
17	* AnyoneCanDie: Seeing as this is about an operation that went '''horribly''' wrong...
18	* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Bullet to the leg? You could do an improvised tourniquet with a piece of cloth, but why not just shove the dirt cloth into the hole with your thumb and call it a day instead! Bullet to the gut? Puncturing the intestines is sure to lead to serious infections... slap some dirt on it to make absolutely sure your buddy dies from sepsis.
19	* BoomHeadshot: In the film, the [=SEAL=]s score plenty of headshots, and it takes ''two'' for Axelson to finally go down.
20	* BigDamnHeroes: [[SubvertedTrope Cruelly subverted,]] as Kristensen arriving with the other [=SEALs=] is treated as a HopeSpot… right up until a rocket-propelled grenade is fired ''directly'' into the Chinook's cargo bay and kills ''everyone'' aboard.
21	* BilingualBonus: The old goat herder tells the team in Pashtun 'you will all die tonight.'
22	* BreakTheBadass: Dietz breaks down under the stress of the fight, and eventually Luttrell suffers from both injuries and the deaths of his friends.
23	* BrickJoke: While going over the rules of engagement and mission plan in the briefing, they discuss their radio protocol. The team is told to call in every two hours, and it is decided that if the team misses two consecutive radio calls, to "wake someone up" - slang for take serious action. Later, the CO is ''literally'' woken up by the team calling in on an unsecure satphone...after missing two consecutive radio calls.
24	* TheCavalry:
25	** Two Chinook choppers without any support speed up to the rescue. You can probably predict [[HopeSpot how this goes]].
26	** In the end, the full air rescue is send to the Kandish village, just in time to turn the tide of the ongoing skirmish.
27	* ChekhovsGun: The Makarov pistol Taraq is shown carrying is used in the finale. [[spoiler: Against him]].
28	* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: How Luttrell is eventually saved - he's found by a local Pashtun and has to almost drag by force to safety from an incoming Taliban patrol.
29	* CreatorCameo: Director Peter Berg is briefly seen as one of the [=SEALs=] jeering during at Shane Patton's dance sequence. Marcus Luttrell himself also appears in several scenes as the big unnamed [=SEAL=] with the full beard.
30	* DeathGlare: When the team captures the goat herders, the young boy watches them carefully, the old man looks at them with worry, and the young man gives them an infuriated DeathGlare. Guess which one ends up ratting them out?
31	* DefiantToTheEnd: Luttrell, when he is nearly executed, is still calling out his would-be executioner.
32	* DeskJockey: [=SEAL=] newbie, Shane, resents being relegated to this position, wishing to join the battlefield.
33	* {{Determinator}}: The entire [=SEAL=] team, but most notably Axelson. He keeps going until he runs out of bullets for both his rifle and his side arm and only then stops moving. That after taking multiple wounds of all kinds himself, including a (grazing) one to his head.
34	* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: Considering the sheer premise of the story, done very well.
35	* DiedStandingUp: Lt. Murphy in the film, who falls to his knees in death, but never completely to the ground.
36	* DwindlingParty: Until all that's left is one lone survivor.
37	* {{Fingore}}: Dietz gets two of his finger shot off very early on - and he doesn't realise the actual damage until few minutes later.
38	* ForegoneConclusion: Even if you hadn't heard the story the title is a less-than-subtle hint. Unfortunately, this actively deflates any possible drama, because the story really is this simple and the title alone summarises first 80 of the 110 minutes running time.
39	* FromBadToWorse: The ''entire film'' is a story of an operation that went horribly wrong and the longer the engagement lasts, the worse it goes for the protagonists, with more and more things going sideways - including [[spoiler: their cavalry being shot down]].
40	* {{Gorn}}: The film is quite graphic with the [=SEAL=]s' [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake injuries.]] [=SEAL=]s don't die easily.
41	* GunshipRescue:
42	** [[HopeSpot Subverted]] the first time, when one of the transport choppers is shot down and the other has to be pulled out.
43	** Played straight the second time, where a proper rescue operation with full support is performed.
44	* HeroicSacrifice: Murphy sacrifices himself to get a good signal in order to call in help.
45	** SenselessSacrifice: The aircraft he successfully calls in are unable to help the survivors.
46	* HopeSpot: Thanks to Lt. Murphy's sacrifice, support aircraft are eventually called in for the surviving [=SEAL=]s, but one is quickly shot down, killing all onboard, and forcing the other to withdraw immediately.
47	* IJustWantToBeBadass: Patton wants nothing more than to join his brothers in arms on the battlefield. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Considering the title of the book and film...]]
48	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy:
49	** ZigZagged for the most part. The [=SEALs=] have had years of training that the Taliban members can't possibly compete with. Said that, the Taliban come off as bad shots by simple comparison, rather than actual poor accuracy, and then there is also the gear disparity to account for.
50	** Played straight when Axelson is being finally killed. It takes ''three'' bullets for the Taliban to hit him from range of just few paces, where missing such shot shouldn't be even possible.
51	* InstantDeathBullet: One of the most notable subversions in modern cinema. All the [=SEALs=] take multiple gunshot and even shrapnel wounds and just keep going. Granted, their do break down from fatigue and blood loss, while their combat capacity is gradually worn down, and three of them eventually get killed. But it takes multiple shots to bring each of them down and over prolonged time.
52	* TheLadysFavour: Dietz's girlfriend wants him to return in one piece so they can remodel their home together.
53	* LanguageBarrier: Naturally between Luttrell and his Pashtun hosts, leading to somewhat humorous exchanges.
54	* LeParkour: In the film, one Taliban member is shown swiftly leaping his way down the mountainous terrain with little effort.
55	* MadeOfIron: Luttrell, Murphy, Dietz, and Axelson are all wounded literally ''dozens'' of times before going down. TruthInTelevision, as [[TrainingFromHell [=BUD/S=] training, especially Hell Week]], is designed to weed out everybody except men who are both superhumanly physically tough and mentally ''will not'' quit.
56	--> '''[=PO2=] Matt Axelson (with a bullet wound in the back of his head):''' Marcus, did they really shoot me in the fuckin' head?
57	--> '''[=PO2=] Marcus Luttrel:''' Uh...shit, yeah.
58	--> '''[=PO2=] Matt Axelson (reloading his sidearm):''' Damn it.
59	* MetaTwist: When Axe and Marcus are having a heart-breaking chat about what is to be passed to Cindy, the whole scene is build up for the cliche [[spoiler: "shot in the head mid-sentence"]]. It never happens.
60	* MoodWhiplash: Luttrell almost getting executed is immediately followed by a comedic scene where he asks for a knife and, due to the language barrier, initially gets a duck instead. This, in turn, is followed by Luttrell using said knife to dig shrapnel out of his wounded leg and ''[[{{Squick}} sloooowly]]'' pull out a shard of metal nearly the size of his hand.
61	* NervousWreck: As things become more and more hopeless, Dietz cracks under the pressure.
62	* NiceMeanAndInBetween:
63	** TheMcCoy: Luttrell, who votes to spare the captured shepherds, thereby dooming the mission.
64	** TheSpock: Axelson, who suggests killing the shepherds for the sake of the mission.
65	** TheKirk: Lt. Murphy, who weighs both sides and ultimately chooses to abandon the mission and spare the shepherds.
66	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Luttrell says he's from Texas near the end of the film, but Mark Wahlberg doesn't lose his signature Boston accent.
67	* OffWithHisHead: Luttrell comes close to suffering this traditional method of execution, but is narrowly saved by friendly Afghan Pashtun villagers.
68	* PetTheDog: Luttrell's scenes with the village boy.
69	* PragmaticAdaptation:
70	** The film leaves out the extended period of time Luttrell spent with the villagers, all the relationships he built therein, and how Taliban fighters repeatedly broke in at night to beat and torture him. There is, however, a brief nod to it when he hugs a kid who helped him and says "thank you" right before leaving.
71	** In the movie, a battered Marcus Luttrell stands up and limps to Mohammad Gulab's village. In real life, Luttrell had suffered multiple bullet and shrapnel wounds, a broken leg, and fractured vertebrae, and couldn't even get up on his knees. Instead, he ''[[InjuredSelfDrag crawled]]'' to the stream where Gulab found him. ''[[MadeOfIron Across ten Goddamn miles of the Hindu Kush Mountains]]''. The producers [[RealityIsUnrealistic didn't think anyone would believe that]].
72	** In the book, the team takes a vote to decide the fate of the goatherders, and Luttrell casts the deciding vote after Murphy states he would go along with what Luttrell chose. This sparked a considerable controversy after the book was published and prompted a statement from Lt. Murphy's father claiming that his son would never hold a democratic vote to decide if someone should live or die, let alone a civilian. In the film, the team debates, bickers, begins to vote... and Lt. Murphy steps out from behind a tree and announces in ringing tones that ''he'' is in command and will make the decision. Theoretically, the only living person who knows the actual sequence of events is Luttrell.
73	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Quoth the Pashtun villager, "'''F***! Taliban!'''"
74	* RuleOfDrama: Most of the Pashto is untranslated, as Luttrell didn't know it. However, when he's about to be executed by the Taliban and one of the Pashtun invokes SacredHospitality to keep him alive, we're briefly given subtitles so that the Taliban not executing him would be reasonable and not seem like a DeusExMachina.
75	* SacredHospitality: The reason why Marcus is being helped. To the point where the locals would rather fight to defend him, on the ground of how sacred the hospitality is, than simply let him be captured and executed. He never quite can wrap his head around to why ''anyone'' would do such a thing.
76	* ShirtlessScene:
77	** Taylor Kitsch gets one in the beginning of the film.
78	** Played for drama when Marcus is undressed later on to be put him into clean, less conspicuous clothes, and all the multiple wounds he had taken already are being shown up-close.
79	* ShootTheShaggyDog: In the film, Shane Patton, the young and eager [=SEAL=] newbie, is finally flown in to aid our heroes only to be immediately killed by an [=RPG=].
80	* ShoutOut: Patton does the [[Film/NapoleonDynamite Napoleon dance]] as part of his hazing ritual.
81	* SingleTear: Pain-induced.
82	* SoleSurvivor: Unsuprisingly, Luttrell ends up as the only survivor of [=SEAL=] team 10.
83	* TakingYouWithMe:
84	** Once the whole operation goes sideway, Murphy and Luttrell have a semi-serious exchange they now gonna have easier time killing their targets, given they are surrounded and probably won't make it alive anyway. It very quickly stops being funny.
85	** Marcus is eventually desperate enough to keep carrying a grenade just to make it clear, despite the LanguageBarrier, that he doesn't trust the people around him, even if they seem to be helpful.
86	* TrainingMontage: The film's opening is a montage of real-life [=SEALs=] training. And not even the combat or survival training itself, just the Hell Week portion in which candidates are wet, sandy, sleep-deprived, and hypothermic (San Diego winters may be relatively mild, but the water gets ''cold'') for eight days straight, in which most quit voluntarily. Despite it being only a few minutes long, it's more than enough to show how [=SEALs=] get to be such badasses.
87	* ValuesDissonance: {{Invoked}}. Luttrell is a conservative Christian from Texas who has effectively no common ground with the equally conservative Muslim Pashtun. Still, he admires their courage and commitment to ''their'' idea of honor, and when he describes the [[StayInTheKitchen the Pashtun attitude towards women]], he admits that while their extreme views "may not work for downtown Dallas," it seemed to work well enough for them.
88	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: In the end, the Taliban that does find Luttrell starts to beat and toss him around, instead of simply putting few bullets into him.

Context Film / LoneSurvivor