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Saw the Mark Wahlberg movie 'Lone Survivor' today

I have really been wanting to see it. Glad to hear you thought it was good. There are many sad situations during war, but very few of our stories are told. 
 
I saw it the other night - was hoping someone would start a thread about it...I was mixed. 
 
Excellent movie. Incredibly sad. But at the same time, (and hopefully without posting spoilers) I thought it was especially sad from the mile-high perspective of what a crappy situation those dudes were put into for lack of intel, and from the 10 mile high perspective that the overarching war there is kind of pointless. 
 
I think that's maybe why it's drawing so many comparisons to Platoon - in that Vietnam was such a cluster. 
 
I left feeling mad about the whole thing, and sad for those men and their families. The closing credits with photos was especially gut wrenching. Agreed - very emotional film. 
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
I knew they made a mistake by not wasting those goat herders. Loose lips sink ships as the old saying goes. :(
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probably a lot easier said than done though - the entire series of events hinged on that moral dilemma.  They made the right moral call, and it cost them dearly. One of those rare occasions when karma backfires. 
Especially difficult since a couple of them were teenage kids...

(the goat herders that is) 
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
I knew they made a mistake by not wasting those goat herders. Loose lips sink ships as the old saying goes. :(
 
Well said Scott!
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Far too many people in the theater were yelling to kill the goat herders. It's not that simple. The exact same thing may have happened when they didn't return to the camp. And they are right about the possible fall out from killing the kids. One of my friends was involved in the Blackwater scandal and he is going through so much shit.
 
All that being said, I would have probably wasted them. But it's really not a simple decision at all. It could mean the success of the mission but the rest of your life in prison...
 
I understand that Scott but sometimes the "moral choice" is not the best especially for a covert spec ops mission.
They learned enough from Vietnam to know what happens in a situation like that. A bad deal all around though as you stated especially with the pathetic Army support.
 
Seemed like a propaganda piece to me. Enlistment getting low? A lot of it was made up or changed too.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
I understand that Scott but sometimes the "moral choice" is not the best especially for a covert spec ops mission.
They learned enough from Vietnam to know what happens in a situation like that. A bad deal all around though as you stated especially with the pathetic Army support.
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oh, totally agree - like I said - incredibly difficult moral decision. They flipped that coin and lost. But as others have said - they were in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I'm more mad that they were put there - no excuse for the lack of intel. Not like they didn't have satellite imagery and fly-overs. The taliban wasn't exactly hiding from how they represented the situation. 
AaronRiot said:
60 minutes did a special a little while back on the incident featuring the lone survivor himself, if anyone is interested:
 
Part 1 http://navyseals.com/3647/60-minutes-interviews-lone-survivor-part-one/
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gonna check that out - thanks for the link. :cheers: 
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
So what? It's a movie not a documentary.
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I just expected something based on real recent events to be more true. I like my fair share of war movies but this one was boring and contrived.
 
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
I dunno - I just watched the 60 mins clip & it sounds like it was pretty close to the mark.
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Well the whole battle at the end with the Taliban never happened. The guy they were after was not a high value target. There were not 200 Taliban fighters during the main fight. He never dug a bullet out of his leg.
 
And they didnt save him to fight the Taliban, they saved him simply because it was a village rule to protect guests of the village.
 
And they never thought to use the sat phone sooner than they did. Totally genius.
 
So ya it was almost like being there it was so close to the mark.
 
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Some people are just over critical. Why is that?
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I love movies. This one was 'ok' for the propaganda piece that it is, but not a great movie. Not liking a movie you like due to your brainwashing is not being overly critical. It's just not a great movie. I was disappointed to find out after I watched it that most of the 'facts' had been skewed.
 
It's definitely not a Full Metal Jacket or Saving Private Ryan.
 
I was impressed by some of the special effects that gave Lone Survivor some realism. But thats about it.
 
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