Photo Credit: Universal Pictures Copyright: © 2013 Universal Studios.
Navy SEALs operating in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
(L to R) Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class MATTHEW G. AXELSON, of Cupertino, California; Senior Chief Information Systems Technician DANIEL R. HEALY, of Exeter, New Hampshire; Quartermaster 2nd Class JAMES SUH, of Deerfield Beach, Florida; Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class MARCUS LUTTRELL; Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class ERIC S. PATTON, of Boulder City, Nevada; and Lt. MICHAEL P. MURPHY, of Patchogue, New York pose in Afghanistan.
With the exception of Luttrell, all were killed June 28, 2005, by enemy forces while supporting Operation Red Wings.
“No matter how many times I get up and tell this story,
or how many people read the book,
it’s nothing compared to how many people will watch this film.
So my job is done. Mission complete.”
—Marcus Luttrell
I like war films – always have.
Having seen LONE SURVIVOR in November, I can tell you it’s one of the finest additions to the genre and one of the best films of 2013.
The experience of what these men endured on their mission will have you in tears by the end of the movie. Director Peter Berg truly respects and honors these men with a realistic, timeless and isolated portrait of the sacrifices that one small band of warriors made… and how one survived to tell their tale.
In November, we showed you the first trailer and images from the film.
Here’s the latest TV spot and brand new photos.
Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, LONE SURVIVOR tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative who are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Faced with an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war. As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and resilience as they stay in the fight to the finish.
A total of 11 SEALs and 8 soldiers perished on that mountain. This day is forever marked in our history, as it became the biggest single loss of life for Naval Special Warfare forces since World War II, until August 6, 2011, when a U.S. Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan and 30 U.S. military personnel and 8 Afghans were killed.
(L to R) Retired Petty Officer 1st Class MARCUS LUTTRELL, TAYLOR KITSCH as Michael Murphy and MARK WAHLBERG as Marcus Luttrell on the set.
On June 28, 2005, a four-man reconnaissance and surveillance team – Lieutenant Michael Patrick “Murph” Murphy, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell, Sonar Technician (Surface) Second Class Petty Officer Matthew Gene “Axe” Axelson, Gunner’s Mate Second Class Danny P. Dietz, Jr. – boarded a helicopter for insertion into a remote mountainous region in Kunar province, near the Pakistan border. Their mission, code name Operation Red Wings, was to identify Ahmad Shah, a key Taliban leader believed to be hiding out in the mountainous terrain and responsible for the deaths of many American service members.
Although Murphy, Dietz, Axelson and Luttrell — under the command of Lieutenant Commander Erik S. Kristensen — coordinated a successful infiltration into the region, three goatherders grazing their flock stumbled upon the men’s hiding place and plunged the mission into immediate jeopardy. The SEALs knew it was time to abort. Protocol dictated that they release the civilian noncombatants, but were they to do so, they knew that it could be mere minutes before word reached the numerous Taliban fighters that Americans were up the mountain.
After a discussion of the rules of war, the SEALs saw that they only had three choices: kill the three civilians to prevent them from disclosing the location to the Taliban; tie them up and leave them on the mountain, where they would surely die due to the dropping temperatures; or set them free and make their own way to a communications zone and pickup. Ultimately, the civilians were cut loose, and the SEALs began an arduous climb to what they hoped to be safety.
Soon, hellfire rained down upon them. The Taliban assault—an intense firefight from PK machine guns, AK-47s, RPG-7s and 82 mm mortars—came quickly and relentlessly from three sides. Nothing the elite SEALs had experienced could have prepared them for what came next: They were outgunned by a much larger enemy force and driven deeper and deeper into the treacherous terrain.
Tragically, Murphy, Dietz and Axelson were killed on that mountain, alongside their would-be rescuers—those manning a Night Stalker MH-47D Chinook helicopter that was attempting to save the four SEALs. The helicopter was taken down by rocket-propelled grenade fire from the Taliban forces, and those aboard perished.
The lives of 16 Special Operations Forces including 8 other Navy SEALs — Kristensen, Petty Officer First Class Jeffrey S. Taylor, Petty Officer Second Class James E. Suh, Chief Petty Officer Jacques J. Fontan, Petty Officer First Class Jeffrey A. Lucas, Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel R. Healy, Lieutenant Michael M. McGreevy, Jr., and Petty Officer Second Class Shane E. Patton—and 8 Army Night Stalkers—Major Stephen C. Reich, Sergeant First Class Michael L. Russell, Chief Warrant Officer Christopher J. Scherkenbach, Master Sergeant James “Tre” W. Ponder, III, Sergeant Kip A. Jacoby, Sergeant First Class Marcus V. Muralles, Staff Sergeant Shamus O. Goare and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Corey J. Goodnature — were lost on that fateful day.
Because of the actions of his fellow men, Luttrell—although gravely wounded—evaded the enemy fighters and crawled miles to safety. Once again, however, Afghan civilians stumbled upon his hiding place. This time, he was more fortunate. A Pashtun villager named Gulab discovered Luttrell nearly dead—where the petty officer first class lay with a torn shoulder, facial fractures, broken back and pelvis and bullet holes that had riddled his body.
Gulab, whose tribe lives by the ancient code of the Pashtunwali—one that dates back to the pre-Islamic era—that dictates aid for a person in dire need from his enemies, was unblinking in his decision to take Luttrell into his home. At great risk to himself, his family and fellow villagers, Gulab defied the Taliban warlord Shah and hid the American soldier until he could be returned safely to his base.
Miraculously, Luttrell was finally located by American forces and brought to safety. Through courage, perseverance, the kindness of strangers and the ultimate sacrifice of his brother SEALs under the most extreme conditions, Luttrell is alive today with one mission: to share their story.
Luttrell says: “It’s about brotherhood, and about no matter how bad it gets or what happens to you, you keep fighting just to protect the guy next to you until the minute you die. You need to go through something like that to understand the capacity to which someone will go to give their life for somebody else. Most people wouldn’t do that. That’s what it resorted to: It went from hunting this guy down to protecting each other until the very end.”
MARK WAHLBERG (The Fighter, Contraband) leads the cast as Marcus Luttrell, the author of the first-person memoir “Lone Survivor,” whose book has become a motivational resource for its lessons on how the power of the human spirit is tested when we are pushed beyond our mental and physical limits.
Starring alongside Wahlberg as the other members of the elite team who gave everything for their brothers-in-arms are TAYLOR KITSCH (Savages, Friday Night Lights) as Michael Murphy, EMILE HIRSCH (Into the Wild, television’s Bonnie and Clyde) as Danny Dietz and BEN FOSTER (3:10 to Yuma, Kill Your Darlings) as Matthew “Axe” Axelson. ERIC BANA (Star Trek, Hanna) joins the core team as Erik Kristensen, their commanding officer in Afghanistan.
The performers are supported by ALI SULIMAN (The Kingdom) as Mohammad Gulab, an Afghan villager who protects Luttrell when the Taliban comes to execute him; ALEXANDER LUDWIG (The Hunger Games) as Shane Patton, one of the youngest members of SEAL Team 10; YOUSUF AZAMI (Brothers) as Ahmad Shah, a senior Taliban commander who orchestrates the attack; and SAMMY SHEIK (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as Taraq, Shah’s vicious second-in-command.
Lone Survivor is written and directed by PETER BERG, who again crafts a striking portrait of the unbreakable bonds between men that he first explored in Friday Night Lights. Based on the book “Lone Survivor” by retired Petty Officer First Class MARCUS LUTTRELL with PATRICK ROBINSON, the film tells the dramatic story of how a single decision resulted in unimaginable consequences for these SEALs and the fellow servicemen who tried to rescue them.
Check out the Featurette: “A Look Inside” HERE.
Universal Pictures will release the film in select theaters December 25, 2013, everywhere January 10, 2014.
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