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Lone Survivor | 2013 | R | - 1.9.10

Based on the failed 2005 mission "Operation Red Wings": Four Navy Seals assigned to take out enemy fighters are trapped in the treacherous mountains of Afghanistan and outnumbered by armed Taliban fighters. With Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Yousuf Azami, Ali Suliman and Eric Bana. Directed by Peter Berg. [2:01]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - Men and women hug and kiss. A man and a woman communicate in a loving way through a computer.
 A young man performs a dance in front of other men while they catcall and tease him. A man talks about his wife being pregnant.
 A man removes a wounded and unconscious man's clothing to clean him up and we see him bare-chested and wearing boxer briefs. Several men sleep bare-chested (bare abdomens and backs are also seen). A wounded man is shown bare-chested while medical personnel try to revive him. Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage.

VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - Several gunmen take a man and shove him; the man is leaned forward over a tree trunk and another man raises a long knife over him, and the man with the blade brings it down and hacks the other man's head off (we see several blows and blood spray and we hear crunching).
 Four SEALs take aim at armed gunmen on a ridge, one man is shot in the head and chest (blood spurts from the wounds) and gunfire is exchanged; several other men are shot and blood sprays from their wounds, a SEAL is shot in the head (blood pours) and another is shot in the arm, one fights an enemy gunman with punches and kicks and slams his head against a rock until he is dead and a huge gun opens fire on the SEALs and one is shot in the abdomen and another in the leg (we see blood on both wounds); an RPG is launched and the explosion sends debris all around the SEALs, they run and as an explosion blasts behind them, they jump off a rock ledge, they tumble out of control down a rocky mountainside and slam into rocks all the way down (we hear crunches, grunting and slamming and they are all seen with bloody cuts on their heads and faces). A SEAL is shot in the foot and another in the shoulder as huge explosions detonate around them and we hear bullets whizzing; we see the bloody nubs of one man's fingers as he tries to wrap them and another man wheezes and gasps and one man drools blood. SEALs are surrounded by armed enemy and they are fired upon and smoke bombs are thrown, and they climb down a rock wall; one of them is shot in the shoulder, we hear bones crunching as they fall on rocks and one man stops before landing on a snake; one man coughs and spits blood. A SEAL picks off one enemy after another and we see blood spurt as he says, "I am the reaper." A SEAL climbs to a peak trying to get a clear signal and he is fired upon: we see him struck several times and blood spurts from his wounds as he slumps to his knees. A SEAL is shot in the side and the arm and we see his eye swollen shut from a previous injury.
 An RPG is shot into a village and we see people running and shouting while firing on the people who fired the RPG; gunfire is exchanged and we see several people shot with blood spurting. A man is struck in the face and a boy is hit in the face; the man fights with the man who struck him and shoots him in the stomach three times. A man attacks a SEAL and he struggles when he is held around the throat; a young boy hands the man a knife and he stabs the attacker three times in the chest.
 A badly injured SEAL lies gasping and wheezing on the ground and an enemy searches him and takes his possessions; he appears to be drifting off and an enemy gunman takes aim at him (it's not clear if he shoots him or not). A badly injured SEAL leans against a tree and gasps and wheezes as enemy fighters approach him; enemies shoot at him three times, twice hitting the tree behind him and the third time he is struck in the head (we see blood spurt and his head falls forward).
 A SEAL is shown with badly wounded legs and we see a lot of blood and wounds with what we presume to be shrapnel, as he pushes the shrapnel into his flesh (we hear squishing and he moans). A SEAL cuts the cloth of his pant leg off and exposes a badly wounded and bloody leg with shrapnel sticking out of it; the man pulls the shrapnel out of the wounds and pulls back a flap of skin to find more shrapnel and moans.
 An RPG blows a helicopter out of the sky and we see it break apart with many SEALs inside. Helicopters open fire on enemy fighters on the ground and we see dust kicked up as people are struck and fall to the ground. A helicopter carrying a wounded unconscious man covered with blood, flies low to the ground; we see his bare chest and bloody wounds in his shoulder and chest are shown and when the helicopter lands, he is rushed into a medical facility and we see him flatline as medical personnel try to revive him using CPR and defibrillator paddles (they succeed). We see that a SEAL has a gaping and bloody hole in his abdomen. A SEAL has a large bloody wound on the back of the head.
 Several goats walk through an area where four SEALs are hiding, the herders follow close behind and one of the herders steps on one of the SEALs; the herders try to run and the SEALS catch them and restrain them; one herder tries to run again and he is knocked to the ground and the SEALS try to decide what to do: they talk about leaving them tied up (although they'd be eaten by wolves), they consider killing them (and they'd be know then for killing kids since one is a child) and letting them go (which they end up doing).
 Armed men search a village and one man hits a man in the face; they strike another man and pull him toward a log presumably to cut off his head, but they are stopped by other men of the village who hold guns on them. A man trips on rocks and falls; we see him limping but do not see blood. A man finds water and falls into it.
 Helicopters fly low to the ground through mountains at night while carrying armed men and they prepare to drop out by ropes; four men drop out and walk through rocky terrain high in a mountain; the men spot their target and take cover until nightfall.
 We hear that a man killed 20 Marines. We hear orders that four Navy SEALS are to "capture and kill" a man and that he can be identified by not having earlobes. An attack plan is laid out for four Navy SEALS to find an enemy target. Taliban fighters plan an attack on a village. A SEAL says, "I'd hate to see him [mild scatological term deleted]" referring to God watching out for them during a mission. A SEAL tells a man, "I will kill you." A man threatens villagers that "You will all be slaughtered."
 We see several Navy SEAL recruits going through training in cold water and extreme environments; one man appears to be losing consciousness. A man helps a wounded SEAL out of water and he is taken to a village where he is treated. Men with guns walk through a village as other armed men watch them. A man sleeps with a gun and ammo by his pillow. We see a young man (late teen) running down a craggy mountain side and jumping across crevasses (he is unharmed).
 Men throw food and other items at a younger man who is new to the group in a teasing manner (he is not harmed). A man tells another man "you are making me nauseous" when he hears him chewing through his communicator (we can hear chewing). A man guzzles water and shoves food in his mouth after begin without either for some time.

LANGUAGE 10 - About 143 F-words and its derivatives, 14 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (frog man, super freak, Hajis, cursed op), exclamations (shut-up), 2 religious profanities (GD), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. God's Looking Out For Us, Oh God).

SUBSTANCE USE - Beer names are used as passwords for a mission. A man chews tobacco and spits juice into a bottle, and a man smokes a cigarette.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - War, military tactics, Pashtunwali (the tribal honor code of the Pashtun tribe), Navy SEAL training, sacrifice, pushing your limits, the Taliban, rules of engagement, hate, death, dangerous military missions.

MESSAGE - Not all Afghan people are terrorists. War is hellish.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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