Is Lone Survivor based on a true story? Explained

Lone Survivor is a war drama based on a true story from 2005 that hit screens in 2013 and emerged as a commercial success, collecting $154.8 million globally on a budget of $40 million. The film revolves around Operation Red Wings, a joint military mission to locate Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, and is based on Marcus Luttrell’s non-fiction book of the same name.

Lone Survivor has an ensemble cast headlined by Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, and Eric Bana. It is directed by Peter Berg and distributed by Universal Pictures.

The film was shot in New Mexico and received a 25 percent tax credit. It received Oscar nominations for ‘Best Sound Editing’ and ‘Best Sound Mixing’. Moreover, the National Board of Review selected it as one of the top ten films of 2013.

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What is the true story of Lone Survivor?

The war drama is a retelling of an act of bravery during Operation Red Wings in 2005 and is set in Afghanistan.

The mission was carried out by four SEALS, who were fast-roped to the target area, to gather intel on Ahmad Shah’s activities and his whereabouts, but went awry following a tragic turn of events. The SEALS came across a group of civilian goat-herders who they suspected to be Taliban sympathizers but decided against killing them.

Following this, Shah came to know about their coordinates and this led to a Taliban strike in which they were heavily outnumbered. The SEALS tried to withstand the onslaught and killed 35 Taliban men but were overpowered with Luttrell being the sole survivor.

He continued to descend the mountain on which he was posted despite being severely injured and soon came across Mohammad Gulab, a Pashtun civilian, who gave him shelter in his village till US soldiers arrived.

Gulab’s actions were in accordance with Nanawatai, a tenet Pashtun code in which asylum is granted to one to protect them from enemies.

It took Luttrell a while to recover from these injuries but he eventually returned to full duty and was redeployed to Central Iraq. He then established the Lone Survivor Foundation to ‘empower wounded service members’

The film stayed true to the actual events but Peter Berg dramatized the events to offer a more compelling cinematic experience.

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Is Lone Survivor worth watching?

The film holds an approval rating of 75 percent on Rotten Tomatoes based on 227 reviews. The critics' consensus reads:

“A true account of military courage and survival, Lone Survivor wields enough visceral power to mitigate its heavy-handed jingoism.”

Its Metacritic rating stands at 60 percent based on 44 reviews, which indicates mixed reviews. The audience gave it a perfect rating of ‘A+’ on an ‘A+ to F-’ scale on CinemaScore. The film’s IMDB rating stands at 7.5.

Lone Survivor is currently available to subscribers on Netflix and HBO Max. The war drama is also available to rent in SD and HD on iTunes, Prime Video, and Vudu for $3.99. Google Play offers the film in SD at a slightly lower price of $3.49.

Viewers might want to explore one of these services if they are interested in revisiting the film.