Netflix fans rave over 'one of the greatest war movies of all time' based on 'unbearably brutal' true story - but warn 'it'll rip your heart out!'
Netflix fans have been left raving over 'one of the greatest war movies of all time' based on the 'unbearably brutal' true story of an American Navy SEAL. The 'enthralling' film, which is set during the war in Afghanistan, was quietly added to the streaming service earlier this month, over a decade after it was first released. Lone Survivor, which was first enjoyed by cinema-goers in 2013, is based on the 2007 nonfiction novel of the same name by Marcus Luttrell. The film tells the story of retired Navy SEAL Marcus, 50, and his three colleagues – who are sent to track down the Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah, in Operation Red Wings.The four-man group soon find themselves the target of unrelenting enemy attacks, and the SEALs must battle to survive, with only one of them making an escape. The synopsis teases: 'It’s 2005, and a Navy SEAL team accepts a top-secret mission to hunt down a Taliban leader in the mountains of Afghanistan. Netflix fans have been left raving over 'one of the greatest war movies of all time' based on the 'unbearably brutal' true story of an American Navy SEAL The 'enthralling' film, which is set during the war in Afghanistan, was quietly added to the streaming service earlier this month, over a decade after it was first released'But when the elite unit touches down, it’s not long before their mission is compromised, and they’re forced into a brutal fight for survival.’Written and directed by Friday Night Lights' Peter Berg, the two-time Oscar nominated film starred Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch and Eric Bana. The movie was released on Netflix making it free to view for UK viewers. While it was met with mixed reviews at the time of its release, Lone Survivor has also been hailed as 'one of the greatest war movies of all time' by some critics. ‘A scorching, often unbearably brutal account of a June 2005 military mission that claimed the lives of 19 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Kunar province,’ Variety penned in a review at the time of the film's release. The Wall Street Journal added: ‘Peter Berg’s screen version of Marcus Luttrell’s book is remarkably good at dramatising the notorious 2005 Navy SEAL operation that went horrifically bad.'While Slate said: ‘Lone Survivor’s lack of suspense never works against it. If anything, the fact that the outcome is, at least roughly, known in advance only adds to the film’s sickening tension.'And fans have agreed, with one taking to reviews site IMDb to add: 'It does hit pretty hard. Not for anyone squeamish, this is fraught with tension.' Lone Survivor, which was first enjoyed by cinema-goers in 2013, is based on the 2007 nonfiction novel of the same name by Marcus Luttrell and stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch and Eric Bana The movie was released on Netflix making it free to view for UK viewersAnother said: 'A truly brutal and gripping cinematic experience... it delivers a metric tonne of thrills and contains one of the most intense and bloodiest gun fights I've ever seen in a film.'While someone else penned: 'Easily the best War Movie since "Saving Private Ryan", and based only an actual story. After all is said and done this is a must see if there ever was one.'Back in 2007 when the film was released, director Berg told Collider: 'I knew that I wanted to pay respect to men who are willing to put themselves in between us and danger, evil. I knew that. I believe in that.‘What Marcus did when he wrote the book was he gave me the opportunity to settle down and experience what he and his brothers went through, and that meant a lot to me.'One thing that I think Lone Survivor does, and certainly his book did it, is it gives an audience a chance to, in their own way, acknowledge what these guys are doing, and pay respect, sit for two hours.’Operation Red Wings, which is also known as the Battle of Abbas Ghar, was a military operation carried out in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in 2005. The operation was intended to disrupt the activities of the local Taliban-aligned militias, led by Ahmad Shah, and tasked the SEALs with surveying a group of structures used by the militias. The group were ambushed during the operation, with three of them killed in the battle that followed – and a further eight Navy SEALs killed when an aid helicopter, sent in to rescue the men, was also shot down. Director Peter Berg (left) said the film helps viewers 'pay respects' to the armed forcesThe operation then became known as Red Wings II, and lasted three further weeks in which the bodies of the Navy SEALs were recovered and the only survivor, Luttrell, was rescued. Shah was killed in 2008 by Pakistani troops during a gun fight. It comes after Netflix fans were left raving over a 'masterclass in modern horror' as a hit film left them 'shaken to their very core' with the 'scariest scene they've ever seen'.The movie, which was first released in 2013, features a star-studded cast including Interstellar actress Jessica Chastain and Game Of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.Mama, which is directed by horror film legend Andy Muschietti, who is also behind the likes of It and It Chapter Two, tells the story of two young girls who lose their parents in a series of horrific events. On the day their parents pass away, the orphaned children vanish into the woods, prompting a frantic search by their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj) and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica). The girls are drawn deeper into the forest where they're raised by a dark entity – and are found alive in a decaying old cabin five years later. Rescued by their uncle, they try to start up a new life, but as Annabel tries to introduce them to normality, it becomes apparent something isn't right. Lone Survivor is streaming now on Netflix
