[Movie] Act of Valor

[GoGeTa006]

So, I just watched this movie cause a friend of mine was super hyped about it because they use real bullets, real explosions, real parachutes, real submarines. . .real everything, no actors, all are actual NAVY SEALs and TBH I was (still am) very skeptical.
The movie is an extreme cliche of American Special Operiations, you know your average satelite tracking, traveling the world in a couple of hours, deployment, perfect team work, lucky "the-rocket-didnt-explode-in-my-chest" type of things. . .
cool guys that dont look back at explosions. . .you know, the norm.


Anyways as I am seeing this Im just thinking "are these real bullets?"

If they are then that movie should've been banned for the extreme risks, I mean putting people on target and shooting at them, if they are ALL REAL BULLETS then we're talking that someone got shot. . .and I seriously doubt it

In my opinion they used 1 real bullet in the whole movie and just use it as advertisement. . .

I dont know, if you guys want to see it go ahead, I cant believe people clapped at the end (. . .Americans )

its full of American values and all that good stuff. . .

Iono whats your input on it all being "real"?

Im trying to search the inter-webs to see if I find something that mentions exactly whats real and whats not. . .but everything is just some advertising article that says that everything is real. . .

[Ixarku]

This movie gets a big "I don't give a damn" from me.  Sadly, people (not only Americans) love movies with lots of action and explosions regardless of whatever else such films might lack, as evidenced by the success of Michael Bay, so it's not surprising that something with a lot of action and jingoism is popular with the movie going public.  But personally I've got better things to spend my time & money on.

[Nikkoru]

I thought this was going to be the dramatized version of Bin Laden's death - I heard Disney bought the rights to the story less than a week later. To do something like those 9/11 movies. I guess it's not.

I like stories about war, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers -- Mobile Suit Gundam is my favourite anime franchise. While fictitious, they provide a setting to examine something complex within human nature when it's put under extraordinary and often debasing circumstances. Loud noises and flashy things don't interest me so much.

"Reality" is something of a joke now, after a decade or so of "reality" television. People don't want to view real, it's too gruesome or too boring. As my friend says "Reality television is to objective reality as pornography is to actual sex. Not many people are going to spend their money to watch an average couple's collective fat jiggle for three minutes only to roll over exhausted and watch television until they pass out."

I think a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit could be interesting, but this sounds  like Battlefield Los Angeles, only with Arabs in the place of aliens.

[Takeshi]

I like stories about war, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers -- Mobile Suit Gundam is my favourite anime franchise. While fictitious, they provide a setting to examine something complex within human nature when it's put under extraordinary and often debasing circumstances. Loud noises and flashy things don't interest me so much.

You seen The Pacific? On equal grounds with those you mentioned.

Somehow I doubt that they'd use real bullets.

[GoGeTa006]

I think a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit could be interesting, but this sounds  like Battlefield Los Angeles, only with Arabs in the place of aliens.

from everything I've read so far on that movie it is ALMOST a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit. . .(at least the way the operation is carried out is 100% real (according to the interwebs ) )
so even tho the "plot" is fake, the way it is handled is real

[Nikkoru]

I think a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit could be interesting, but this sounds  like Battlefield Los Angeles, only with Arabs in the place of aliens.

from everything I've read so far on that movie it is ALMOST a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit. . .(at least the way the operation is carried out is 100% real (according to the interwebs ) )
so even tho the "plot" is fake, the way it is handled is real

I think you and I have differing opinions on what constitutes a documentary. Based on the newspaper reviews I've read, quite a few at this point, this could be more easily categorized in the same area as the sort of creative propaganda fiction the United States government employed during the 40's to counter the Nazi's lies or a feature length recruitment video.

It's uncritical and focused on the glorification of combat and combat roles. Which is my main problem with it - unlike The Hurt Locker for instance - which also used realistic elements in its depiction of the Iraq war in the course of a rich fictional narrative, this is just a shoot'em up.

It doesn't engage any issue, doesn't make you think, doesn't flesh out these men or apparently ask anything of the SEALs beyond being over trained stuntmen.

[GoGeTa006]

I think a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit could be interesting, but this sounds  like Battlefield Los Angeles, only with Arabs in the place of aliens.

from everything I've read so far on that movie it is ALMOST a genuine documentary of a Navy Seal unit. . .(at least the way the operation is carried out is 100% real (according to the interwebs ) )
so even tho the "plot" is fake, the way it is handled is real

I think you and I have differing opinions on what constitutes a documentary. Based on the newspaper reviews I've read, quite a few at this point, this could be more easily categorized in the same area as the sort of creative propaganda fiction the United States government employed during the 40's to counter the Nazi's lies or a feature length recruitment video.

It's uncritical and focused on the glorification of combat and combat roles. Which is my main problem with it - unlike The Hurt Locker for instance - which also used realistic elements in its depiction of the Iraq war in the course of a rich fictional narrative, this is just a shoot'em up.

It doesn't engage any issue, doesn't make you think, doesn't flesh out these men or apparently ask anything of the SEALs beyond being over trained stuntmen.

yeah I kind of found propagandist as well. . .TBH if I was 17 I would so join the Navy after watching that film. . .
and well its not a documentary in a. . .documentary sense but Im guessing (as I mentioned its what the internet says (we all know the internet never lies)) its the "closest thing to a dcoumentary"

TBH the fiction part really kills it for me, the story is mediocre and its action packed, but if operations are carried out like that. . .then damn! thats pretty damn nice (the rescue mission is pretty cool)

[elvikun]

Well, lately, you can see a lot of action films which clearly yell Politicaly correct, join the army and "the great american values".
And this is one of the paragon examples of that. It doesn't even matter whether the actors and bullets were real, you can't see them while puking rainbows.

[metro.]

I hate most blatantly FUCK YEAHHHH 'MERICAAA movies. This one only changes it by tossing in a gimmick, needless to say I'm not impressed.

A friend of mine watched it, and said he hated it. Then again, he wears lenless glasses and drinks PBR so his opinion might be invalid.

[Nikkoru]

I just find it puzzling that they choose the guy that wrote 300 for this, he's not the first person you go to if your goal is authenticity as far as I can tell.

They mixed up some kind of overarching plot with Arab terrorists, Russian smugglers, and Mexican gangsters...why? I mean look at Law & Order, they've written 10 million episodes by just reading that day's newspaper and phoning it in - you've got the SEALs right there, just ask them what they did for the last few months, change the names then copy & paste, and then have them ad lib. And why does live fire make it the least bit more interesting? It's not like they were firing it at the actors, do you really care that it's blanks? Hollywood can make it look pretty damn real these days that it's not so hard to suspend disbelief.

I'm just saying they could've made their lives easier, and probably have gotten me to rent it a few months from now.

[elvikun]

I just find it puzzling that they choose the guy that wrote 300 for this, he's not the first person you go to if your goal is authenticity as far as I can tell.

They mixed up some kind of overarching plot with Arab terrorists, Russian smugglers, and Mexican gangsters...why? I mean look at Law & Order, they've written 10 million episodes by just reading that day's newspaper and phoning it in - you've got the SEALs right there, just ask them what they did for the last few months, change the names then copy & paste, and then have them ad lib. And why does live fire make it the least bit more interesting? It's not like they were firing it at the actors, do you really care that it's blanks? Hollywood can make it look pretty damn real these days that it's not so hard to suspend disbelief.

I'm just saying they could've made their lives easier, and probably have gotten me to rent it a few months from now.

Seals are the good, pure american boys fighting for all that is good in the world. So they have to fight the evil. So they fight Russians, Arabs and Mexicans. There you go, the message is pretty clear.

And using real ammunition... well, noone really notices the difference, but I guess it makes the actors act more naturally, lol.