"Been around the world twice. Talked to everyone once. There ain't nothing I can't do. No sky's too high. No sea's too rough. Learned a lot of lessons in my life. Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet. Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards. I'm a lover. I'm a fighter. I'm a UDT Navy SEAL diver." This is the creed Alexander Ludwig delivers in the upcoming military drama Lone Survivor, and it serves as a bold introduction to Yahoo's behind-the-scenes featurette
Based on Marcus Luttrell's non-fiction book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, this feature from writer-director Peter Berg tells the story of SEAL 10's failed mission on June 28th, 2005. Known as "Operation Red Wings," the objective was to capture and kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd, but--as you may have guessed from the tile--the book's author was the only survivor of this endeavor.
"The prime objective was just to find this Taliban leader," Berg explains in the above featurette, "but they got there and things just started going wrong." Mark Wahlberg stars as Luttrell, and is joined by Ludwig, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Ben Foster, and Taylor Kitsch. Speaking of his cast, Berg says, "The actors knew they had a responsibility to capture that warrior spirit that these men had." Lutrell also makes an appearance in this vid to recount part of his incredible survivor story. "He believes the reason he survived," Berg offers, "is to make sure people remember who these guys were and how they died. He was going to make sure I understood what happened on that mountain."
Lone Survivor has been a passion project for Berg since 2007. This look behind the scenes makes clear the earnestness he has for making this film something special that speaks to the experience of being a soldier in a no-win situation. However, good intentions alone don't make good movies. And Berg's past is checkered with hits and misses. Sure, he helmed hits like the beloved football drama Friday Night Lights and the Will Smith-fronted superhero adventure Hancock. But he also directed such flops as the 2007 espionage thriller The Kingdom and the atrocious sci-fi actioner Battleship, which boasted a $209 million dollar price tag, was ravaged by critics and made only $65 million domestically.
Here's hoping his latest team-up with failed leading man Taylor Kitsch will be better. After Battleship sank, both of their reputations could use it.
Lone Survivor will open in limited release on December 27th, 2013. A wider release will follow on January 10th, 2014.
