So today, I just saw Universal Pictures' Lone Survivor. I'm not going to do a full review or anything, but all I will say is that it was one of the finest war films I have seen in a long, long time. I liked the movie Act of Valor, but honestly, Lone Survivor was the movie that Act of Valor wanted to be; a heartfelt tribute to the Navy Seals and the unbelievably superhuman tasks required of them. The movie portrayed a wide array of themes and truths; the incredible brotherhood that each and every Seal must build and maintain as cadets in order to support each other and carry each other just through their training alone, and then carry on into their careers; the fact that in this fallen world where bad, truly evil people are allowed to run rampant, doing the right thing is not always rewarded, and oftentimes people end up making great sacrifices as a result of doing the right thing; and finally, perhaps my favorite element of the movie, an illustration of people over in Afghanistan who really do appreciate what the United States has been attempting to accomplish over there, people who really are good and willing to fight for what is right against truly bad individuals, even if it means laying down their lives for what is right.

That's not to say that this movie is trying to justify the entire War On Terror or anything, but it shows something that too few war movies, in my opinion, attempt to portray at all, especially those revolving around modern conflicts; the people who our U.S. armed forces actions actually benefit, the people who really do want to build a country founded on good principles as a result of our intervention over there. That's certainly by no means easy, and sometimes with all the sacrifice, the bloodshed, the people lost and resources spent, it can feel hopeless and like banging your head against a wall, but this movie I thought quite expertly and touchingly highlighted the humanity and goodness underlying what our men and women serving overseas are attempting to accomplish, as well as what the people who really do want their help to build new, better lives want to accomplish. Overall, it's one of the most intense, gripping, touching, and most importantly of all, human war films I've ever seen, and I cannot recommend it enough. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd definitely recommend that you check out Lone Survivor as soon as you can.