Anyone here see dis shit? Whachall think?

2/25/2012 11:18:50 AM

It was pretty awesome. A testament to the SEALs and special warfare in general, a little bit of awkward dialogue and not a huge amount of character development but you still feel like you identify with and understand them pretty well by the end.

A lot of tactical action, very intimately presented with really good atmosphere, drops you right into the heart of it with a lot of attention paid to the sound and hectic fast paced nature of combat. My only disappointment was that it jumps around from op to op like Call of Duty, right into mission briefings with not a whole lot of information on target development, but that was of course intentional so as not to reveal how actual target development and intelligence is done.

The best trailer IMO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnlPgo9TaGo

[Edited on February 25, 2012 at 11:34 AM. Reason : ]

2/25/2012 11:33:51 AM

Are there different ranks of Seals? Like I don't think these seals are very high ranking or else they wouldn't be doing this hollywood shit. Definitely not Seal Team 6 type shit.

2/25/2012 11:40:10 AM

Haven't seen it. Can't wait to go next weekend. There's some pretty in depth discussion of this movie on ar15.com, with an analysis on using actual armed forces service members in the filming. They also stated they used real bullets in the filming.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1284483_Just_got_back_from_Act_of_Valor___review_and_spoilers.html

[Edited on February 25, 2012 at 12:16 PM. Reason : ]

2/25/2012 12:15:50 PM

Quote :

"Are there different ranks of Seals?"

No, they use the same rank system as the rest of us.


The purpose of the movie is recruitment.

[Edited on February 25, 2012 at 12:29 PM. Reason : ya]

2/25/2012 12:25:04 PM

Where does the movie fall on the patriotism-nationalism-jingoism scale?

2/25/2012 12:30:38 PM

I mean honestly, it's a more respectful and very realistic Call of Duty: The Movie. But I went in expecting that and it was badass.

It falls high on Patriotism, but not the obscene flag-waving right-wing redneck kind, more the soft-spoken, individual courage and sacrifice side of it. (being away from family and children, and a full honors, military funeral, for example) Besides a jab at the mass media causing hysteria regarding a potential terrorist attack, it's focuses on the action and the individuals.

[Edited on February 25, 2012 at 12:37 PM. Reason : ]

2/25/2012 12:35:07 PM

When I saw the commercials I was like, "Hello, Propaganda."

Is the selling point supposed to be realism or just the fact that these guys aren't actors?

2/25/2012 1:10:15 PM

Quote :

"When I saw the commercials movie I was like, "Hello, Propaganda.""

[Edited on February 25, 2012 at 1:28 PM. Reason : .]

2/25/2012 1:27:51 PM

The preview on TV is horrible.

Sure, we know it's a war movie, but how about spending some more time telling us what it's about and less time talking about how its got "real life Navy Seals" in it.

I have no clue really what the plot of this movie is.

2/25/2012 2:03:30 PM

Awesome movie. Enough said...

2/26/2012 9:41:47 AM

amazing movie, VERY humbling to say the least.

[Edited on February 26, 2012 at 1:52 PM. Reason : ya]

2/26/2012 1:51:45 PM

Quote :

"The purpose of the movie is recruitment. "

This is exactly the case.

2/26/2012 7:28:41 PM

^I don't think anyone would deny that, but I would argue that it is done in a respectful, honorable, and accurate way.

I found very little to fault with the movie tactically or politically. It is both recruitment and a tribute to fallen NSW personnel.

And I would recommend at least watching it if all you're going on is a smattering of 30 second clips on TV.

[Edited on February 26, 2012 at 8:06 PM. Reason : ]

2/26/2012 8:06:40 PM

is this like Fredrick Zoller in Stolz der Nation?

2/27/2012 8:34:03 AM

^^I did watch it, I had a free screening. I agree that it was "respectful" (in that it wasn't overly blatant or determinedly abuse in idealizing armed forces services). I'm not sure about tactfully, only because it is, well, still an over the top action movie--lest a very realistic one, of course.

2/27/2012 10:54:39 AM

I enjoyed it; went in knowing that it wasn't going to win an oscar. The action scenes were awesome because of the detail they went into; opposing threats when room clearing, etc.

[Edited on February 28, 2012 at 2:12 AM. Reason : ...]

2/28/2012 2:05:57 AM

Quote :

"Are there different ranks of Seals?"

*SEALs, and yes, there are. Odd numbered SEAL Teams are west coast while even numbered SEAL Teams are east coast (exception being "SEAL Team 6"). Essentially it's DEVGRU (United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group aka "SEAL Team 6") on top of the totem pole, with every other team below it. Although the various SEAL Teams may be based out of either Coronado, CA or Little Creek, VA, many of them are forward deployed to different theaters.

Aside from the aforementioned bases:
ST1 - Guam
ST2 - Germany
ST3 - Guam
ST4 - Panama
ST5 - Guam

ST2 is the only ST that specializes in arctic warfare and ST4 is the only ST with a specific language (Spanish). Unless the mission calls for the most elite team (out of an already elite pool of units), DEVGRU,the other teams will be given missions in their theater for convenience, speed, and other logistic reasons. The team depicted in Act of Valor is ST7.

Quote :

"The purpose of the movie is recruitment."

Have you read the news at all in the past year? The DoD is cutting down severely (10-15% in Army and USMC) and a wee bit in both the Navy and the Air Force. Yeah, there was a table with flyers outside the movie at Mission Valley for Navy Divers, EOD, SWCC, and SEALs, but those units compose maybe 5% of the actual Navy. Not to mention the severe attrition rates in all of the aforementioned programs in the first stages of training (SEALS/EOD - ~80%). This movie most likely came out due to the recent, extreme media attention paid to SEALs in the past year (Osama killing, Somalian pirates, Chinook crash, etc.).

Quote :

"Whachall think?"

I'll be the first to admit that the acting wasn't the best, but that's because the 'actors' aren't actors; they're Navy SEALs. I had only seen the preview once and I was surprised that there was actually a legitimate plot/conflict to the movie, aside from SEALs kicking ass. It's an intense film with a piss ton of great action scenes, but also a lot of tragic and heart wrenching moments.

Do I honestly believe it's propaganda? No, not at all... it's paying dues to the community (special forces operatives in general) that has played a crucial part in our foreign affairs in the past decade. It also may be one of the few good films depicting said community after so many botches (i.e. The Delta Force w/ Chuck Norris & Navy SEALs w/ Charlie Sheen).

My opinion is my own, but I will say that when the movie had finished it felt like a completely different atmosphere. Normally there would be clapping or people immediately chattering about their thoughts, but that wasn't the case after this film. The room was dead silent, complete with somber, yet appreciative looks on everybody's faces.

2/28/2012 2:51:13 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHzSBEVbXtM

This shit has played before every dolla fitty movie I saw last year. Now that is propaganda.

2/28/2012 2:25:50 PM

Does godsmack do the soundtrack?

2/28/2012 2:42:35 PM

^http://lmgtfy.com/?q=act+of+valor+soundtrack
...it's actually country, which I'm not surprised at all.

2/28/2012 3:21:44 PM

I really like the TV commercial for this movie. It makes the whole thing look so badass.

The song is perfect ... "I'M NOT AFRAID, I'M NOT AFRAID." Makes me wanna say, "Wooooo yeah!! I'm not afraid! Protect America!!!"

2/28/2012 3:56:11 PM

==================SPOILER======================






















the part where the SWCC boats light up the waterfront is just fucking bad ass. I just remember saying "fuck yeah" during that part.




















==================End Spoiler===============================

[Edited on February 28, 2012 at 6:35 PM. Reason : ya]

2/28/2012 6:35:15 PM

^ true dat. i uttered a "daaaaaaaaaaaang."

2/28/2012 8:07:30 PM

^^I either said that or "Yeahhhh buddy!" Can't remember, but the mounted Gau 17s and M240Gs were absolutely filthy. That many 7.62 rounds would scare the shit out of anyone ahah.

Please embed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxm7uk7I07w

The beginning of the rescue mission always reminded me of this:


[Edited on February 28, 2012 at 11:11 PM. Reason : vid]

[Edited on February 28, 2012 at 11:17 PM. Reason : pic]

2/28/2012 11:09:54 PM

The action scenes were pretty badass. I wasn't really a fan of the "helmet view" or whatever that was though.

2/28/2012 11:13:55 PM

"Fuck yeah!" pretty much describes the tone of the movie as a whole.

2/29/2012 12:13:09 AM

0:21 in that youtube vid is when i said fuck yeah....

also the helmet cams were a bit crazy...my gf on multiple occasions said she felt like she was going to be sick because of the camera movement...but its a war movie, you are going to have all those camera style...

2/29/2012 3:40:06 AM

A little note on the technical side. I was looking forward to seeing it on the big screen since the production originally began, because it is the first major release filmed largely with DSLRs. When i was first reading about it, I though it was gonna be an indie flick type of thing that will fly under the radar for general audiences. It'll be interesting to see how the cinematography turned out and how it stacks up against the films shot with "real" movie cameras.

2/29/2012 3:55:29 AM

"A Game of Honor," the recently released Showtime documentary on the Army-Navy football game, was also shot entirely on DSLR's. I thought it looked fantastic.

2/29/2012 11:38:53 AM

Quote :

"My opinion is my own, but I will say that when the movie had finished it felt like a completely different atmosphere. Normally there would be clapping or people immediately chattering about their thoughts, but that wasn't the case after this film. The room was dead silent, complete with somber, yet appreciative looks on everybody's faces."

Completely agree. I saw the movie and was humbled by it. The action scenes were INSANE. As mentioned above, the twin boats were bad-arse as it gets. Yes, you can tell the actors aren't actors, but you get over it quickly when you realize how much more potent the whole thing is due to real SEALs being used.

I went into this movie not expecting much. I went because I was on vacation and wanted something to do. I came out hugely thankful I saw it. I didn't get a propaganda waft from it. It just made me come out of it with a renewed vigor for living a life of service, regardless of what your career is. Highly recommended, and while it shouldn't take a movie to make you say this daily: huge props to our armed forces.

2/29/2012 3:52:08 PM

Quote :

"Have you read the news at all in the past year? The DoD is cutting down severely (10-15% in Army and USMC) and a wee bit in both the Navy and the Air Force. Yeah, there was a table with flyers outside the movie at Mission Valley for Navy Divers, EOD, SWCC, and SEALs, but those units compose maybe 5% of the actual Navy. Not to mention the severe attrition rates in all of the aforementioned programs in the first stages of training (SEALS/EOD - ~80%)."

Quote :

"This movie most likely came out due to the recent, extreme media attention paid to SEALs in the past year (Osama killing, Somalian pirates, Chinook crash, etc.)."

No, the Navy actually had the film made and are pretty clear that it's a recruiting film:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/07/MN301JPQVF.DTL

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/movies/act-of-valor-film-with-active-duty-members-of-navy-seals.html?_r=1

Quote :

"Rear Adm. Denny Moynihan, of the Navy Office of Information in Washington, explained that every four years the Defense Department “looks at itself and says, ‘What is it that you need to be moving forward, and where do you think you are?’ ” He added, “For the Navy and the SEAL community it was, ‘Hey, you need 500 more SEALs’ and that launched a series of initiatives to try to attract more people. This film was one of those initiatives.”"

The movie was finished before Bin Laden's death, and was started many years before. Being made and "coming out" are two different things though. The finished movie was bought about a month after SEAL Team 6 raided Bin Laden's camp. If it weren't for the media attention to the SEALs in the past year, maybe it wouldn't have been widely released on such a large scale (maybe straight to redbox/netflix). But that media attention had nothing to do with this movie being made. There is a SEAL Team 6 movie being made right now though. I imagine there are a few actually, but I've specifically read about one. And I'm sure that's because of Bin Laden and the recent hostage rescue. One of them is specifically about the Bin Laden raid (it's being made by the chick who made Hurt Locker).

[Edited on February 29, 2012 at 4:07 PM. Reason : .]

2/29/2012 4:05:18 PM

saw it today

liked it

wish it wasn't so dark so you could see some tactics goin' on. I didn't really mind the helmet cams

[Edited on March 3, 2012 at 6:26 PM. Reason : ]

3/3/2012 6:25:50 PM

God damnit this movie made my life feel so fucking worthless

Ffuuuuuuuuuuuck!

3/3/2012 6:48:43 PM

Quote :

"There is a SEAL Team 6 movie being made right now though. I imagine there are a few actually, but I've specifically read about one. And I'm sure that's because of Bin Laden and the recent hostage rescue. One of them is specifically about the Bin Laden raid (it's being made by the chick who made Hurt Locker). "

Fuuuuuck that shit. No way would I make a movie about that. I'd literally be too scared of some type of retaliation from terrorists or something. And yes, I am being dead serious.

3/3/2012 7:24:29 PM

Quote :

"I went into this movie not expecting much. I went because I was on vacation and wanted something to do. I came out hugely thankful I saw it. I didn't get a propaganda waft from it. It just made me come out of it with a renewed vigor for living a life of service, regardless of what your career is. Highly recommended, and while it shouldn't take a movie to make you say this daily: huge props to our armed forces."

this

3/4/2012 12:45:43 PM

^that

3/6/2012 4:15:39 PM

Just finished watching this.

Dead silence in the theater when the credits rolled.

Fitting.

3/9/2012 9:28:00 PM

^Dead silence after my showing got out.

3/10/2012 1:18:48 AM

I just saw it. It was like a porn with too much talking. Get to the action. Bad ass movie though. The acting (dialogue) is bad because they aren't actors, they are Navy Seals.

3/11/2012 12:28:07 AM

so wait, they aren't actors?

3/11/2012 10:22:02 AM

the fact that they were not professional actors helped me ignore all the meh acting.

3/11/2012 10:59:13 AM

Great movie.

3/25/2012 10:30:07 AM