Act Of Valor is a fictional movie, due to hit theaters next year, about a team of US Navy SEALs on a mission to rescue a kidnapped CIA operative. Apparently some of the actors are themselves active duty US Navy Seals. The trailer looks pretty good.
[ Many thanks to Jac for emailing me the link. ]
Its super easy to get that “OMG special forces” feeling when everything is put to music and synchronized according. What everyone forgets is that when there is no soundtrack and there is no stage, the bullets are real, the blood and guts of your friend are real, there are no warm fuzzies, just an empty jump seat and a folded flag. In my opinion, what the men and women of any army, particularly special forces, do, should never be put to a soundtrack. Everyone sees james bond and thinks that it is all martinis and women and it fails to really push home the fact that everything they do is very real and very dangerous and that a portion of these men (in the case of SEALS) wont make it home.
13 
4I suppose it would be extraneous to point out that, with the generous backing of the Navy and real operators as actors, that glorifying war and what these men and women do in the middle of war is the exact intention of this movie?
It’s a two hour long recruitment ad. It’s never pretended to be anything else, really.
3 0Well put, even if the message and purpose of a film or anything else isn’t necessarily glorifying war, just by the addition of the soundtrack does it do just that.
And the trailer feels like a compilation of FPS cutscenes, and no matter the inevitability of Hollywood making it’s way with stuff in the film, it’s at least not going to be an Expendables…
2 0You’ve opened up a really interesting philosophical can of worms. Do you glamorize the actions of Special Forces in movies or do you show the harsh realites without pulling any punches?
From a dramatic point of view, a film showing two guys lying in a muddy ditch for three weeks staring through a pair of binoculars isn’t the most engaging of art forms. At the other end of the scale, a movie about a group of highly trained warriors accidentally dying in a helicopter crash would be very realistic but massively depressing.
So, do you make a motion picture with an anti-war message full of actual hardship and suffering or do you try to maximize the reputations surrounding SF units and show them saving the world against the bad guys?
In terms of propaganda, recruitment, economics and entertainment value, having an exciting trailer with lots of quick edits and a rocking soundtrack is an absolute necessity. It’s not realistic, but such is the aura and folklore surrounding special operations troops and their superhero-esque actions, I don’t think we want it to be.
6 0Young people like violence, as long as they aren’t on the receiving end. Violence sells, that’s the bottom line.
1 1Well sad David what most war movies fail to express is how miserable, and lonely war is, hours spent in mental and physical agony that don’t neatly fit into a 2 hour movie with a conclusive black or white ending or the long-term mental side effects of having experienced extreme violence and fear.
1 1I can’t wait ’til this comes out.
I’m going to put on my boonie hat, BDU pants and trousers, tactical boots and my Luminox Navy Seal watch so I can experience the genuine-isity of it all.
Oh well…the Green Berets had John Wayne in my day, right?
7 0Wait for ‘Forces Speciales’ (2 Nov 2011). It have the the black guy who beat the Leonardo DCaprio ass and MARIUS (real legend of the French special forces) plus Diane Kruger.
Sad since mostly the guy depicted in this movies is from France Marines Commando instead from 2REP.
4 0ive seen this movie and heres the scoop
the action is nothing short of awesome. they got a ton of support from the navy and it shows. the bottom line, however, is that it is a hollywood script (rather thin but not terrible either) that is acted by guys who truly are operators and not actors.
talking with the filmmakers they got one take for the action and that was it. Questions like ‘hey can we set up the camera here while you stack up to take that house?’ were answered with ‘absolutely not youll be in our way and get shot.’
the action is real, the acting is obviously not done by actors but i really enjoyed it. of course i like watching seals operate.
3 0COMMAND: Omega Team report in. We’ve located a high value target in Quetta Province, Pakistan. Will need you to deploy immediately.
SEALS: Would love to darling, but we’ve promised to have cappuccinos with Brad and Angelina before going to Sundance. Talk to my agent, he’ll try and slot you in after Christmas.
It’s going to be weird watching a movie where actors come on screen with black rectangles over their eyes and scrambled voices. In all seriousness, I hope this film goes beyond it’s Navy SEAL marketing and is actually decent to watch. Unfortunately, the trailer is giving off a sub-par Tom Clancy level of childlike political sophistication.
6 3looks like a commercial
2 0You can bet on it. the Navy knows they will get their money’s worth out of this in recruiting. And that is totally fair.
1 0Wow, that looks terrible.
Danny Devito should have been cast as ‘SEAL Commander Rogerson’.
7 6You get a thumbs up for the mental image of Danny Devito as a SEAL.
3 0Looks silly; Tears Of The Sun is THE SEAL/SF movie to beat, IMO.
4 4I hope its all operator and less Hollywood sympathy/plot twist stuff.
0 0Looks interesting Hope its not another R rated movie with the F bomb being used every 2 minutes.
2 3Have you seen the trailer for the movie “The Raid Movie”.? It’s on Youtube.
This is awesome.
0 2
Wait for ‘Forces Speciales’ (2 Nov 2011). It have the the black guy who beat the Leonardo DCaprio ass and MARIUS (real legend of the French special forces) plus Diane Kruger.
Sad since mostly the guy depicted in this movies is from France Marines Commando instead from 2REP.
Have you seen the trailer for the movie “The Raid Movie”.? It’s on Youtube.
This is awesome.
Looks silly; Tears Of The Sun is THE SEAL/SF movie to beat, IMO.
ive seen this movie and heres the scoop
the action is nothing short of awesome. they got a ton of support from the navy and it shows. the bottom line, however, is that it is a hollywood script (rather thin but not terrible either) that is acted by guys who truly are operators and not actors.
talking with the filmmakers they got one take for the action and that was it. Questions like ‘hey can we set up the camera here while you stack up to take that house?’ were answered with ‘absolutely not youll be in our way and get shot.’
the action is real, the acting is obviously not done by actors but i really enjoyed it. of course i like watching seals operate.
Looks interesting Hope its not another R rated movie with the F bomb being used every 2 minutes.
I hope its all operator and less Hollywood sympathy/plot twist stuff.
looks like a commercial
You can bet on it. the Navy knows they will get their money’s worth out of this in recruiting. And that is totally fair.
I can’t wait ’til this comes out.
I’m going to put on my boonie hat, BDU pants and trousers, tactical boots and my Luminox Navy Seal watch so I can experience the genuine-isity of it all.
Oh well…the Green Berets had John Wayne in my day, right?
Its super easy to get that “OMG special forces” feeling when everything is put to music and synchronized according. What everyone forgets is that when there is no soundtrack and there is no stage, the bullets are real, the blood and guts of your friend are real, there are no warm fuzzies, just an empty jump seat and a folded flag. In my opinion, what the men and women of any army, particularly special forces, do, should never be put to a soundtrack. Everyone sees james bond and thinks that it is all martinis and women and it fails to really push home the fact that everything they do is very real and very dangerous and that a portion of these men (in the case of SEALS) wont make it home.
Well put, even if the message and purpose of a film or anything else isn’t necessarily glorifying war, just by the addition of the soundtrack does it do just that.
And the trailer feels like a compilation of FPS cutscenes, and no matter the inevitability of Hollywood making it’s way with stuff in the film, it’s at least not going to be an Expendables…
You’ve opened up a really interesting philosophical can of worms. Do you glamorize the actions of Special Forces in movies or do you show the harsh realites without pulling any punches?
From a dramatic point of view, a film showing two guys lying in a muddy ditch for three weeks staring through a pair of binoculars isn’t the most engaging of art forms. At the other end of the scale, a movie about a group of highly trained warriors accidentally dying in a helicopter crash would be very realistic but massively depressing.
So, do you make a motion picture with an anti-war message full of actual hardship and suffering or do you try to maximize the reputations surrounding SF units and show them saving the world against the bad guys?
In terms of propaganda, recruitment, economics and entertainment value, having an exciting trailer with lots of quick edits and a rocking soundtrack is an absolute necessity. It’s not realistic, but such is the aura and folklore surrounding special operations troops and their superhero-esque actions, I don’t think we want it to be.
Well sad David what most war movies fail to express is how miserable, and lonely war is, hours spent in mental and physical agony that don’t neatly fit into a 2 hour movie with a conclusive black or white ending or the long-term mental side effects of having experienced extreme violence and fear.
Young people like violence, as long as they aren’t on the receiving end. Violence sells, that’s the bottom line.
I suppose it would be extraneous to point out that, with the generous backing of the Navy and real operators as actors, that glorifying war and what these men and women do in the middle of war is the exact intention of this movie?
It’s a two hour long recruitment ad. It’s never pretended to be anything else, really.
Wow, that looks terrible.
Danny Devito should have been cast as ‘SEAL Commander Rogerson’.
You get a thumbs up for the mental image of Danny Devito as a SEAL.
COMMAND: Omega Team report in. We’ve located a high value target in Quetta Province, Pakistan. Will need you to deploy immediately.
SEALS: Would love to darling, but we’ve promised to have cappuccinos with Brad and Angelina before going to Sundance. Talk to my agent, he’ll try and slot you in after Christmas.
It’s going to be weird watching a movie where actors come on screen with black rectangles over their eyes and scrambled voices. In all seriousness, I hope this film goes beyond it’s Navy SEAL marketing and is actually decent to watch. Unfortunately, the trailer is giving off a sub-par Tom Clancy level of childlike political sophistication.