Act of Valor Review: A Warrior Manifesto that Rejects Your Pity

February 24, 2012 By

The problem is not with the new “Act of Valor” movie that opens today. It’s a rousing manifesto. The problem is with some players in Hollywood and a segment of the American public who consider modern American soldiers something to be pitied rather than admired.

They respect the soldier in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Global War on Terror, just not what they do. There is an unspoken feeling that the American troops have been duped into something unsavory, as if looking for a better life or free education, they signed up and found themselves in an icky – if not downright dishonorable – war.

In “Act of Valor,” the soldiers speak for themselves and their message is loud and clear: We know exactly what we are doing. We consider it worthwhile. We consider it an honor.

Filmed over two and a half years during live-ammunition training missions with real, active-duty Navy SEALs, the film is pulse-pounding, exciting, and what we call bad-a&&, but it is also a rejection of and answer to the above attitude.

It begins with a letter written to the son of a soldier articulating the SEAL’s code of honor. Nothing about the code is ambivalent or apologetic. To be dangerous is sacred. To be strong and kill those who would hurt your family or the family of other Americans is heroic. They are the “damn few” who stand between us and violence.

Their first assignment – to rescue a CIA operative who has been captured by a mobster with terrorist ties – goes off with guns blazing. The thugs guarding the compound never see them coming. First, the SEALs parachute in, hitting their target with precision, then making almost no sound, they approach. They pick off the defenders silently, in one case – rising soundlessly from the water to catch a falling body just before it can make a splash. Once engaged in a gunbattle, they don’t hold back. Finally, with the wounded operative in tow, they speed toward their extraction point, pursued hotly. The enemies of America are met on a river bank by several boats of soldiers, guns blazing, lighting up the forest.

Boo-ya.

No one stops to emote over the fallen thugs who ambushed one CIA agent and used a power drill on the other.

Soon, information from the agent leads them to a global terror plot against American cities. They track elements all over the world, from Africa to Eastern Europe to Mexico.  We’re treated to some unbelievably cool action sequences: helicopters dropping boats full of men into the water, submarines rising for mere minutes before diving again, chases through South American slums.

There are some bad guys in the world.

The scary part of the movie? The bad guys are even badder, smarter, and more determined than depicted in the film. As the plot begins to unfold, it’s tempting to think it’s farfetched, that no one would put that level of resources or intelligence into killing Americans.

Then you think of how intricate and carefully plotted 9/11 was, and you feel a shiver of fear up the spine.

It’s even more tempting to think that the valor of the SEALs is exaggerated, until you remember things like the pirate hostage rescue or elimination of Osama Bin Laden. The directors assure us that the incredible, macho things shown, especially at the satisfying ending of the movie, are real, recorded acts of valor. They did not make it up.

It is true there are some weaknesses in the film. Navy ships and planes always seem to be in a perpetual sunset, like a postcard. The SEALs do a fantastic job of acting – for people who shoot guns for a living instead of reading lines – but there are times you’re painfully aware they’re not actors.

Critics have accused the film of being too much action and not enough character development. I take this to mean that critics would prefer the men anguished over their jobs and had some sort of crisis of conviction. This they do not do. The more cynical among us have a hard time believing that the soldiers, in their heart of hearts, believe in what they’re doing and in the code of honor they so effectively express. It’s a tough job, undeniably, but I’m guessing there is nothing more, nothing hidden, no inexpressible angst or existential horror.

Instead – and this is probably the thing to which certain segments object most – it makes you proud. Proud of the sacrifice and courage of our troops. Proud of America.

The film ends, as we knew from the beginning it would, with a military funeral. It ends with honor and patriotism. The credits do not list the names of the men shown in the film, but honor the 60 Navy SEALs lost in combat since 9/11.

We have no idea what they’ve done for us.

It’s time to stop pitying them and time to get behind them.

 

The film is rated R for realistic violence and some language. No nudity or sexuality.

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Navy SEALs from Act of Valor: We Feel Hollywood Misrepresents Us

The scenes in Act of Valor are Real, Directors Say

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Navy SEAL movie Act of Valor is the Real Deal, say Directors, even the Unbelievable Parts

February 22, 2012 By

How real is the story told in the Navy SEAL movie “Act of Valor?”

If anything, it’s toned down, say directors Scott Waugh and Mike “Mouse” McCoy.

They included in the story line five real acts of valor that have happened in combat in the last ten years.

“When you watch it, when you see those certain things that seem implausible. Those things have happened,” said McCoy.

Filmed over two years, the directors worked their shooting schedules around the deployment and training of the SEALs, who were then, and remain today, active duty.

“Operational planning was done by them,” explained Waugh, “We would have a story point that we would have to address and they would work the operation around it and then we would integrate a camera plan. An interesting approach. One that yielded something authentic as things went down.”

It was a complex project for the filmmakers.

“Their schedule is really laid out. They’d say, ‘We’ll be there for 7 days, if you want to come in with cameras for the last two days… Once we had a four hour window. [Normally] it would take a 7 day shoot and we did in in 4 hours, because that was the only time we had access to that platform.”

The SEALs are not identified in the credits, but their faces are shown. “The guys were comfortable with it,” explained Waugh, “There are certain missions in the world where you need to be totally covert. All these guys had multiple, multiple combat deployments, so they might not be going off in that direction.”

“Navy had a scrub on the film for TGP – technique, tactic and procedure – so they weren’t going to give away any secrets with the making of the film. But they did not have a content scrub. So they respected us and said ‘we want you to take an honest look at who we are,’” explained McCoy.

The most complex – and dangerous – part? Live ammunition.

“A lot of these scenes were live fire and we were in the middle of those gunfights,” said McCoy.

It all came down to trust, added Waugh, “You’re in a live fire situation with these guys and you know they’re not going to sweep around and take you out and they know you’re not going to do anything dumb and be out of position.”

The filmmakers also toned down the brutality of the terrorists and drug lords the SEALs fight. In one scene, a thug tortures a CIA agent by drilling through her hand.

“We’re very tamed to what really goes on. [the SEALs told them] ‘We came in this room and there’s six people and what they’ve been through, you could never get that out of your mind.’ These guys, they’ve seen the worst of the worst. We’ve heard stories that make that scene seem like kindergarten. When they had raided camps with hostages, all their toes and fingers had been drilled through. Amongst all the other things.”

“There’s some bad people in the world,” said McCoy.

“It was 11 years ago – 9/11,” said Waugh, “We all think there’s no more threats out there. Americans need to realize – no – that threat’s still there. Thank god we just have a fantastic military that’s prevented it from happening again.”

As the directors came to know the SEALs well, they caught a glimpse of who the men are inside and out.

“That’s their real wives and families in the movie,” explained Waugh, “Which I think is very special. It gives you that feel of getting to peek into their real lives, which is unprecedented in that world.”

“It was an honor.”

“They’re very strong women too,” added McCoy, “The women really pay the tax here. The guys go off to do what they do and the women are left to take care of the kids and hold it together. I have as much respect for their wives as for the men. One wife, she’s mother of five. [Her husband] just got back from an 11 month deployment last week.”

As they came to respect the men more and more, McCoy and Waugh felt a burden to do their story justice.

“One man told us, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to be in the film because I trust you two.’”

“We felt a responsibility to tell their story authentically. If you don’t do it justice and be honorable with who they are, well, these eight men came to us and told us ‘we trust you to tell our stories.’”

“Act of Valor” opens Friday.

Read Waugh and McCoy on how Hollywood misrepresents soldiers.

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Navy SEALS from Act of Valor: We Feel Hollywood Misrepresents Us

February 21, 2012 By

How do real soldiers feel about the ways they’re represented by Hollywood?

Not so great, as it turns out.

“They felt that Hollywood misrepresented their community for so long that it would be great to get their story authentically told,” explained director Mike “Mouse” McCoy.

With Scott Waugh,  McCoy directs of “Act of Valor,” a film highlighting real Navy SEALS in their work tactics and code of honor. The movie follows a SEAL team as they rescue a covert agent and move to prevent the global terrorist plot she unearthed. Part action film, part warrior manifesto, it is an account from our armed forces on why they do what they do.

The two directors were no strangers to machismo. With long careers as stunt men in Hollywood and projects covering the world of motorcycle racing and surfing, they naturally seek out stories of strong men.

But when they started down the road that led to “Act of Valor,” they were unprepared for the caliber of men they met in the United States Navy SEALS, men who offered a glimpse of the reality behind the Hollywood myths.

“That was what hit us right between the eyes when we met with them,” added Waugh.

“What we were going in with was the Hollywood representation of the commando guy, some screwed up Rambo terminator guy. We met these men who were so humble and quiet, but so extremely intelligent, intellectual, down to earth. They were just so different than how they’d been portrayed it almost felt like a crime,” McCoy told me when we sat down in Washington DC.

“They’re fathers and husbands,” said Waugh, “These kinds of complex characters. A warrior on one side, yet literally one of us. They have the same problems we have has humans. Taxes, these relationships with their kids when they’re there.”

For McCoy, despite all his previous bruising manly jobs, there was something more intense about the SEALS. “You really connect with the brotherhood really how deep that goes. Wow. I’ve never seen that before amongst men: men who will step in front of a bullet for each other. Once again, the sacrifice became really apparent. Ten years of sustained combat deployments. But more importantly, the families and the wives. When we sort of connected with them and what their families had been through during this time, we were like the only way to really do service to this is with the real guys and real scenarios and have an authentic look. And then it became how do we do this, what does this look like?”

Waugh and McCoy filmed the SEALS over two years, working with their deployment cycles to catch the soldiers as they did training missions. Unlike most Hollywood sets, they used real bullets and live weaponry. It’s not your usual movie job. I’ll give you the directors’ description in a later post.

Update: Read about the making of the movie and why it’s the real deal.

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Behind the Scenes in the Filming of real Navy SEALS in Act of Valor

February 14, 2012 By

I was lucky enough to talk with directors Scott Waugh and Mike “Mouse” McCoy, the makers of “Act of Valor,” releasing February 24.

The making of the movie is a cool story. Because soldiers came to know and trust the filmmakers, Waugh and McCoy were able to convince real Navy SEALS to star in the movie, using real techniques. The story follows a SEAL unit as they work to rescue a CIA agent and follow her clues about a threat to the United States.

To make the movie, the filmmakers worked around the deployment cycles of the SEALS, filming their real-life training exercises.

“You think you’re a real man, until you stand next to a SEAL,” Waugh told me, “And suddenly you’re an eight-year-old boy.”

Adding to poor Scott’s masculine crisis, he and McCoy filmed the SEALS in live fire situations. In other words, unlike most Hollywood sets, there were real bullets flying around. And not only bullets, but grenades, rocket launchers, drones, and sundry big boy toys.

Here’s a video on the making of the movie. Enjoy!


 

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Must-See Trailer: ‘Act of Valor’

February 6, 2012 By

This movie using real Navy SEALS doing using real SEALS techniques to protecting our country is the real deal. The story is made up but the scenario is entirely plausible. I’ve seen the film and was blown away.

I was lucky enough to talk to the directors of the film, Scott Waugh and Mike “Mouse” McCoy, and the amount of respect they have for the SEALS and other military is astonishing. Tired of movies that make the military the bad guy? How about one which makes you proud to be an American? This is it.

Here’s the trailer. The movie opens February 24. Make plans now.

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