‘Lone Survivor’ Review: Mark Wahlberg Shines in Powerful Drama About Hellish Wartime Decisions

Peter Berg’s powerful docudrama features some of the most intense combat sequences since “Saving Private Ryan”
War films don’t all follow the same strategy. Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory,” for instance, depicts a microcosm of society’s worst elements, with the ruling elite watching the carnage from a safe distance, and pinning any and all mistakes on their powerless underlings.

Then you’ve got something like “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which reminds us that there is no glory in war, and no winners either. Battle is ugly, horrifying and dehumanizing, and war itself is a condition that is anathema to the human experience.

To that latter category, add writer-director Peter Berg’s powerful new film “Lone Survivor,” based on the true story of Marcus Luttrell (played here by Mark Wahlberg), who was part of a mission in Afghanistan that went so horribly wrong that…well, let’s just say the title is a spoiler.