Movie: Act of Valor
Release Date: February 24, 2012
Studio: Relativity Media
Director: "Mouse" McCoy, Scott Waugh
Screenwriter: Kurt Johnstad
Starring: Active Duty Navy SEALs, Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov, Jason Cottle, Nester Serrano
Genre: Action, Thriller
Official Website: ActofValor.com
IMDB Rating: N/A
Story: On Monday February 13, 2012 I was lucky enough to see an advanced screening of Act of Valor. I was invited by the Cinema Society of San Diego in return for sharing my thoughts of the movie with their organization following the screening. Most of those in attendance were members of the society, though I did see a few (5 or 6) frogmen faces I recognized, which were easy to distinguish from the regular patrons of their group.
I arrived a few minutes early for an introduction from Cinema Society director, Andrew Friedenberg. He talked about the unique access the production company had to the SEAL community and paid patronage to Navy SEALS and the military in general. He explained that in 2007, Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh of Bandito Brothers Production filmed a video for the Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) which led the Navy to allow them to use SEALs. After spending so much time working closely with the SEALs, McCoy and Waugh conceived the idea for a modern day action movie about this covert and elite fighting force. As Act of Valor developed with the SEALs on board as advisors, the film makers realized that no actors could realistically portray or physically fill the roles they’d written and the actual SEALs were drafted in to the film. The Navy agreed to the making of this film to “right the wrongs” made by past attempts to portray Navy SEALs in film (Navy SEALs, Silver Strand, GI Jane, etc) and allowed unprecedented access to our world.
Filming took place in Cambodia where an explosion was shot in Phnom Penh with 300 children as extras.Scenes were shot in San Diego at Blue Foot Bar and in a house in the North Park area. Other locations included Mexico, Puerto Rico, Ukraine, Florida, and at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The crew filmed at Navy training sites to provide realistic settings, such as a drug cartel base, a terrorist camp on an isolated island, and a smuggler’s yacht.
ACT OF VALOR stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism. Inspired by true events, the film combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure. Although this is “docudrama,” the tactics are real the action is some of the most realistic I’ve ever seen on film. If you’re familiar with recent heroics and tragedies of our community, you will see many of these played out in the film and will draw raw emotion from the viewer.
The movie not only includes active duty Navy SEALs, but I noticed that a few of the support staff were also people I’ve worked with in the teams, such as a very well respected intelligence officer who works with Naval Special Warfare. The movie also does a great job of showing the emotional side of deployments and the brotherhood in the Teams. Although the action and the tactics are very realistic, Navy SEALS who view the movie will see a few things they know are not right, but the rest of the audience will not notice. I know some of my tactical brothers will hate when they see a grenade thrown and it causes a huge explosion (this is not what really happens), but I find it entertaining and love seeing those made-for-movie effects.
In the end it’s a great action film and the SEAL actors actually did a great job on screen. I personally do not think the Navy should be making films about SEALS or have them on screen, but I hope that that this movie will help show that SEALS are just regular people with extraordinary skills and a desire to serve and protect our country. I also hope that those who have never served in the military or spent a day outside the safety of our boarders see that there really are bad people in the world who wish to bring harm to our great nation in the name of their religion. I highly recommend seeing this film, but please don’t bring any children. It’s rated R for graphic violence including torture, and for strong language.
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