"Act of Valor" - A Review

Here is the last of my archived articles, a review of the 2012 war film, "Act of Valor". A story about a Navy SEAL team who uncover and attempt to stop a terrorist attack on the United States. I have been a fave of war films as long as I can remember, my favorites being the World War II films from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. What is unique about this film is that the main characters are played by actual Navy SEALS, so while they don't give the best performance, it does provide a higher sense of realism that we don't see very often.

Thank you, and enjoy:

Another late movie review, but with a busy work and school schedule, and a computer that doesn't like to run tumblr very well, sometimes this can't be helped. “Act of Valor” is honestly one of the best movies that I have seen this year, I haven't read any other reviews on it yet but I would defiantly give it an A grade. 

It was one of the mots unique war movies that I had ever seen, and I have seen plenty of war movies going all the way back to when I was a child. What made this movie so unique was how  realistic they decided to make this movie. Unlike our sugar coated Hollywood war movies with huge explosions and bullets flying in every direction (and somehow no one gets hit), the movie's battle scenes had smaller explosions, and bursts of bullets rather than a rain storm of them; there was also more stealth, rather kicking open the door. This created more intense scenes and left you hanging on the edge of your seat more. Granted I still like my Hollywood sugar coated war and action movies with the big explosions and ridiculous gun battles, but this is something unique.

The plot and the characters are pretty basic. Terrorist plot to bomb America is unraveled and the Navy Seals have to go and stop them. The characters are played by actual disciplined Navy Seals, and though they aren't the best when it comes to voicing dialogue for film, they were talking in the way that, I assume, would be most likely how they would talk on a mission. But in a way that is charm of this movie, you get a better idea of what actually happens in actual military situations. Hollywood tends to over dramatize it, which is not necessarily a bad thing and granted this movie also probably has some of that in it, but a movie based entirely around brining realism to the screen.

While it wasn't received well by critics, it's defiantly worth watching, especially if you are like me and highly enjoy war movies. It is unique, has really good action scenes, and good drama, the end might even get you to shed a tear at the end of the film when they have the funeral for the fallen SEAL. Again, as a fan of war movies, I am kind biased in favor of them, even some of the ones that aren't very good; with the exception being "Peal Harbor", which I review later. Overall, like with all movies, watch it with an open mind and make your conclusions.