REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Mark Wahlberg
Born: June 5, 1971 Birthplace: Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, USA | Marcus Luttrell
Born: November 7, 1975 Birthplace: Houston, TX, USA Rank: Hospital Corpsman First Class |
Taylor Kitsch
Born: April 8, 1981 Birthplace: Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada | Michael Patrick Murphy
Born: May 7, 1976 Birthplace: Smithtown, New York, USA Death: June 28, 2005, Kunar Province, Afghanistan (killed in action) Rank: Lieutenant, Team Commander |
Ben Foster
Born: October 29, 1980 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA | Matthew 'Axe' Axelson
Born: June 25, 1976 Birthplace: Cupertino, California, USA Death: June 28, 2005, Kunar Province, Afghanistan (killed in action) Rank: Sonar Technician 2nd Class |
Emile Hirsch
Born: March 13, 1985 Birthplace: Palms, California, USA | Danny Dietz
Born: January 26, 1980 Birthplace: Aurora, Colorado, USA Death: June 28, 2005, Kunar Province, Afghanistan (killed in action) Rank: Gunner's Mate 2nd Class |
Eric Bana
Born: August 9, 1968 Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Erik S. Kristensen
Born: March 15, 1972 Birthplace: Portsmouth, Virginia, USA Death: June 28, 2005, Afghanistan (helicopter shot down) Rank: Lieutenant Commander |
Alexander Ludwig
Born: May 7, 1992 Birthplace: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Shane Eric Patton
Born: November 15, 1982 Birthplace: Boulder City, Nevada, USA Death: June 28, 2005, Afghanistan (helicopter shot down) Rank: Petty Officer Second Class |
Ali Suliman
Born: 1977 Birthplace: Nazareth, Israel | Mohammad Gulab
|
Yousuf Azami
| Ahmad Shah
Born: ca. 1970 Death: April 2008, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan (shootout with Pakistani police) |
No. The Lone Survivor movie begins with Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg) flatlining after being rescued. We then flash back three days to just prior to the start of the ill-fated mission. However, this part of the true story is significantly less dramatic. Luttrell was not near death when he was rescued and his heart never stopped beating. In reality, he and the Army Rangers took time to have a lengthy debriefing over tea, during which some of the villagers were present as well, including Gulab. Eventually, they bid the villagers farewell and boarded the rescue chopper. -Lone Survivor Book
As we began our research into the Lone Survivor true story, it quickly became apparent that the name was often mis-stated as "Operation Redwing" and sometimes "Operation Red Wing." The origin of the name being misspelled and mispronounced began with the publication of Marcus Luttrell's book, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, which was ghostwritten by Patrick Robinson based on interviews he conducted with Luttrell.
The name Operation Red Wings originated from a naming convention used by the previous battalion, the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Marines (3/3), whose commander, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Cooling, named his operations after Texas sports teams. When the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment (2/3) arrived, they further developed one of the previous battalion's operations, tentatively titled Operation Stars (named after the Dallas Stars hockey team). In keeping with the tradition of using a hockey team name, the 2/3 chose Operation Red Wings, named after the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.
Yes. The training footage at the beginning of the movie is archive footage that was commissioned by the Navy. Director Peter Berg needed a way to sum up the training and selection process chronicled in Luttrell's book, which spans approximately 80 pages. -Thompson on Hollywood
Yes, but unlike the movie, only one of them was a boy, not two. In comparing the Lone Survivor true story vs. the movie, we learned that the four members of SEAL Team 10, including Lt. Mike Murphy (portrayed by Taylor Kitsch), Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell (played by Mark Wahlberg), Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Danny Dietz (portrayed by Emile Hirsch), and Sonar Technician 2nd Class Matt Axelson (played by Ben Foster), were discovered high in the mountains by three local goatherds, one of whom was a boy around the age of fourteen. -Lone Survivor Book
Given that the Taliban fighters had set up their ambush just over an hour and a half after the goatherds were let go, there is little doubt that the goatherds informed the Taliban of the position of the four Navy SEALs. It is also possible that the Taliban militants had been aware that the SEALs were in the area almost immediately after the SEALs hit the ground. This would help to explain the quickness with which the Taliban fighters set up the ambush. It is not uncommon for the Taliban to send old men and children (the goatherds) into an area to pinpoint the location of U.S. soldiers, especially when they know the U.S. Rules of Engagement forbid the killing of civilians, therefore guaranteeing that the civilians will be able to return with the location of the U.S. soldiers. -Jeff Goldsmith Q&A Podcast
Following the ambush, the battle that ensued between the four Navy SEALs and the Taliban loyalists lasted over three hours. For the film, director Peter Berg condensed the fight into 30 sequences or segments, treating each one as a "mini film experience." -Thompson on Hollywood
Yes. According to the Lone Survivor true story, Marcus Luttrell and his three fellow comrades of SEAL Team 10 were left with no choice but to jump off the cliffs, making leaps of 20 to 30 feet in order to evade the pursuing Taliban fighters, as shown in the movie. -Navy.mil
Yes. Director Peter Berg was given access to autopsy reports and used them to recreate the injuries sustained by the four Navy SEALs in the film. Berg also worked with the costume department to make sure that the clothing replicated the men's injuries as accurately as possible. -Production Notes
Yes. According to Luttrell, the deaths of Murphy, Dietz and Axe happened much like they do in the movie. In real life, Danny Dietz died in Luttrell's arms after suffering multiple bullet wounds, with the shot that killed him striking him in the face as Luttrell was dragging him along. This differs somewhat from the movie, which depicts Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) as still being alive when the Taliban come upon him. The shot that kills him in the film comes around the same time that Murphy (Taylor Kitsch) is dying on top of the rock.
In the book, just after Lieutenant Mike Murphy was shot through his chest, he walked out into the open ground, away from the cliff walls (which would interfere with reception), sat on a small rock and called HQ. While on the phone he was shot in the back, with the bullet exiting his chest. However, unlike the movie, he rose to his feet and staggered into a "firestorm." As he shot back, he climbed into a "rock strata" about thirty yards up the mountain where he made his final stand. It was from there that he screamed out to Luttrell for help, but Luttrell was pinned down and badly injured. Eventually, the screaming stopped.
Marcus Luttrell then reached Axe, who was sitting in a hollow and slowly dying from a massive wound to his head, among other injuries. He told Luttrell to tell his wife Cindy that he loved her and as Marcus watched him slip away, a Russian grenade landed close to them and blew Marcus out of the hollow and over the edge of a ravine. In the book, Marcus states that Axe "could not possibly have lived through the blast." This contradicts the movie, which shows Axe being shot in the head as he's slumped against a tree. -Lone Survivor Book
No. "In real life I was unaware of that," says Luttrell. "I didn't know that had happened. It was well towards the end of the gunfight and I had already crawled into a crevice and buried myself." -The Daily Beast
No. In the movie we see a severely wounded Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg) walking around following the battle. "I was paralyzed from the waist down," says the real Luttrell. "In the movie they had me walking around. I didn't walk. I crawled for over seven miles that first night and was shot again." -The Daily Beast
Yes. The Lone Survivor movie character Gulab (Ali Suliman) is based on a real person who was a member of a Pashtun village. In assisting Luttrell, Gulab was obeying a Pashtun code of honor called Pashtunwali. "Pashtunwali is a respect," the real Mohammad Gulab told 60 Minutes, "a respect for a guest who comes knocking at your door, and even if he is in need or he is in imminent danger, we must protect him. I knew I had to help him, to do the right thing, because he was in a lot of danger." Watch the 60 Minutes interview.
No. In the movie, we see Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg) being dragged to a log where Shah's soldiers intend to behead him. However, just as they raise their machete over Luttrell, the villagers arrive with guns and save him. In real life, this suspenseful scene never happened. In the book, eight Taliban fighters barged into the room and beat Luttrell, breaking the bones in his wrist. They interrogated him for six hours, but they only threatened to behead him by telling him that they took the heads of his teammates and he was next. A village elder eventually came in and forbid the Taliban from taking Luttrell away.
No. In the movie, an injured Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg) is being strangled by a Taliban soldier but is saved when Gulab's son, a young boy, gives him a knife. He then stabs his attacker repeatedly in order to subdue him and survive. In real life, this scene never happened. In fact, the whole attack on the village at the end is Hollywood fiction. -Lone Survivor Book
No. In the film, U.S. helicopters and planes engage the Taliban, who are attacking the Pashtun village in search of Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg). After Gulab's house is blown apart, Gulab is shot in the back during the fight. U.S. soldiers eventually come to the rescue, storming through the village to locate Luttrell and get him to safety. This entire fight never happened. In real life, Mohammad Gulab was not shot in the back, nor was his house blown apart by an RPG when he and Luttrell were inside. The true story teaches us that Army Rangers and Afghan special forces actually rescued Luttrell in the woods when Gulab and several villagers were trying to get Luttrell to a safe location. -Lone Survivor Book
No. After working with ghostwriter Patrick Robinson on the Lone Survivor book, and at the same time partaking in physical therapy for injuries he sustained during Operation Red Wings, Marcus Luttrell returned to Iraq, engaging in high-intensity urban fighting in the hostile city of Ramadi, the capital of the war-torn Anbar Province (Service: A Navy SEAL at War). While back in Iraq, Luttrell got injured again, blowing out his knees and fracturing his spine during a raid (The Daily Beast). In addition, his injuries from Operation Red Wings had not been given enough time to heal. As a result, he left the Navy in 2007 and was officially medically retired from duty in 2009. -Military.com
To replicate the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan's Kunar Province, the filmmakers headed to New Mexico, filming on location in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Santa Fe National Forest. Portions of the battle and the sets for the Shah village and the Pashtun village were recreated on the less treacherous terrain of Chilili, New Mexico. Additional filming took place on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, as well as on soundstages at Albuquerque's I-25 Studios. -Production Notes
Yes. The real Marcus Luttrell makes a significant appearance in at least two scenes in the movie, though he is present in others too. He first appears as one of the soldiers at the table who is lightheartedly hazing rookie SEAL Shane Patton (Alexander Ludwig) before the mission (Luttrell is the one who knocks over the drink and jokingly tells Ludwig's character that his new mission or 'op' is to clean up the mess).
Watch Marcus Luttrell interviews that provide more insight into the Lone Survivor true story vs. the movie. Listen to Luttrell share his thoughts on the decision to release the goatherds, his rescuer Mohammad Gulab and what it's like to have the story turned into a movie.
WATCH Marcus Luttrell Responds to Controversy Over Freeing the GoatherdsDuring this post-screening conversation
with director Peter Berg, retired Navy
SEAL Marcus Luttrell, and actor Taylor
Kitsch, Luttrell interjects to address the
moderator, who naively assumes that the
only "right thing" to do was to let the
goatherds go. Luttrell uninhibitedly
reminds her that moral and strategical
arguments could be made for either
decision. Luttrell's comments regarding
the controversy begin around the 13:32
mark, but the whole interview is worth a
look. |
WATCH Marcus Luttrell Interview Part 1 - 60 MinutesDuring this 60 Minutes interview,
former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell discusses
the 2005 battle in Afghanistan that
resulted in the largest loss of life for
Naval Special Warfare since WWII. Luttrell
describes the events in detail and opens
up about reaching his breaking point. |
WATCH Marcus Luttrell 60 Minutes Interview Part 2During another part of the Marcus Luttrell
60 Minutes interview, the Navy
SEAL recalls the 2005 battle in
Afghanistan and talks about the real
Mohammad Gulab, the Afghan man who rescued
him and hid him for four days, despite
demands by the Taliban that he give up
Luttrell. The real Gulab is also
interviewed. |
WATCH Lone Survivor - Family Members of the Fallen React to the MovieThe parents of the fallen heroes,
including Daniel and Maureen Murphy, Corky
and Donna Axelson, and Dan and Cindy
Dietz, react to the Lone Survivor
movie. Marcus Luttrell also speaks about
his reluctance to allow his true story to
become a film. |
WATCH Director Peter Berg and Marcus Luttrell Reflect on the Real EventsDirector Peter Berg and the real Marcus
Luttrell talk about the movie, the mission
and what it means to be a Navy SEAL.
Luttrell says that no matter how many
people he's spoken to and no matter how
many people read the book, it will be
nothing compared to the number of people
who see the movie. With the release of the
film, he now considers his mission to
share the story of his team complete. |
WATCH Lone Survivor Trailer 2The second Lone Survivor movie
trailer for the film starring Mark
Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile
Hirsch and Eric Bana. Directed by Peter
Berg, this true story movie chronicles the
events of Operation Red Wings, a 2005 U.S.
military operation in Afghanistan that
went horribly wrong and resulted in the
deaths of 19 soldiers. |
WATCH Lone Survivor TrailerLone Survivor is based on Marcus
Luttrell's book that recounts the failed
June 28, 2005 mission "Operation Red
Wings." Luttrell and 3 other members of
SEAL Team 10 were tasked with the mission
to capture or kill notorious Taliban
leader Ahmad Shah. Starring Mark Wahlberg,
Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Eric Bana and
Emile Hirsch. |