a5c7b9f00b An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, 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. Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of the most elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. Each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the deadly terror plot, which stretches from Chechnya to the Philippines and from Ukraine to Somalia. The widening operation sends the SEALs across the globe as they track the terrorist ring to the U.S.-Mexico border, where they engage in an epic firefight with an outcome that has potentially unimaginable consequences for the future of America. A team of elite US Navy SEALs is called when an undercover CIA agent by the name of Lisa Morales is kidnapped, and almost beat to death. The team of guys responsible for the kidnapping end up correlating to two men who construct a devastating plan to rebel against America, by means of terrorism. Once again, the SEALs are brought in to attempt to neutralize the enemies. At last! A movie with real action, great camera shots and edge of seat combat scenes. It has been a while since I've enjoyed an action movie so much.<br/><br/>I think it's way underrated on IMDb. Netflix's rating is more up to par (almost 4 stars).<br/><br/>OK so the acting was bad. At first I thought it was going to be one of those cheesy TV movies. But I was so wrong. I didn't know it but I got the sense that the actors were in fact real SEALs or maybe they were 1st time actors (turns out they are real soldiers). <br/><br/>After a few minutes action started to pick up and I was caught right there in the middle of a mission with my heart racing.<br/><br/>The camera shots were amazing. A+ to the director.<br/><br/>I think Hollywood should take a look at how action movies should be made.<br/><br/>Some reviews say it's pure US propaganda. I'm over that, I watched it for the reality of the scenes.<br/><br/>If you like action movies, watch it. Act of Valor <br/><br/>A true act of valor is marrying the widow of a dead soldier, raising his children and living off of his insurance policy until it runs out.<br/><br/>According to this action movie, however, it's a more honorable act to leave your family behind.<br/><br/>A tight knit group of Navy SEALs (unnamed serviceman) is deployed to rescue a CIA agent being held captive in Costa Rica by a drug smuggler Christo (Alex Veadov) with ties to a Muslim terrorist who recently assassinated a US diplomat.<br/><br/>With the SEALs closing in, Christo's partner puts in place his plan to send suicide bombers to America wearing vests lined with undetectable ceramic pellets.<br/><br/>While the masterfully executed action sequences are commendable, the hollow acting by the real life Marines and the deliberate recruitment propaganda is not.<br/><br/>Besides, the only benefit to military service is the complimentary American flag your spouse receives at your funeral. (Red Light) Act of Valor will likely earn high praise from combat veterans and their families, the way movies like "Fireproof" and "Seven Days in Utopia" resonate with Christians. Civilians, movie critics and certainly pacifists won't be nearly as impressed. Yes, they are. They are not named in the film's credits, however. Yes. Christo is based on Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian billionaire currently awaiting trial in the US for black market arms dealing. Like Christo he enjoyed an immensely lavish lifestyle, ran his own fleet of smuggling planes, skilfully circumvented international law and ruthlessly sold to the highest bidder. He also inspired Nicholas Cage's film Lord of War. Abu Shabal is based on Shamil Basayev, Chechen terrorist leader and Jihadi who amongst other atrocities was responsible for the 2004 Beslan School massacre. Like Shabal he advocated the indiscriminate mass killing of civilians using explosive vests and utilised the wives of his dead fighters as suicide bombers, nicknaming them "Black Widows". He was killed in 2006 by an explosion during an arms deal, possibly assassinated by the Russian secret service. The Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG-7) is expelled from the launch tube by a primary charge and then carried towards the target by a rocket motor. However, the rocket motor doesn't initiate and the armour piercing warhead doesn't arm until it is some distance from the launcher so that the firer isn't killed by the backblast or a premature detonation. When the SEAL is struck by the warhead he is so close to the firer that the rocket motor hasn't kicked in yet and the warhead hasn't had time to arm so his body armour is able to save him. The SEALs not only rescued Morales but were able to recover the Blackberry phone belonging to Christo's henchman. This is a crucial plot point as the information they recover from it leads them to the arms transfer in Somalia and Christo's yacht in the Pacific. Terrorists worldwide from the IRA to the Viet Cong to Al-Quaeda have a reputation for obsessively writing their plans down, the SEAL's killing of Osama bin Laden was not nearly as important in the War on Terror as their recovery of his mobile phones, laptop computers etc which provided invaluable information on his organisation. Fast-rope: rappel from a helicopter using a rope<br/><br/>Frag: fragmentation grenade<br/><br/>HAHO: high-altitude, high-opening: parachuting and opening the canopy at a high altitude to allow a long stealthy approach to a distant target<br/><br/>HALO: high-altitude, low-opening: free-falling from a high altitude and opening the canopy at the last minute to allow a rapid stealthy approach directly onto a target<br/><br/>JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command<br/><br/>LAW: light antitank weapon: one-shot disposable anti-armour rocket<br/><br/>M4: standard assault carbine used by the SEALs<br/><br/>Overwatch: SEAL commander and sniper observing at a distance in order to provide support and command and control to SEALs in action.<br/><br/>QRF: quick reaction force<br/><br/>Raven: small remote-controlled drone used for forwards reconnaissance<br/><br/>RPG: rocket-propelled grenade, Soviet era anti-armour weapon.<br/><br/>SDV: swimmer delivery vehicle, mini submarine which deploys SEALs from the SSGN<br/><br/>Squirters: terrorist suspects fleeing scene<br/><br/>SSGN: nuclear submarine optimized for special operations, equipped with cruise missiles and able to carry an SDV attached to its' deck<br/><br/>SWIFT boat: small, heavily-armed boats manned by Special Warfare Combat Crews used to support SEALs<br/><br/>Task Force 160 / Nightstalkers: Army Special Aviation Regiment flying helicopters in support of SEALs and Delta Force Yes and no, we see it shot off and hanging by a strip of flesh in the final confrontation but later at the funeral and whilst writing the letter we see that he still has it. Presumably it must have been surgically re-attached. Several alterations were made for the international cut of the movie: some of the footage was either cut out or re-dubbed for international markets which mitigates the movie's message. Sometimes there is the exact same dialogue happening during an entirely different shot. Mostly the offscreen comments were changed but there are also five altered scenes resulting in a time difference of almost 1 minute between both versions.