Act of Valor was made for a paltry 15 million bucks. Most big time actors wouldn’t participate in the filming even if they received 100% of the budget. As it turns out they are not needed.
Act of Valor was made using real life, active duty Navy Seals. They are great in the movie except for the acting. Since their skill levels at their real jobs is at a World Class level, the lack of acting skills can be forgiven.
Act of Valor is a tale of action and adventure as a team of USN Seals act to prevent a blatant attack by multiple terrorists on the USofA. The story ranges from Mexico to Africa, the Caribbean and the Ukraine as well as Indonesia and the Philippines. They have plenty of support in their travel plans as they have access to aircraft carriers, submarines, speed boats, large air transports and parachutes to assist them in getting to the ground or water, as the case may be. They also have all kinds of high tech weapons, more firepower than was expended in WWII and people who can breathe underwater.
The storyline follows their discovery of a devilish plot to attack the USofA using suicide/homicide bombers. They find out while carrying out a rescue mission that there is much more at stake than the life of a single person. The action sequences using real guns (with blanks and tracers only) and the fact the military gave the filmmakers access to a number of expensive military items, makes for an intense experience. While always out numbered in their raids, they are always capable of bringing along enough backup support and firepower to disintegrate a small city if need be.
The film is made as fiction but is based on real life experiences and techniques used by the Seal Teams. It is close to being a documentary except for the added drama of the fictional storyline.
This is a tough bunch of Americans. Exactly what we need to fend off a group of folks set on our destruction by any means. HOORAH!
Rated 3.8 out of 4.0 reasons John Wayne would have considered this his favorite film. I agree with the Duke.