Justin Chang , writing for '' Variety '' magazine , gave the film a positive review and called it " the most grueling and sustained American combat picture since '' Black Hawk Down '' , as well as a prime example of how impressive physical filmmaking can overcome even fundamental deficiencies in script and characterization . " Alonso Duralde , writing for '' The Wrap '' , stated , " The film never makes a grand statement about whether or not the war in Afghanistan is , per se , a mistake , but it does portray war itself as a disgusting folly . Berg sets up the cathartic moments we 're used to in movies like this , but then he pulls out the rug , reminding us that the cavalry does n't always miraculously show up in time to save the day . " Todd McCarthy , writing for '' The Hollywood Reporter '' , described the film as being " rugged , skilled , relentless , determined , narrow-minded and focused , everything that a soldier must be when his life is on the line , " while Scott Bowles of '' USA Today '' called '' Lone Survivor '' " brutal , unrelenting and ultimately moving . " Leonard Maltin described the film as " visceral " , while praising Berg , the main actors , and the stunt performers for successfully reenacting the events of Operation Red Wings . Maltin concluded that the film " is a tough movie but a rewarding one . It 's humbling to watch this dramatization of the sacrifices these men make , without hesitation . Peter Berg was determined to do justice to them , and he has succeeded . " Betsy Sharkey , writing for The '' Los Angeles Times '' , praised the overall look of the film : " The production and costume designers have paid a great deal of attention to the details , from the uniforms and tribal robes , to the bullet wounds and blood . It certainly adds to the film 's verisimilitude . " Several reviewers criticized '' Lone Survivor '' for focusing more on its action scenes than on characterization . In his review for '' The Star-Ledger '' , Stephen Whitty wrote , " This is the sort of bare-bones story that well served plenty of World War II movies once , and it would work here , if Berg had the sense to develop these men as characters , first . But we do n't really get to know any of them , or what they might bring personally to this life-or-death emergency . " Rafer Guzman of '' Newsday '' wrote , " The movie seems more concerned with military-style action than with telling us who these fallen heroes really were . " One of the film 's strongest detractors was '' Time Out '' magazine 's Keith Uhlich , who called the film " war porn of the highest order " . Geoff Pevere wrote in his review for '' The Globe and Mail '' , " The sensation of being pinned down and shot apart is so harrowingly conveyed ... that one almost forgives the movie 's failure to be quite as persuasive in almost every other respect . " While praising the film for its visuals and sound effects , as well as Berg 's atmospheric direction , Kyle Smith of the '' New York Post '' gave '' Lone Survivor '' a mixed review . Smith concluded his review by describing it as " a movie about an irrelevant skirmish that ended in near-total catastrophe , during a war we are not winning . " Film critic Steven Boone , writing for Roger Ebert 's website , compared the film 's violence to that of Mel Gibson 's 2004 film '' The Passion of the Christ '' : " What 's in between amounts to '' The Passion of the Christ '' for U.S. servicemen : a bloody historic episode recounted mainly in images of hardy young men being ripped apart , at screeching volume . Though Berg 's source material is n't the New Testament , he often handles Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell 's account ... with the thunderous reverence Mel Gibson brought to Christ 's crucifixion and resurrection . " '' Lone Survivor '' received various awards and nominations , in categories ranging from recognition of the film itself to its screenplay , direction , stunts , and sound editing , to the performance of its lead actor , Mark Wahlberg . '' Lone Survivor '' received two Academy Award nominations for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing , although the film failed to win either ; at the 86th Academy Awards , the film lost in both categories to '' Gravity '' . In addition to the following list of awards and nominations , the film was named one of the ten best films of 2013 by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society , who also ranked it as the Best Action Film of 2013
86th Academy Awards
86th Academy Awards
Lone Survivor