Whenever one of the Seals gets shot, the sound effects make us intimate with the bullet's progress through flesh, bone and vital organs. Berg is at heart an action director, so his way of restraining the urge to Rambo-fy his heroes in the interest of this film's patriotic agenda is to double down on their suffering. 'Lone Survivor' has to negotiate with the truth. Of course, 'Predator' was a sci-fi action flick, which meant that it could easily afford to let the tension explode into popcorn-friendly thrills. This slow transition from routine reconnaissance to insane firefight reminded me of a forest battle in John McTiernan's unlikely combat classic, ' Predator'.

Gradually, their geographic advantage becomes their trap. They chitchat as if they were back at the base to burn off their anxiety-which, of course, heightens ours. Berg builds the tension by keeping our view restricted to the four Seals perched in their positions, barely camouflaged by low pine branches, and their point-of-view of the valley.

The best example of this is an exquisitely controlled sequence in which the SEAL Team 10 members use an Afghan hill to surveil the compound of Taliban leader Ahmad Shah (Yousuf Azami). Mark Wahlberg as Luttrell, Taylor Kitsch as Lieutenant Michael Murphy and Emile Hirsch as Danny Dietz contribute natural charisma and intelligence under Berg's downright doting eye. It's clear that he dug into the Average Joe details of Luttrell's book, with dialogue that encompasses the boys' love of the movie ' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and the newlywed jitters of Matthew Axelson ( Ben Foster). I'm thinking of the cocky FBI agents in Berg's 'The Kingdom' and even the high school football players in ' Friday Night Lights'. Scenes of elite warriors busting each other's chops and joking through the terrifying moments of anticipation between battles capture the essence of jocular group chemistry. A veteran actor, Berg shows a much subtler touch with ensemble performances.

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