Best movie of this year hands down!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Fresh and Exciting

Crappy film

Full of the glorification of American military might in some rose-tinted view of the world. It seems more like a propaganda film than a decent movie. The awful dead-voiced narration just adds to the feeling of a lackluster story that has nothing real or true to say. Who cares how accurate the film is in depicting battle. If it has no real story then it's not worth a damn.A waste of time - I'd rather watch an Expendables movie.

When CIA agent Lisa Morales (Sanchez) is kidnapped, the finest in our military service, the Navy SEALS, snap into action. During the course of their rescue mission, they realize a massive terrorist plot is afoot. They have to catch a baddie named Christo (Veadov) and find out what he knows before it's too late. This will require everything from underwater demolition, to jumping out of airplanes and helicopters, firefights, evasive driving, room clearance, and many other tools of the SEAL trade that, frankly, we're too ignorant to understand. Will our brave warriors foil the terror plot? Find out today...As you may already know, Act of Valor is unique in that it has real Navy SEALS, not actors, in the main roles. They mix it up with some professional actors as the lines between reality and fiction are blurred. We thought that was a pretty novel approach, and it has no precedent that we're aware of. Interestingly, it seems this project started life as a training video, and somehow rolled into becoming a feature-length, narrative film that played in theaters. That might explain the presence of the two directors, as it seems fairly obvious which are the "training video" scenes (glorious shots of aircraft carriers, planes, and men diving out of them) and which are the "added to become a movie" scenes (everything else). Please don't take that as a negative, however - as stated earlier, we appreciated the melding of the seemingly disparate elements to forge a (relatively) cohesive whole.Perhaps because of its training video origins, it all looks highly professional and glossy (check out the Blu-Ray for best results), and it has some old-school action standbys that we all love and enjoy - the shooting, blow ups, guard towers, and even some Prerequisite Torture. It's a fairly simple "heroes and villains" plot, and thankfully there are no kids mucking it all up. Because the plot is so basic, it probably would have helped the movie if it was streamlined down to about 90 minutes or so from its almost two-hour running time.  Perhaps one of the best things about Act of Valor is the camaraderie between the SEALs. And sure, their acting is a little wooden - but they're NOT ACTORS. Cut them a break. Besides, you can't make fun of them, because they're busy saving our lazy, review-writing butts from the real-life bad guys. Because this was such a surprise hit in 2012, it definitely paved the way for other hugely successful, audience-pleasing films such as Lone Survivor (2013) and American Sniper (2014). Everyone should see all three. Someone in Hollywood probably thought "if this is working so well with non-actors, what would happen if we brought in the pro's?" The results speak for themselves. The American people have a hunger to see what's going on in the military, and these three films provide that in a current context, which is important for us to see.  The whole experience is pretty unusual, and the fact that one of the main baddies is named Christo we took to understand that the filmmakers were saying that pretentious art like wrapping Central Park in cellophane or wrapping tropical islands in cellophane, or, heck, wrapping anything in cellophane is an act of terrorism in and of itself. In the end, though, watching Act Of Valor may leave you with one question: "is joining the Navy SEALs right for me?" For our part we decided we would skip the grueling training and dangerous missions and do the next best thing: support movies like this.

90% of Hollywood action movies today are entirely unrealistic and absolutely unbelievable. After a while, it becomes extremely tiring to watch the same ridiculous plot lines again and again.I've always loved Navy SEALs, but almost every movie that centered around them is unrealistic (especially "Navy SEALs" with Charlie Sheen!). Those that aren't based on old clichés have terrible plots, and it must be hilarious to be a SEAL and watch these horrible movies.Act of Valor is a refreshing action film that keeps you on the edge of your seat with great action sequences, true to life tactics, and a great plot. The whole thing is a long recruiting commercial for the Navy, but hey, I'll bet it works! Do yourself a favor, and add this to your watch list!

Best Look Into the SEALs Without Being OneEveryone has seen the classic action film with an overload of special effects, crazy car and fight scenes, and no real plot or deeper meaning behind it all. However, Act of Valor takes the classic action film and applies reality to it. While Act of Valor has all the great characteristics of that of a great action film it puts in a deep message and real life look into combat and war. This film shows that the ones who deserve to survive do not always walk away with minimal scratches like the good guys in your regular action movie. Act of Valor captivates its viewer and makes you want to see more. Through all the twists and turns you feel all sorts of emotions and real attachment towards the people you are watching on the screen.The film takes you into the world of the U.S. Navy SEALs. Showing you all sorts of aspects about the SEALs such as how they operate during missions, all the gear and weapons, the people who they fight, and the type of people they are. All of these aspects are very intriguing to see, especially due to the fact that the SEALs do not release much information to the public. Act of Valor specifically focuses on one mission that is currently at hand that the CIA is working on with the SEALs. This mission on the surface appears to be simple and straightforward. However, the mission develops into something huge and much greater than expected. Which represents and goes to show how warfare and dealing with international criminals is certainly no easy task. The film takes you through all the steps of the mission and keeps you interested in what will develop next in the film.Some of the actors used in the film are active duty SEALs. This being said, the acting is not phenomenal for obvious reasons. Acting is such a huge aspect of films but with Act of Valor they manage to get by without having exceptional acting. The fact that the guys playing Navy SEALs in the film are actually Navy SEALs really adds significantly to the movie and makes it more realistic. What this movie lacks in acting skills is made up in the mission scenes where the "actors" are doing what they more or less do on a real mission. During missions you see and hear all the hand movements, communication lingo, tactical movements, and the camaraderie shown by the SEALs. Yes, the film does not have the best acting ever seen in a film but having real SEALs in the film adds more to it than I think professional actors would. The camera work in this film is something that is very deserving of being mentioned. Throughout the action scenes there are many different angles used which really adds to the scenes. One specific example is when a target is shot on a dock and is going to fall into water and make noise but a SEAL is there and catches him. The camera is being positioned in the perspective of the SEAL under the water. The overall camera work does a great job; especially during the action scenes making them seem more realistic and intense while watching. Act of Valor is a unique action film that makes you happy, sad, appreciative, and thankful. Not every action movie is able to achieve that, which is what makes this film so great. Act of Valor leaves you with an array of emotion that makes the film special and unique from other action films. I would recommend seeing this film to even someone who does not usually watch action movies because Act of Valor is able to depict the selflessness of the people defending this country and much more.