AT Bagram Air Base, Navy SEALs Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster) await their assignment.

Lieutenant Commander Erik Kristensen (Eric Bana) gives the order to hunt Ahmad Shah (Yousuf Azami), a high-ranking member of the Taliban suspected of killing marines.

The reconnaissance is fatally compromised when three shepherds, two of whom are boys, stumble upon the SEALs' hiding place. The US men argue about whether they should shoot the locals or let them go.

"It's nobody's business what we do up here,"

argues Axelson. Murphy takes the final decision to let the villagers go, and within hours, the SEALs are surrounded by hundreds of gun-toting Taliban.

Based on a true story, Lone Survivor is a rousing tribute to the men who perished in June 2005 while serving their country.

Director Peter Berg is no stranger to action and male posturing, having previously helmed The Kingdom, Hancock and Battleship.

He is the perfect fit for this gruelling material, delivering a final 30 minutes that will have viewers wincing in horror as the four SEALs fling themselves down the Hindu Kush Mountains near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border during the gunfight with the Taliban.

Broken bones jut through shattered limbs and bullets scythe through flesh as the fourstrong team continues to fight to the tragic end, aware that their struggles could be in vain. It's a heroic and harrowing portrait of bravado in combat and the bonds of brotherhood behind enemy lines.