By many accounts -- okay, mostly just the filmmakers' -- this week's commando pic Act of Valor marks a new kind of filmmaking on account of it's a Navy SEALS actioner starring real active duty soldiers that takes the viewer along on a near-firsthand experience of what it's like to fight terrorists and baddies. From the looks of the film's new redband featurette this means audiences will get to see what it looks and sounds like to drop dome shots left and right in the heat of battle, because nothing says "valor" better than shooting strangers in the head with automatic weapons.
I'm sure there's a fair amount of weightiness and responsibility within Act of Valor, since the filmmakers do seem to have a genuine respect for the members of the armed forces who risk their lives to serve and protect. But a clip like this -- which debuted on gamer-leaning IGN, where it could easily get lost within a gaggle of first person shooter promos -- doesn't do much besides glorifying the awesomeness of battle, as seen partially through helmet-mounted cameras.
I count no fewer than eleven, maybe 12 exploding head shots in the span of this two-minute video, but what makes this even freakier is the fact that the majority of the cast is culled from active duty Navy SEALS who may have had similar skirmishes in the field. Watching people who have been trained to kill pretend to kill people who may resemble people they've actually killed in real life is a tricky thing to digest. It's one thing to witness the brutality and heroism of actual military life via the movies (see: Restrepo); it's another to embrace the glossy, redband-worthy violence as pure entertainment.
But maybe you disagree? Check out the clip below and leave your thoughts in the comments.