SEAL of approval: Thriller co- stars real- life commandos
Filmmakers had cooperation of U. S. navy in making of action story, which features elite fighters ‘ doing what they do’
First- time directors Mike Mccoy and Scott Waugh were looking for a specific seal of approval for their debut film, Act of Valor.
To their relief, the filmmakers received the SEALS’ thumbs up for their anti- terrorist action flick. It’s critical because active U. S. navy SEALS appear in the movie, playing versions of themselves on clandestine missions.
“We are extremely proud of how this film has worked out with the creation of a new kind of authentic action genre,” said Mccoy during a recent interview from Los Angeles. “But more importantly, we are finding out that the men and women in uniform are telling us that this is true to their experiences.”
Indeed, the SEALS in the movie have quietly embraced Act of Valor as an accurate representation of what they do.
The movie, which opens in wide release Friday, chronicles the pivotal assignment of an elite SEALS strike force sent on a covert operation to recover a kidnapped Latin Americanbased CIA agent, who may have information about an impending terrorist attack in the U. S.
When the unit discovers the potential attack is moving forward with assistance from drug cartels, they reassemble to eliminate the threat.
Intense firefights, refined communication devices and realistic “boots- on- the- ground assaults” are the key elements in Act of Valor. So are the appropriate location backdrops filmed in Mexico, Cambodia, Puerto Rico, Ukraine and Florida.
Even some of the weapons exchanges come across as jarringly real, mostly because some scenes feature bursts of live high- calibre ammunition.
“We first set out make an action movie with actors, but once we were immersed inside the SEALS community, we realized how deep the brotherhood goes,” said Mccoy. “The only way to pay tribute to these guys was to use real SEALS doing what they do.”
Actors Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano and Emilio Rivera star in the movie, while several SEALS veterans — who are not named in the credits — played themselves.
“We told the SEALS to be who they are,” Waugh said. “And we had the actors underplay everything to mesh with the SEALS, and we think it worked on many levels.”
If the SEALS in the film are concerned about exposing their identities to potential enemies, they aren’t saying. “The guys aren’t worried about it, so we aren’t going to worry about it,” said Waugh.
Of course, all of the detail and the high- tech hardware arrived thanks to the complete cooperation of the U. S. Navy and the SEALS, which also acted as advisers.
Are the filmmakers worried that Act of Valor might come off as a “recruitment” tool? “It’s really an anti- recruitment movie,” said Mccoy. “It shows that it’s a hard place to earn a living with huge risk and sacrifice.”
It’s not the first time U. S. armed forces personnel, and strategic equipment, have been featured in the movies.
The 1986 Tom Cruise headlined Top Gun famously sported F- 14s, F- 5s and A- 4 fighter jets and pilots. Black Hawk Down used MH- 6 Little Bird helicopters in its action sequences, while the recent Transformers films featured F- 22 fighters and other military units.
Both the Navy and the SEALS were, apparently, hands- off when it came to the Act of Valor narrative, which underscores the brutal violence associated with the SEALS covert campaigns.
“We had complete creative control on storyline,” Mccoy said. “[ The SEALS] didn’t want us to give certain things away, so they were cautious about showing technique, tactics and procedures.”
However, the navy did negotiate a final cut, but only to delete moments addressing security concerns. It also kept unused footage for training purposes.
With Act of Valor under their belt, the duo might be close to signing former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for their next action flick, Black Sands. But for now, they’re focused on Act of Valor.