The ads for the new combat movie/live-action video game Act of Valor trumpet the fact that the film follows the adventures of a team of Navy SEALs who are all played by... active duty Navy SEALs. And if that's not authentic enough for you, a short featurette that precedes the picture reveals that directors Mike "Mouse" McCoy and Scott Waugh were embedded amongst the troops to shoot many of the mission sequences, all of which employed live fire -- that means real, honest-to-God bullets. So yeah, whatever else you can say about Act of Valor, it's hard to argue that the movie doesn't strive to capture the reality of an actual SEAL team mission. Furthermore, we're sure that the onscreen platitudes that the soldiers offer up about the importance of brotherhood and family (scripted for them by 300 writer Kurt Johnstad) reflect how they feel in real life as well. While not explicitly a documentary, Act of Valor does feel like a relatively truthful representation of what a typical Navy SEAL thinks and experiences in the field.

Tags: Act of Valor