Act of Valor

Act of Valor is a 2012 American action film produced and directed by Mouse McCoy and Scott Waugh and written by Kurt Johnstad.

Elsewhere in Costa Rica, two CIA officers, Walter Ross and Lisa Morales, meet to consolidate intelligence about their target, a drug smuggler named Mikhail "Christo" Troykovich.

A squad from the platoon consisting of Rorke, Dave, Wiemy, Mikey, Ray, Sonny, and Ajay, is then deployed to Costa Rica to exfiltrate Morales.

Christo knows the CIA is watching him and informs Shabal that subordinates will complete their project, which is to equip suicide bombers with specialized undetectable explosive vests.

On the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, Rorke is informed that the intelligence recovered confirms Shabal and Christo were working together.

Elsewhere, in the South Pacific, SEAL Team Four captures Christo and interrogate him, learning that Shabal's plot is to outdo the September 11 attacks.

The SEALs are informed that Shabal is en route to the U.S. via tunnels underneath a milk factory, and are ordered to link up with Mexican Special Forces and neutralize the remaining targets.

The film ends with a dedication to 60 U.S. Navy SEAL and Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) killed in action since 9/11 along with a listing of their names as well as a photo montage of fallen public servants.

After spending so much time working closely with the SEALs and SWCC, McCoy and Waugh conceived the idea for a modern-day action movie about this covert and elite fighting force.

[12] The crew filmed at Navy training sites to provide realistic settings, such as a drug cartel base, a terrorist camp on an isolated island, and a smuggler's yacht.

[9] Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut used Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras with Zeiss ZE and Panavision Primo lenses.

[12] The Navy held final cut privileges[5] in order to remove any frames to address security concerns and kept raw footage to use for real-life training and other purposes.

"[19] Similarly, Amy Biancolli from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Act of Valor is intended to wow audiences with high-test action while planting a giant wet kiss on the smacker of the U.S. military – and it scores at both tasks," but that, ultimately, "the film gets snagged by its own narrative convention.

"[20] Michael Rechtshaffen from The Hollywood Reporter had a similar opinion, stating, "Although the film has its undeniably immersive, convincing moments, the merging of dramatic re-creations and on-camera 'performances' proves less seamlessly executed than those masterfully coordinated land, sea and air missions.

Shooting of a scene with SWCCs from Special Boat Team 22