Act of Valor, the fictitious thriller based on real missions carried out by U.S. Navy SEALs, will hit theaters on Feb. 24. The film uses footage of actual military operations, originally created for public relations and recruitment purposes. Rare looks into secret special ops missions are included in the film, adding to the authenticity of its counter-terrorism plot.
The movie combines a fictional mission with film that the Navy intended to use for a documentary debunking the myth that its SEALs are mavericks or superheroes. However, since film of real events might compromise future efforts of the SEALs, government officials decided to abandon the project, leaving the Navy with millions of dollars worth of unused material.
Filmmakers Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, who actually shot the footage, producers Bandito Brothers and distribution company Relativity Media, along with the U.S. government, came up with a plan to turn the costly footage into a theatrical action movie. They settled on a plot, written by Kurt Johnstad, involving a team of elite SEALS on a rescue mission to find a missing CIA agent. Some of the Navy’s less compromising footage was used, and actual SEALs star in the film as fictional characters.

The project took several years, because the individual SEALs who perform in the movie had to fulfill their current deployments before they could spend time acting. None of the SEALs’ real names are listed in the credits, since many are still engaged in covert missions around the globe.
Three Hollywood actors round out the cast: Alex Veadov, Nestor Serrano and Roseyln Sanchez. Act of Valor is predicted to be the first action-thriller blockbuster to star three relatively unknown actors. But with the Navy SEALs backing them up, the movie should produce plenty of action and excitement.
Grab your crew and head to theaters on Feb. 24 for an intense movie experience. Want more on the Navy SEALs? Head over to basictraining.stack.com.