Rating: 
Summary: Abandon This Mission
Review: Let me be the first to say that I really wanted this movie to be great. Antonie Fuqua, Bruce Willis, Eammon Walker, Monica Bellucci and the rest of the cast really deserve for this film to succeed. Unfortunately, the film fails them in way too many ways to give it a good review. I agree with those who say that the film tackles interesting topics. I agree with those that say that the film is a technically competent film. But aside from a few histrionics by the ENTIRE cast (you'll know which scene I am referring to), the film makes no attempt to develop ANY of the characters beyond "plot funtions". And there are too many gaps in logic for this film to even begin to make sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood's Kinder, Gentler Military...sort of.
Review: I guess I am just a cranky Army wife who is a little on the sensitive side...but this movie was so DUMB! Get this...1. Marine unit is sent into a civil war in Nigeria to FORCEABLY rescue the French (my husband says she was Italian) widow of an American doctor. The implication was that the military does these unlawful things every day. 2. At one point when the commander realizes that things are a bit dicey...HE TAKES A VOTE from the men about whether to go on with the mission or not!!!! Can you believe it? He takes a VOTE!!! My husband had to tell me to stop giggling. 3. We get this racial reconciliation angle when one of the black soldiers thanks the "L-T" because the Africians he is rescuing are HIS people. Why this one black tribe is his and the other one that Bruce Willis is killing off isn't...I have NO CLUE. Anyway, apparently Bruce Willis doing this makes up for all the "stuff that has gone on" for the past few years. 4. After Bruce Willis takes out an enemy unit (against orders) the French doctor chicky (my husband says she was Italian)tells him he did a good thing. Bruce Willis replies something to the effect that he hasn't done a good thing in quite awhile and felt it was about time. I guess I am being sensitive, but I felt the implication was that the MILITARY in general hasn't done good things...and it made me MAD.
Rating: 
Summary: Will have Hollywood up in arms
Review: As expected, critics are upset at the film's pro-American view. Hollywood.com's reviewer was apparently grinding his?her? teeth so much he couldn't even understand the dialogue: "When someone points out a potential problem with his strategy, for example, Waters replies, "There are lots of possible scenarios and I don't presume to know them all." What great military man would put himself and his men at such risk without considering all the consequences?" But Waters was responding to the doctor's plea that if they left, the villagers would be killed. His response, above, was simply a cop-out which neither of them believed - nothing to do with what the reviewer supposes. The real complaint these reviewers have is this that (gasp) American soldiers are portrayed as heroes: "... the blind patriotism we are spoon-fed towards the end makes this film a little hard to swallow." The "blind patroitism" must refer to the refugees' tears and cries of eternal gratitude for the courageous sacrifice that has bought their very lives. And that's the essence of the cries of "too simplistic," "propaganda," "jingoistic" - which is code for "I am upset that this film does not portray American soldiers as mentally deranged, pot-smoking, homicidal, genocidal, racist, trigger-happy scum of the earth." We are not given any backstory to explain that the murderous rebels were driven to their life of hatred because their parents couldn't afford to get them "Boggle" when they were kids, or any such "evenhandedness." Fuqua presents viewers with the stark reality of evil, not the evil of war. He asks us, if we should not intervene in the face of such evil, when should we? If our military cannot be used to overturn such gross inhumanity, what good are we as a nation? This would make any anti-war type squirm. What did I think? It's intense, brutal, frustrating, and strangely un/sentimental. Willis portrays a thoroughly professional soldier dedicated to carrying out missions to the letter. He makes a thoroughly professional decision to extract only his designated "target" - which leads to the uninhibited slaughter of the village where she worked (unsentimental). (The fact that the movie's scenario has Muslims brutalizing Christians - unfortunately not a purely fantastical scenario but one which is being played out today worldwide - will also raise cries of fury and disdain. Of course, if it were the other way around, there would be no complaints. Aren't these critics starting to sicken you, too?) Waters responds to the good doctor in a way that we would naturally see as unfeeling, even inhuman; but later we see that she has also made a foolish calculation. The refugees' gratitude for Waters' intervention may be interpreted as sentimental, but it's deeper than that. The soldiers are heroes not because they are cowboys - they are heroes because they will sacrifice for a good cause. Witnessing the slaughter breaks Waters' lifetime of mission discipline. He resolves to lead 70 refugees to Cameroon, at no small cost of peril to himself and his men. The sight of their helicopter whisking into the refugees' view above the trees and landing is one of the most moving moments; I got kind of misty. In fact there are other moments which are more subtle. When Waters gives the chopper the command to turn around, the immediate, unquestioning "Yes, sir" speaks volumes. And some critics called this movie "heavy-handed." In between exacting well-deserved vengeance on their genocidal enemies, they are chased relentlessly, engaging in intense firefights. Every time one of them stands up, you flinch and your guts tie into knots because you just *know* he's going to be hit. The soldiers exude a quiet, professional heroism which is apparently out of vogue in Hollywood, but will make you wish you were there beside them, even with a potato gun. Yes, the scenario is black and white, good against evil, but sometimes that's the reality. Deal with it.
Rating:
Summary: Tears of the Sun is well worth seeing
Review: Tears of the Sun is a first class war movie in the realistic style of Black Hawk Down. The plot centers on a mission by US Navy SEALs to rescue an American doctor at a mission in Nigeria during a civil war.
Bruce Willis stars as the officer commanding the SEAL detachment. He and the other actors potraying SEALs received training from real SEALs and, therefore, come across as authentic instead of the usual Hollywood portayal of speical operators as undiscplined psychopaths.
The level of violence in this movie is high as expected in a war movie, but it is never exaggerated or cartoonish. Neither is it included just to keep the excitement level up. Instead, violence is portrayed as the inevitable product of war and is shown realistically as real human suffering.
The movie is very tightly edited and moves quickly. There are no long periods of chatter and no padding. The movie gets right into the story it intends to tell and moves along quickly. I was surprised when the movie ended that 2 hours had actually passed.
The battle scenes are clearly the product of some considerable effort at realism. The good guys are not invincible and the bad guys are not incompetent. Weapons effects are realistic, not exaggerated. Wounds are authentically gory, but not overdone for effect's sake.
In conclusion. Tears of the Sun attempts to paint a believeable picture of believable human beings in a frightening and brutal situation. It is one of the finest war movies I have seen and I recommend it highly to anyone who likes the genre.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD VERSUS EVIL ' OR SO IT SEEMS
Review: Set in the Nigerian jungle shortly after rebels take control of the country, Lt. A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) and his Navy Seals command unit is sent to rescue an American missionary, Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) from potential harm. Upon arrival the doctor informs the Navy Seals that she refuses to leave without the rest of her entourage consisting of Nigerian refugee. Under deceptive demise, the Navy Seals lead the refugees along a forty-mile hike to the border of Cameroon while giving them the impression that they are being led to freedom along with Dr. Kendricks. Meanwhile the rebel troops are gaining on them and are intent to destroy the Americans and refugees racing for the border. While watching TEARS OF THE SUN it is clear that this is a Hollywood movie of good versus evil with no nuance of behavior on either side. Bruce Willis and his soldiers soon come to their senses by realizing that the refugees are humans, 'not packages' while the bad guys are ruthlessly evil as they burn villages and perform mutilations on innocent women while they are still alive. The audience is only left to cheer for the Navy Seals as they are the clear heroes in this jungle. The dialogue often contains pre-packaged snippets of conversation portraying that the soldiers hold a moral obligation to save the refugees from the evil rebels. The viewer can't help to feel the warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of their stomachs. It's a shame that war is not as straightforward in reality as it is in TEARS OF THE SUN.
Rating:
Summary: Just Average
Review: Once again the trailers don't live up to their expectations. Not quite an action film on the scale as his previous films. It's falls short on all fonts. Just another pointless film with some action thrown in for effect. Too bad. I expected more. Good Hans Zimmer score can't save this one.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful film!!
Review: I never expected to be this moved by a Willis film. Exceptional, plus including the Lost Boys into this film shows how Willis and Antoine Fuqua put their heart and soul into the making of a film which we won't forget for a long while. Critics may be holding back on the kudos this film should be receiving because of their own politics, but the public is all in unison in their acclamation of 'Tears of The Sun'. It is graphic in nature so may not be suitable for young viewers; however children in other parts of the world live this first hand..it is their life. This film is reality but is filmed respectful to the sensitivity of the viewing audience.
Rating: 
Summary: HOME OF THE BRAVE AND THE LAND OF THE FREE
Review: This Movie was very good. It was very real and I think it was released a very appropriate time. I hope that it will make people think and be thankful that they are Americans. I also hope the it will bring support to our troops that might be soon going to war!!
Rating:
Summary: Tears [of the Sun]
Review: Tears of the Sun brings Bruce Willis back to the rebel-with-a-cause-and-a-big-gun role. This isn't a date movie. Lots of guerrilla combat, lots of blood and a subplot that is revealed only well into the movie -- and I won't spoil it for you. If the basic plot is nothing new, the film comes together very well, and it outclasses a lot of other action flicks. Willis (as Lt. Waters) leads his men into Nigeria to rescue an American doctor. In a fit of conscience, after having achieved his mission, Waters orders his choppers to return so that he can rescue the band of doomed refugees. We feel good about that. Especially after seeing what the Nigerian rebels did to the hospital after Waters and company evacuated. If you accept that a special forces lieutenant would disobey orders and follow his conscience, the rest of the story unfolds well. Visually, Tears of the Sun is a stunner. You will feel as though you spent a couple of hours in the rain forest. Some of the gorier scenes look like the sort of thing that might be omitted from news coverage of such events, but it was enough for me. The pace is intense -- not much time spent chatting around the campfire. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the military operations, but Willis is very credible in this role, and realism tends to win out over dramatic licence. At least until the final sequences. If you like action films with at least a layer of human interest, you will probably enjoy Tears of the Sun. It falls short only in the ways most desperation mission movies do -- some narrow escapes that require us to be grateful for our heroes without overanalyzing. ... But the overall writing is quite good. ... Tears of the Sun may not be the film of the year, but it holds together well and kept the audience absorbed. It shows American soldiers as capable, confident and caring. That's a good image, and one that sends you home thinking that our men and women in uniform can do a lot of good.
Rating:
Summary: MediaGab Review
Review: Bruce Willis stars in the action-adventure film 'Tears of the Sun'. Willis plays Lt. Waters who is in charge of a S.E.A.L.s team on a routine rescue mission. They are sent in to save a American doctor of a Nigerian mission from rebels that are causing devastation across the country. Unfortunately Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) talks Lt. Waters into taking the people that she is caring for in her mission. We find that Lt. Waters takes on more to the mission then just a simple rescue. He finds that he cares more and more for the people of the mission instead of having a heart of steal. "Tears of the Sun" is about what happens when we do the right thing instead of doing nothing at all. Without the protection of the S.E.A.L.s protection the refugees would have been massacred. The movie jumps right into the action skipping character development. We learn about the characters during the mission. I found that the movie was exciting to watch but due to the lack of character development in the beginning it takes a while to get comfortable with the movie. The plot of the movie is intriguing to me. Lt. Water becomes a hero in this fictitious story because he defies specific orders and puts his life and the lives of his team at risk to save many lives that were otherwise not his responsibility. I give the movie a 4 out of 5 subtracting one point for the slow character development. Some of the reviews bash Willis for his role in the movie, I didn't think he did a bad job. Again you just have to wonder if the professional movie critics are watching the same movie as the rest of us.
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