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Tears of the Sun

Tears of the Sun

List Price: $19.94
Your Price: $17.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: the movie [was bad]
Review: and the lead female actress (the doctor) was extremely irritating, whiny, and seemed totally unable to grasp how much danger she and her refugees were in and how much Bruce Willis had gone against direct orders for her. oh how I wanted him to just shoot HER and put ME out of my misery. ANd what was the storyline???? There was none... I am glad I did not waste even more money by seeing this in the theatre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Powerful and very moving - 4.5 Stars
Review: This movie ends with a quote from Edmund Burke - "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing", which is a fitting and accurate underlining, of a great story.
Bruce Willis plays a battle hardened and very experienced leader of a small band of Navy Seals, sent into Nigeria at a time of severe unrest and civil war to rescue an American Doctor. Pricked by the graphic images he witnesses and an inner conscious that supercedes his lifelong ability to follow "orders" he takes matters upon himself to rescue not only the good doctor, but as many of her refugee patients as he can.
This is much more than an "escape" movie, as we see the elite team battle the elements and an ever nearing army of troops hot on their tracks throughout the movie, to it's bloody conclusion. The film never falls into any cliches along the way, there are no unlikely romantic nuances, and the acting is strong and extremely well guided. It also very cleverly never gives up the plot, or ending despite what we may believe throughout the movie, as the viewer will watch attentively and see, being drawn into the picture. Brutal in it's depiction of a war torn and divided country, and graphic in it's images of ethnic cleansing, this movie is not for the squeamish, but it is more than just compelling. Willis is superb, without any of the unbelievability of the Die Hard movies, to which this has been compared, and the outcome is gripping, and uplifting. A great, great movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not as bad as I expected.
Review: On the one hand, its unfortunate that a subject this serious is presented as a string of cliches (I kept thinking of Predator as they worked their way through the jungle). On the other hand if it makes people realize that the real carnage is in Africa, not Iraq then its a good thing.

Its nice to see Americans fighting for something worth fighting for...too bad its fiction. My only real criticism is that, like Training Day, this movie just goes on forever! After they blow up the bad guys, it continues. After the people get to safety, it continues. After Bruce gets his well deserved pat on the back, it continues. And the attack aircraft that save the day arrive so late they almost miss the movie. Sounds suspenseful but actually its pretty boring.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good action flick, sappy and unoriginal plot
Review: Bruce Willis and his handfull of troops are sent into Africa to rescue a Doctor, but she doesn't want to leave without several dozen of her patients. Bruce Willis' character is "only doing his job," and only wants to get the doctor out to complete his mission. Initially he tricks her into leaving without the locals, but then has a change of heart and decides to go back for them. The military will not help him for political reasons, so he has to hike many miles through the jungle with his refugees. Numerous personal sacrifices are made for the greater good, etc.

The movie is full of great gunfights and explosions. The moral plot is annoying and has been used many times before this Hollywood-processed film-product. If you read the first sentence of this review and it doesn't sound familiar to you, this movie is a great choice if you are going to see such a thing for the first time. But odds are you aren't.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not what i expected...
Review: When i saw the previews for Tears of the Sun, i was like SWEET, GOTTA SEE IT!!!! when i viewed it last night, i was very dissapointed. On the commercial of course they show the big action scenes and all that stuff, but in the movie, there is no action until the very end. There is some small action earlier but not enough to please me. I am a die hard action film fan, and this just doesnt reach the standards. i thought the movie would be about the Navy SEALS trying to survive, but really it was about rescueing (forgot how to spell) a prince from a war torn african country. i was like "WTF!!" i thought this was going to be like "Black Hawk Down" or "Die Hard". but unfortunatly it isnt. if you like big time action movies like the two listed above, dont buy or rent this movie. if you like corny "save this person" kind of movies, this might be just for you. oh well. now i have to break the news to my friend that the movie stunk big time.....
-patrick (im unhappy)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hero of the Day
Review: Buy this movie right now. "Tears of the Sun" is better than most action/war pictures and Bruce Willis kicks it hard playing L.T. Forget "Black Hawk Down." That's a miserable piece of film. This actually has a point and a hero who is worth honoring. Yahtzee!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Dumb & The Dumber, When Navy Seals meet the Rebels
Review: Let's make it really simple, the movie shall instead named "The Dumb and The Dumber,When Navy Seals meet the Rebels", the title said it all !!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I wish this fairytale of heroism and courage could be true.
Review: This is a story about a Navy Seal unit whose mission is to rescue a doctor who is trapped in Nigeria in the middle of a civil war. Bruce Willis is cast as the lieutenant in charge of the mission. Monica Bellucci is cast as the doctor. Naturally there is chemistry between them. And naturally she hates him at the beginning because he refuses to help the 70 people from her infirmary. He lies to her and kidnaps her but then has a change of heart. And he and his fellow Seals risk their lives to rescue everybody. There were bad guys and good guys in this film and it was easy to recognize who they were and root for the good guys as they made their way through a hostile jungle. Everyone was made up with just the right amount of mud and grime to make their faces shine and the camerawork and lighting were perfect. And, of course, Monica Bellucci's neckline was always arranged to show off her charms to their best advantage. There were also vivid scenes of hideous wounds and awful atrocities. And even though I know these particular scenes were staged, I shudder at the thought that scenes like these are real to many people.

Later the "extra" on the DVD explained it was all filmed in Hawaii, with Africans who had actually lived through horrors being flown in as extras to work in the film. When they cried, their tears were real. And yet, in this fairytale of heroism, courage and victory, there is a happy ending. I loved the film and do recommend it. It's just too bad it was fiction.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gutsy Piece of Work, But Too Politically Correct
Review: The obvious point of this film is that it concerns sub-Saharan Africa's return to tribal warfare with the exodus the European colonial powers. A point for the most part wasted on European and American viewers as born out by many of the 111 reviews already posted.

What this film neglects to make clear enough for either pickup truck driving Joe Six-pack or the Volvo driving suburban Liberal is the underlying cause of the problems plaguing Nigeria are the same as Chad, Sudan and Somalia. It is that primitive Islam does not tolerate Christianity or any other religion. The victims in this film are Ibo. The Ibo have always been peaceful and they are Christian. The Hausa are warrior and they are Muslim. The Hausa Muslim ruled northern Nigeria into the 20th century when the British subdued them.

The plot was a bit of stretch, but as a veteran, I found it credible. The Navy Seals are an elite in every sense of the word. As such, their field commanders are given a bit more latitude then ordinary line officers. Actually, the Navy has a tradition that, given the right circumstances, a ship's captain can countermand even a Presidential order. That dates back to the days when communication was slow. But the principle still lives on.

The character development was superb. Willis is man caught between orders and his conscience. He has seen what happens when the blood thirsty Hausa overrun a defenseless population "of another faith" - the tactful reference repeated used in the film. He goes back and leads some villagers to safety.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Reminds me of...
Review: Saving Private Ryan:

The Enemy
Ryan: a cruel, brutal regime bent on ethnic purification (Nazi Germany)
Tears: a cruel, brutal regime bent on ethnic purification...P>The Team
Ryan: a squad of Rangers who have already done North Africa, Italy and Omaha Beach. Not bad. Though not as fine honed as today's special forces, Rangers were kind of elite in WW2.
Tears: Navy SEALS, nuff said. They don't even bother to say their real names, just nicknames will do.

The FUBAR Mission
Ryan: bring home the last son of a mother who has already lost three others to the war, basically a public relations job
Tears: bring home a doctor who is an American citizen only by marriage, while at that, carry along two nuns and a priest, all non-Americans, basically, a public relations job

The Irony
Ryan: The philosophical question, posed by Reiben: "Where's the sense in risking the lives of the eight of us for just one guy?"
Tears: Shallower than that. She's not even really American, and her American husband is long dead.

The boss with mustache and gruff personality
Ryan: Dennis Farina
Tears: Tom Skeritt

The pain in the [reat] squad member
Ryan: Pvt. Reiben (acted naturally by Edward Burns)
Tears: Red (although he does not incite a mutiny, and, well, see below.)

The ice-in-his veins, sure-as-the-Grim-Reaper killer...
Ryan: Pvt. Jackson, the sniper
Tears: since these are Navy SEALS, I have to say all of them, but especially Red, who does expertly the whole gamut of weapons (explosives, SOCOM pistol, knife, M4/M16 carbine, M60 machinegun)

The dramatic turning point (a.k.a. the excuse for the gratuitous display of combat, tactics, weapons, mayhem, etc. on screen)
Ryan: Capt. John Miller allows Pvt. Ryan to talk him into defending a bridge, which leads to the disastrous battle with German armor and infantry
Tears: LT (Bruce Willis) allows his conscience, with a little help from Dr. Kendricks, to talk him into turning back to save the poor refugees, which leads to the battle with what appeared to be thousands of murderous Nigerians over jungle and tall grass

The bail out element (the one that saves the day)
Ryan: P-51 Mustangs, "tank busters", or as Matt Damon says, "like angels over our shoulders"
Tears: F/A-18 Hornets which drop cluster bombs on the Nigerians

THE BIG DIFFERENCE

Ryan: of the original rescue team, only two survive, the coward (Cpl. Upham, the translator) and the one who didn't give a d@mn(Pvt. Reiben). Tom Hanks (Cpt.Miller) was the last to die.
Tears: Half of them actually survive, and the doctor, and even Bruce Willis lives!

Oh, and yes, there's no mutiny in "Tears." To its credit, "Tears" does not go into a lot of face offs and jawing between the soldiers, usually added in movies of this type to add drama and to give the soldiers a dose of humanity. Even when the team members are not sure of their leader's decisions, they display utmost discipline and loyalty. This is what I'd expect...because they're on their own in the middle of hostile, unfamiliar country. A mutiny would have been totally bad form, one that would only lead to disaster.

I hope I have not slighted this movie by comparing it with another. I think it is well done, especially for this genre...The acting is just right. As always, Monica Bellucci gives the understated performance we've come to identify her with ("Malena").

Overall, an enjoyable experience for home theater fans. This review, by the way, refers to the theater version.


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