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Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining but implausible war story
Review: This film gets very high marks for technical excellence for a war story with good action footage, but the story is so contrived and unbelievable that the film plays more like a fantasy adventure than a realistic war film. We are asked to swallow so many events that just wouldn't happen that the film loses a good deal of credibility.

Who could possibly believe that the U.S. would sit still while N.A.T.O. dictated that we must not attempt the rescue of a downed pilot becaue it might upset the peace process in Bosnia? That is utter nonsense. And are we to believe that an entire platoon of soldiers with automatic weapons all firing simultaneously could not hit the constantly dodging Burnett? Not likely. There are numerous other plot contrivances that require extraordinary suspension of disbelief, but most of them are critical plot elements so I will refrain from possible spoilers.

John Moore is a rookie director that does a terrific job with the technical elements of the film. He presents a very realistic look and feel in the carrier scenes and the air combat scene is first rate. Actually, all the action sequences are outstanding, no doubt in large part due to the work of twenty year stunt veteran Steve Davison ("End of Days", "Batman and Robin"), who was the second unit director and stunt coordinator. This film also blends stunt photography seamlessly with visual effects to produce extremely realistic action scenes. However, when it comes to managing the screenplay, Moore seems to just assume that the writers are the best judge of how the plot is presented, or he doesn't connect with the concepts plot and character believability.

This is Owen Wilson's first film in the lead and while he does a good job, he just isn't serious action-hero material. Wilson projects a naturally sarcastic, smart aleck personality that works in some of the scenes in this film, but when it gets to the macho action sequences, he just can't carry it. He was terrific in Shanghai Noon, where the action was all tongue-in-cheek. In that film, his wisecracking humor was a perfect fit. However, this film gives him little opportunity to display his fabulous comedic talents and he is adrift trying to play the survivor.

Gene Hackman plays a supporting role and as always gives us a solid performance as Admiral Reigart. I can't keep track of how many military movies (mostly naval) David Keith has been in since "An Officer and A Gentleman". He must be on only one call list. He always gives a credible performance in these roles and this one is no different. Joaquim de Almeida is dreadful as Admiral Piquet of N.A.T.O. command.

If you like action films and you are not too fussy about implausible stories, this film delivers. I rated it a 7/10 based on the marvelous stunt work and visual effects and the realistic military look and feel.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Anything lower than 1 star?
Review: If you like to be bored out of your mind, rent this movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good war movie
Review: In this movie Owen Wilson plays a navigator who, with his pilot, is sent on a reconnaisance mission over Bosnia. When they photograph illegal military activity in a demilitarized zone, they are shot down and pursued. Gene Hackman is their commander and plans a rescue which is foiled by US military politics. The main part of the movie shows Wilson eluding his pursuers and Hackman trying to find a way around his commander in order to effect a rescue. The action is intense (although the acting isn't) and this movie provides a good evening's entertainment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Behind Enemy Lines
Review: This was a GREAT movie. The filming was awesome. There was a lot of camera tricks that brought more excitment to me movie. The story line was perfect and the acting was unbeatable. Owen Wilson did a great job.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Average movie
Review: This would be a boring movie if it weren't for the direction. Owen Wilson is on the run most of the time and never really fights back. I guess that's understandable because he is surrounded by people trying to kill him. The movie was marketed as being patriotic but really just shows how stupid it is to allow foreign military officers to be in command of another country's soldiers.
What makes this movie entertaining is the slick direction of the action scenes. What stood out to me was the scenes where there was no music, just the sound of Wilson running or being chases. Kind of reminded me of the old James Bond movies where you didn't need the music to tell you how to feel. A good rental.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cool Movie
Review: I didn't get a chance to see this movie in theaters, but the instant it came out on VHS and DVD I rented it. The performances by Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman are great. Wilson plays an Air Force pilot who is shot down while on a recon mission. Wilson contacts his commanding officer while evading enemy military forces on Serbian ground. He is being pursued by a Serbian sniper whose mission is to dispose of him. The action sequences are awesome. I recommend this movie to anyone who loves war and action films.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great team!
Review: I wish more of that parry between Wilson and Hackman continued. MOst of the story ran quickly and great. Think they dragged the ending more than it should. But, beyond that, Behind Enemy Lines
is well worth seeing once, twice, and so on. Look forward to two actors working together again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Surprising Entertainment
Review: I did NOT want to see this movie. I have a special distaste for war, fighting and violence wrapped up in my entertainment. Lucky for me, my husband insisted that our weekly date involve Behind Enemy Lines, whether I like it or not. Fortunately, the end result was positive in every way.

Of course Gene Hackman was his usual high-caliber-acting self, bringing a degree of believability and solid character to the plot. Owen Wilson was surprisingly good too, leaving me asking, "Where have I seen this guy before?" Later I found out that he's known for off-beat roles, such as his supermodel status in Zoolander, which is where he'd previously caught my eye.

The production of the movie was also above what I'd imagined, with interesting special effects and camera trickery. What I really enjoyed was what was absent in this film. Violence, blood and guts and manly macho-ism that peppers most war flicks seemed to be left out of this one, and in its place you get friendship, understanding and real character development.

All in all, it quickly became a purchase for our DVD collection, where I further explored to find great commentaries, behind the scenes footage and extra scenes and sequences. I guess it's not nice to pre-judge after all.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Just Plain Bad!
Review: This film almost sets a new record for military inaccuracy, even for a Hollywood that traditionally cares more for story or expedience than getting the details right. Add this to poor acting, implausible situations and a bad script and you've got an overdone turkey only fit for feeding to the dogs.

Here's some of the more blatant military inaccuracies in this film:

1. Navy carriers homeported in San Diego never deploy to the Mediterranean Ocean. Either the script writers were confused about just where Bosnia is, or possibly San Diego, or it was just too expensive to film Hackman walking solemnly across a carrier deck with Norfolk, VA in the background.

2. US Navy read admirals DO NOT fly outdated Huey helicopters on rescue missions. Hackman plays a character who, by appearance alone, is far too old to fly any kind of operational military aircraft - even if the character was dumb enough to go on a mission like this.

3. The movie totally disregards the command structure of a Navy battle group. A rear admiral doesn't "command" a carrier, a Captain does (who reports to the admiral). And pilots don't report to either the ship's captain or the battle group commander - they report to CAG (commander air group). These individuals, who'd participate in the decision making process, appear not to exist at all.

4. The admiral's head aide appears to be a master chief petty officer! And the admiral's staff would be......where?

5. The French. Somehow, the whole NATO taskforce is supervised by a French admiral! The French haven't participated in NATO as active members since the 1960's! If you have to have someone you don't like then a Frenchman is probably a better choice than most, but don't sacrifice any more reality in a movie decidedly devoid of it in the first place.

Altogether, a bad movie not even worth the rental price. At one point in the movie, the pilot stumbles into a pit full of the muddy bodies of Bosnian Muslims recently massacred by, presumably, Bosnian Serbs (who can tell? You need a cast of characters list to figure out Bosnia in the first place). I found myself wishing that the innocent Muslims had been spared, and the script writers, producers, actors and director had been substituted in their place.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: exaggerated story
Review: If you know what really happenned in the war in Bosnia you will laugh at this movie. It is supposedly presenting a true story a la' Hollywood style glorifying our pilot shot down in Bosnia. It is a patriotic movie but at the expense of the Serbs who suffered enough from us without being made into a motley crew of heartless, bloodthirsty savages in another Hollywood happy ending lie.
The beginning of the movie is too long to prep you for the whole ordeal. I love Gene Hackman but he looked fake and desperate in this movie. Owen Wilson is fun but not here while he is sliding on his behind shooting at the serbian tanks and heavy machine guns with his side arm getting the best of them. The story as a whole doesn't fall through.
Skip it and get a better flick, there are a lot more better choices at the local [store].


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