Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

John Moore

Writers (WGA):

Jim Thomas (story) &
John Thomas (story) ...

Release Date:

30 November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | War | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

In War There Are Some Lines You Should Never Cross.

Plot:

A Navy navigator is shot down over enemy territory and is ruthlessly pursued by a secret police enforcer and the opposing troops. Meanwhile his commanding officer goes against orders in an attempt to rescue him.

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | Navy | Navigator | Reconnaissance | Mine Field

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Owen Wilson	...	Lt. Chris Burnett
Gene Hackman	...	Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart
Gabriel Macht	...	Stackhouse
Charles Malik Whitfield	...	Capt. Rodway, USMC
David Keith	...	Master Chief Tom O'Malley
Olek Krupa	...	Miroslav Lokar
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Admiral Piquet (as Joaquim De Almeida)
Vladimir Mashkov	...	Sasha
Marko Igonda	...	Bazda
Eyal Podell	...	Petty Officer Kennedy
Geoffrey Pierson	...	Admiral Donnelly (as Geoff Pierson)
Aernout Van Lynden	...	Aernout Van Lynden
Sam Jaeger	...	Red Crown Operator #1
Shane Johnson	...	Red Crown Operator #2 (as Shane Mikael Johnson)
Don Winston	...	Red Crown Operator #3

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for war violence and some language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Serbo-Croatian | Spanish | Czech

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | UK:12 | South Korea:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Australia:M (original rating) | Ireland:12 | UK:15 (DVD/VHS release) | Ireland:15 (DVD/VHS release) | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R13 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38516) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Koliba Studios, Bratislava, Slovakia

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

British news channel Sky News features prominently in the film. Sky News and 20th Century Fox (the studio that produced the movie) are both owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Goofs:

Continuity: Riegart's helicopter keeps changing from an early model Bell UH-1 (with a single engine and a 2 bladed main rotor) to a UH-1N(4 blades and two exhaust ports).

Quotes:

Chris Burnett: You're an optimist, sir. See I had you figured for a grouch.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) (VG)

Soundtrack:

My Weakness

Good-Bad, A-team style time, meets MTV, ummmm Rambo lite?

Kinda covers it. It does crib from that US pilot who spent 3-4 days highttailing it from the Bosnian Serbs in '95(can't remember his name, Scott or Shannon something...-who is sueing the filmmakers by the way...), but essentially this is 'Bat 21' by way of Rambo, A-Team, etc.

In other words, a very 80's kinda flick that has current MTV style graphics, editing(paging Michael Bay....), quick cuts, etc. Overall it works-if you simply put yer brain on 'stun' and watch this for what it really is, a Rambo live-action cartoon. Nothing more or less.

I agree with everyone's take on the goofy shooting-gazillions of rounds and not one(1) hits Luke Owen 'til the end-but lotsa baddies get it. There were the nods/images towards the Tuzla/Srebenicia massacres-which I found to be both patronizing AND kinda forced. If you really wanna do their plight justice, having the hero fall facedown into an open mass grave isn't quite the way to go about it...ah well.

I liked Hackman though sure, he phoned in his performance. Not much you can do with the chomp the stogie and stare at the computer screen role, no matter how many times you do it. Not one written this flatly anyways.

Owen was cool. Again playing the spacecase from Armageddon, I really enjoyed seeing him running around in the fatigues, carrying a gun, etc. This is def. Not typecasting here.

I had more problems with just the semantics they showed-film takes place over 3 days, right? First it's clear, then deep snow, then clear, then snow. Yes it's winter and it's mountainous-but you can see for yourself, right by the Angel statue, he constantly goes from open winter/no snow to BOOF it's white-out time, on an hourly basis at the most. That doesn't quite hold up. The editing not so great.

The acting by the baddies was right on the mark for such a film, the cinematography the current trendy washed out 'Private Ryan' kinda thing-which does get old in a hurry.

I don't think that this will be remembered anymore than Iron Eagle is today, it's just too-too goofy for it's own good. Still it's watchable, you do root for the good guy, and all that-see it with that in mind and you might be set.

**1/2 outta ****-for trying.