Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

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.

Director:

John Moore

Writers:

Jim Thomas (story), John Thomas (story),

Stars:

Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gabriel Macht

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Geoff Pierson	...	Admiral Donnelly
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

Storyline

Fighter navigator Chris Burnett wants out: he was looking for something more than the boring recon missions he's been flying. He finds himself flying the lone Christmas day mission over war-torn Bosnia. But when he talks pilot Stackhouse into flying slightly off-course to check out an interesting target, the two get shot down. Burnett is soon alone, trying to outrun a pursuing army, while commanding officer Reigert finds his rescue operation hamstrung by politics, forcing Burnett to run far out of his way.

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Plot Keywords:

massacre | navigator | rescue | navy | escape | 

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Taglines:

Prepare to cross the line.

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Genres:

Action | War | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for war violence and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Fox

Country:

USA

Language:

English Serbo-Croatian Spanish Czech

Release Date:

30 November 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Im Fadenkreuz - Allein gegen alle

Filming Locations:

Koliba Studios, Bratislava, Slovakia

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$400,310 (Spain) (1 February 2002)

Gross:

$59,068,786 (USA) (19 April 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Davis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the period while filming, was the first time in 104 years that Slovakia did not get snow, so all the snow seen in the film was created by special effects.

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Goofs

When the "shiny new digital camera" is fired up on the plane, there is a close up shot that clearly shows the circuit board to the right of the disk, the right row of silicon chips on this circuit board are all very obviously burnt out / destroyed.

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Quotes

Stackhouse: [Burnett and Stackhouse are having a discussion about a letter that Burnett wrote in which he expressed his interest of resigning from the Navy] O'Malley told me you dropped your letter, he's bullshitting me, right?
Chris Burnett: Nope, he's telling the truth.
Stackhouse: Oh, so you're gonna break up the band? That's good. Listen, Chris, I thought you were kidding about getting out. Are you telling me I gotta find another navigator? Is that the deal?
Chris Burnett: I can't do it anymore. I'm done, I'm sorry.

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Connections

Followed by Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Buck Rogers"
Written by Grant Nicholas
Performed by Feeder

User Reviews

Great sets and good suspense and action make for a worthy viewing

I enjoyed this film. It was a great mix of action and suspense, with some very realistic cinematography.

Basic plot - the Bosnian War is coming to an end, and from a US Navy carrier in the Adriatic, Owen Wilson and his pilot fly out on the last recon mission of the war, but are taken down by a surface-to-air missile. The rest of the film is about Wilson trying to get rescued while he is chased down psycho-genocidal Bosnian Serbs. You see, Wilson's plane took pictures of something the Serbs didn't want seeing.

The film is augmented by some superb cinematography, and very realistic sets, which really capture the cold and miserable setting in which the story is depicted.

I have to admit that Owen Wilson was an odd casting for the role, but he surprised me by not grossly annoying me too much, and seems to carry the serious role pretty well.

Gene Hackman carries well the role of the Admiral, frustrated when attempts to rescue Wilson are blocked by his NATO-command boss over "political-sensitivities".

The Serbs, particularly the psycho paramilitary guy in the tracksuit, are nasty, efficient and ruthless, and whilst I've noticed some criticism of this film for it being jingoistic and anti-Serb, one has to question whether this depiction *was* inaccurate or not... From what I recall the Bosnian Serb military were not nice people, and this film reminding us of that, I believe, is a perfectly valid point.

There is a lack of realism at times in the film, especially toward the end, where Wilson seems to dodge a million bullets emerging from an entire brigade, including armour vehicles etc., but don't let this detract. It's definitely worth a view.