Bat*21 (1988)

During the Vietnam War, Colonel Hambleton's aircraft is shot down over enemy territory and a frantic rescue operation ensues.

Director:

Peter Markle

Writers:

William C. Anderson (book), William C. Anderson (screenplay)

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Danny Glover, Jerry Reed

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Hackman	...	Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton
Danny Glover	...	Captain Bartholomew Clark
Jerry Reed	...	Colonel George Walker
David Marshall Grant	...	Ross Carver
Clayton Rohner	...	Sgt. Harley Rumbaugh
Erich Anderson	...	Major Jake Scott
Joe Dorsey	...	Colonel Douglass
Michael Ng	...	Vietnamese Man (as Rev. Michael Ng)
Theodore Chan Woei-Shyong	...	Boy on Bridge
Don Ruffin	...	Helicopter Crew
Scott Howell	...	Helicopter Crew
Michael Raden	...	Helicopter Crew
Timothy Fitzgerald	...	EB-66 Officer
Stuart B. Hagen	...	EB-66 Officer (as Stuart Hagen)
Jeffrey Baxter	...	Helicopter Gunner (as Jeff Baxter)

Storyline

Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route based on golf courses he has played. Along the way however, he has to face enemy forces and the death of some of his fellow soldiers.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam | vietnam war | rescue | missile | colonel | 

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Taglines:

Trapped behind enemy lines. A whole army after him... And only one man can save him.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bat 21

Filming Locations:

Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,966,256

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures,Vision PDG,Eagle Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hackman would again come to the rescue (à la Uncommon Valor (1983)), when he goes above and beyond to save Burnett (Owen Wilson), from a similar perilous situation, in Behind Enemy Lines (2001).

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Goofs

The "Huey" helicopter is a UH-1N "Twin Huey" and was used by the U.S. Air Force's 20th Special Operations Squadron in a counter-insurgency role. It wasn't used by rescue squadrons.

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Quotes

Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton: Bird Dog, I killed a man today. He wasn't even a soldier; he just kept coming. I couldn't stop him. I didn't want to do it. I never had to do anything like that before in my life.
Capt. Bartholomew Clark: Listen here, Bat 21. I never met you, but you don't sound like a killer to me. I'm sure you couldn't stop it from happening.

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Connections

Referenced in Mysteries at the Museum: Opera Riot, Golfer Behind Enemy Lines, the Great Mail Train Robbery (2015)

User Reviews

Fine Vietnam movie that works on several levels with solid acting and rousing scenes

It's an exciting warlike movie that contains over-the-top performances , continuous suspense , poignant vignettes and unsparing action . An American officer , Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a weapons countermeasures expert with knowledge vital to the enemy, when his aircraft is shot down , he is stranded in the wilds of Vietnam . Alone ,he must rely on himself and a whole army after him. Trapped behind enemy lines , an only one man (captain Danny Glover) with whom he has radio contact can save him and to get him out . Based on true life of a lieutenant colonel stranded deep in Vietcong territory , nowadays retired and living in Arizona near a golf camp.

This stirring warlike movie mixes suspense , thrills , rugged action and dialog with lots of intrigue , without losing sight of the continuation of its interesting plot or necessities of war and works on all levels . Although relies heavily on the continuous relationship by means of radio talking among them and their solid interpretations through the enjoyable friendship by oral communication. It gets the right balance between the old-style ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Battleground¨ and the modern wartime movies as ¨Hamburger Hill¨ and ¨Casualty of war¨ . Noisy action scenes punctuate the tension without breaking it . Gene Hackman is good as a stranded officer alone after his plane is gunned down and top-notch Danny Glover as reconnaissance pilot who becomes determined to save him . Gene Hackman and Danny Glover give terrific acting in this otherwise passable film . Secondary cast is frankly good as Jerry Reed , David Marshall Frank and Clayton Rohner .Atmospheric cinematography by Mark Irwin reflecting faithfully the wilds and woods from Vietnam . Moving musical score fitting to action by Christopher Young . Compassionate thinkers , lovers warfare genre , and pacifists will all find satisfaction here .

The motion picture lavishly produced by also actor Mark Damon is well directed by Peter Markle . Peter is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing , better than average .