Great action fun (Behind Enemy Lines (DVD))

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Product:	Behind Enemy Lines (DVD)
Date:	10/02/02 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Action, Acting, Good Muslims being hurt by bad people

Disadvantages: Not realistic, Not outstanding, No women

Although one would think this is 'loosely' based on the incident a few years ago where an Air Force pilot (LT Scott O'Grady) was shot down in enemy territory and later rescued by our forces, that's really where the similarities end.

2 stories really: A Navy pilot 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. Wilson's character (LT Burnett) is a Navy flight navigator who has become disillusioned with the Navy and is contemplating resigning his commission. Hackman plays an admiral who is the battle group commander for USS Carl Vinson.

While flying a routine reconnaissance mission, Burnett and his pilot (LT Stackhouse) see something they're not supposed to see and do something they're not supposed to do (as something like this would probably get you court-martialed). As a result, the enemy (in this case an Eastern European rebel group), shoot them down with a surface-to-air missile. The flying scene where their plane is being chased by the SAM is intense, riveting and heart-stopping and probably one of the best in the movie. They eject and find themselves deep inside enemy territory, struggling to survive. Once on the ground, it becomes a game of cat and mouse between them and two rebels who want to make sure the Americans are dead, one of the rebels being very scary as he is a lone sadistic killer.

Meanwhile, back on the aircraft carrier, the control room has lost radio contact with the pilots and realize something is wrong. Hackman wants to send in a rescue team, but his efforts are thwarted by political reasons and a foreign embarked admiral who makes it clear that no rescue will take place. The interesting parts are the relationships between the two admirals, the two rebels and the two pilots.

Wilson does a fine job in an action film, as most of his previo
us films have been light comedy. As a result, he comes off as an all-around normal guy thrust in an unusual situation, and not some muscular action-hero that would have no problem in a situation like this.

Non-predictable, and the action was non-stop and suspenseful. Not the greatest movie ever made, this all-male testosterone film still is very good action fun.

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