Behind Enemy Lines

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Here is my take on the now old title Behind Enemy Lines starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman.

Plot: The movie revolves around Wilson’s reputation being a Navy Fighter Pilot. On a normal recon mission, he and his co-pilot spot something on the radar and go to check it out. The “something” they were checking out ends up shooting them down and putting Wilson’s reputation on the run for the majority of the movie. Through trials, tribulations, and a few officer skuffles back at the base, our hero(es) end up making this a Great movie to watch and I genuinely enjoyed it.

Rating: I would give it a 4/5. I was kept on the edge of my seat most of the time and I never got bored. Any bathroom break would have unquestionably constituted a Pause on the movie for sure.

Review: I liked this movie a lot. I didn’t think I would like it near as much as I did because I knew it was an Action/Drama and it starred Comedy amusive man, actor Owen Wilson. Not thinking he could pull this off, I walked into this movie not very open minded but from the primary 15 minutes of the movie, you’re hooked from then on out. I now have a new-found respect for Owen Wilson as an actor.

Language/Content: The language wasn’t genuinely that bad. There are a few elements of mild gore (guns, shooting, war, etc.) that I in all probability wouldn’t commend for any individual under 10 but with parental discretion, i would say this is a very good family movie.

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

Smart casting and sensible plotting make Behind Enemy Lines an above-average military thriller. Perfectly timed to bolster patriotism, the film is partly set (during a hypothetical “day after tomorrow”) on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson, which was on alert status in the Persian Gulf when this film was released. Proving his skillfulness as an unconventional movie star, Owen Wilson plays a navy navigator who is shot down over Bosnia for the duration of a reconnaissance mission. Pursued by rebel Serbian forces, Wilson must fight for survival while his commanding officer (Gene Hackman) plots a daredevil rescue. After a successful career in TV commercials, Irish conductor John Moore makes a promising feature debut on Slovakian locations, borrowing a few proficiencies from Saving Private Ryan while adding impressive flourishes of his own. The gung-ho ending’s a foregone conclusion, but it works like a charm after the movie’s stimulating game of cat and mouse. –Jeff Shannon

Most helpful customer reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
Behind Enemy Lines
By Jonathan
I just saw this movie tonight(opening night) and I thought it was the best action movie I have seen at the movie theater this year. The story is about a Navy officer(Owen Wilson) who is about to quit the Navy due to the lack of excitement and the fact that there are wars going on so he only gets to go out in a plane and then come right back. But when the Navy commander(Gene Hackman) sends him out on another mission, Wilson travels into a Bosnia war base where his plane is shot down. After wilson and his partner land, the Bosnians find his partner and kill him, leaving Wilson all alone to defend himslef and try to stay alive behind enemy lines. Every scene has something exciting heppening. There are great twists and the plot is just perfect for a war/action movie. If you are looking for a good action-packed war-type movie, Behind Enemy Lines is the best one to find.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Behind is in Front!
By D. Jeter
Wow! is this a thrill ride or what. The disclaimer at the beginning of the movie made me sit up and pay attention, because I knew the movie was on to a sensitive subject. The action sceens were fantastic. The SAMs chase of the Navy jet was awesome. The flight for home was a good mixture of reality and a little fantasy help from Hollywood but you are sure to be entertained by this hard hitting gritty action movie. It’s parallel to past situations in western Europe make for a great hero movie. After you see this movie you will want to start it over from the begining. Great stuff!!!…

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Pleasing Action Thriller!
By Barron Laycock
This is a very entertaining and visually pleasing film, one that will capture your interest and propel it along for the almost two hours of the movie. Yet it is really just an escape movie that happened to be released in the aftermath of the 911 events, and so capitalized on the pent-up feelings of patriotism everyone was experiencing at the time. As a thinly disguised although highly fictionalized representation of an actual case of an American flier rescued after evading the Serbs for several days during the Bosnian police action, this might have made some sense.

Yet the depiction of the Serb ground forces as brutal and conscienceless bogeymen is a bit overdone and not very accurate; most of the Serbs treated downed American fliers with consideration and in a very friendly manner. Of course, had this been depicted as part of the Kosovo effort, the scenes depicting the Serbs might have been more accurate. As it stands, however, the story is hardly representative of the reality on the ground during the Bosnian campaign.

Still, taken at face value as action entertainment, the movie isn’t half-bad. Yet as anything like serious drama it has too many implausible elements and too many coincidences to hold water. So, while this is no “to Hell And Back’, it is an exciting escapist excursion you will enjoy watching. The scenes filmed on the carrier are especially graphic and well done, and the shots of the planes coming off the deck are breath taking.

So too the aerial photography is very well choreographed and accomplished, and the action shots of the plane being engaged by ground batteries fairly realistic in its technical details. The cast is quite good, with Owen Wilson playing the downed flier and Gene Hackman the Carrier skipper who is trying to get him back. This is good stuff to wile away a Saturday evening as long as you don’t take any of it too literally. Enjoy!

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