Behind Enemy Lines

I stumbled upon the 1997 action thriller "Behind Enemy Lines"; not to be mistaken for the 2001 movie with the same name but starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman. Now, I had never even heard about this 1997 movie from writers Andrew Osborne and Dennis Cooley before now in 2022, as I sat down to watch it. So I wasn't really harboring much of any expectations for the movie.

And with the likes of Thomas Ian Griffith and Chris Mulkey in the leading roles, I can't exactly say that I was expecting this to be a top of the line movie. But still, I opted to watch it, as I hadn't already seen director Mark Griffiths' 1997 movie.

Well, honestly speaking, then "Behind Enemy Lines" was actually a fairly entertaining movie. Sure, it was a very generic war movie in terms of it being a small underdog team that beat the massive opposition. And in this case it was former U. S. marines taking on Vietnamese soldiers. Yeah, that was the storyline here, so not much points scored for originality.

It was pretty hilarious that the movie was filmed in The Philippines, but was supposed to take place in Vietnam. Sure, it would have worked, if they had done a proper effort into making it look like it was Vietnam, such as having Vietnamese actors - as there is a big difference in appearances between the Vietnamese and Philippine people, also things like not using Jeepneys which is common to The Philippines, and such details. It just took away from the authenticity of the movie. I spotted the fact that it was The Philippines right away.

"Behind Enemy Lines" is a lean back in the seat with the popcorn kind of movie, and doesn't require anything cerebral from the audience. So it was fair entertainment for the masses, especially if you enjoy these predictable late 1990s war movies.

As for the cast in "Behind Enemy Lines", then I will say that Thomas Ian Griffith actually was surprisingly good in the role of Mike Weston. And Philippine actors Mon Confiado and Spanky Manikan added a lot of flavor to the movie. It was nice to see James Karen pop up in the movie, just a shame his role was so small.

This was a watchable movie, although not a particularly outstanding or memorable one. But it was sufficient enough for a single viewing.

My rating of the 1997 movie "Behind Enemy Lines" lands on a five out of ten stars.

This B action movie is shot with a bit more competence than other films in the genre. It also looks like it had a generous budget, or at least a lot of cooperation from the Philippine army, judging by the amount of gunfights, soldiers, Armored Personnel Carriers and explosions that feature throughout the film. The plot is the old "rescue my 'Nam buddy from the rank jungle prison he's being held in by the psychotic Communist general with thousands of troops under his command" premise. The good guys are invincible, the bad guys thoroughly expendable. You know what to expect. Sit back and let our boys win one for the Gipper. I must add in closing that Thomas Ian Griffith really is a good actor- I hope he gets cast in more mainstream films in the future.

I remember seeing this movie late one night. There was nothing else to watch, so I gave this a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. No, it does not have a big budget, so it is not going to rival a Hollywood blockbuster. If one goes into not expecting top of the line acting, cinematography, sound, and set then one probably won't be disappointed.

This is a B movie, so expect B move quality, not Spielberg. The plot was good, Thomas Ian Griffith is underrated. His martial arts skills are actually pretty good. He is not a small man, like Van Damme or Bruce Willis, but a physically imposing specimen, like Dolph Lundgren. Thisis the first movie Iremember seeing him in and I was impressed. If you want a way to kill an hour and a half, watch it.

Bad acting, useless dialogue, formulaic script and implausible action sequences. If you enjoyed Rambo II, this is the movie for you. The ONLY redeeming quality is that it gave work to Filipino actors (playing Vietnamese...not very convincingly). It's unfortunate how so many Americans are still so totally hung up on the fact that they lost the Vietnam war that they need to keep creating this kind of crap just so that they can feel better through some pitiful consolation of watching scores of Vietnamese soldiers getting shot, beaten and "vanquished" by a couple of Americans. Which is why even the action sequences were bad. This film is really a low point.

I mean seriously. This is supposed to be an army, but not a single soldier can shoot. I have never seen more inaccurate shooting in my life. At the end, I was rooting for the bad guys, just so that they could get one shot on target. Just one... Just one... Even a lost bullet or a ricochet

Otherwise, it was a totally predictable movie, with the expected "plot twists" and a familiar happy ending. However, it could be good for some absolutely mindless entertainment. Movies like this and Deadly Prey are always fun to watch, because they are just that - pure minldless fun. Just browse the internet or something while watching it, because the entertainment value is definitely not constant. I could only take so many inaccurate shots fired by the bad guys.