Behind Enemy Lines

My friends, this is an incredibly insipid movie. How many Vietnam-era flicks are gonna be produced before someone eventually decides "enough is enough"? Ignoring such films as "Platoon" or "Apocalypse Now" or "The Deer Hunter" (truly splendid examples of cinema within the genre) and also ignoring the first "Rambo" film (a movie I embarrasingly admit to having enjoyed), I have this suspicion that some shady, weasel-like producer in sunny So. California thought to himself "Hey! I know how to make a quick buck! I'll screw a few investors outta a couple hundred grand and I'll make a, uhh... yeah! I'll make a 'Nam flick!"

Phuuleeze! Give it a rest, willya? The only people who would possibly find this movie worth watching are pre-pubescent little boys living in Idaho.

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 saw this on cable recently and got the feel that it was a tv-movie. The acting was low grade, and the story was shallow. The first scene sets a fast pace, and can pass for a cinema released movie, but after that, the entire film is a joke. It was full of plot holes, and does everything against common sense. The script even has scenes which attempt to make us feel for the characters, but fail miserably. I reason being that we dont even know the characters names, besides the hero.

The dialogue seemed as if it was written by a grade-school student, despite the numerous occasions which the characters swear their heads off. As if profanity is required for a f***ing film to be successful.

I know this comment may sound ironic, but why write these movies if theres nothing good to come out of it.

The guy/gal who writes the teaser for Cinemax screwed up again. I was hoping to get a good laugh watch Owen Wilson pretend to be a Navy officer in Behind Enemy Lines (2001), but they screwed up and put this one on instead.

Instead of laughs, I get Thomas Ian Griffith (xXx, Vampires) as an ex soldier going back to rescue his buddy, who was supposed to be dead, and some nuclear triggers. He is, in turn, rescued by a bunch of Marine misfits that lounge around on his boat in Tahiti.

No, it's not Rambo II, Braddock: Missing in Action III, Uncommon Valor, or any one of a hundred other B movies that have a similar theme. If you have seen any of those, you have seen this one.

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.