Air Force : Bat 21

Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a respected, middle-aged strategist who has only seen the war from the air - and high in the air, too. During one reconnaissance mission, however, he's shot down behind enemy lines for the first time. Scared and out of his element, Hambleton must rely on Captain Clark (Danny Glover), a pilot, to help him keep his composure until a rescue can happen.

Most of the scenes are of just the two leads, almost making this a two-character action play. Both men provide stellar performances, with Hackman putting a decidedly different spin on his tough-guy, in-control persona. Glover is equally aces as the tireless pilot. And just in case you think there's going to be more talk than action in this movie, don't fret. The Vietcong are around somewhere, and they know Hambleton's in the vicinity. Not only does Clark have to get Hambleton out of there before good ol' Charlie finds him, he has to get him out of there before U.S. forces carpet-bomb the entire area! Needless to say, there are bombs bursting galore. Jerry Reed, who plays Clark's commander, also turns in a fine performance - a bit above par for Reed - and served as executive producer and composed some of the songs on the soundtrack.

I'm a fan of war movies and although I still prefer movies about WWI and WWII, I must say that I also like to watch a good Vietnam movie so now and then. "Bat*21" certainly deserves that qualification, because it feels real, never exaggerates in the action scenes and certainly offered me a lot of 'pleasure' while watching it. (I deliberately put the word pleasure between brackets, because I don't want you to think that I find it fun to see people die in a bombardment, being chased through a minefield, being shot in the head... - I'm not a psychopath).

Although I have some doubts, the movie claims to be based on a true story. It tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton whose observation plane has been shot down by a V.C. missile. Hambleton is the only survivor and because of his expertise in missile weaponry, it is essential for the US Army to find him before the enemy does. The Vietcong is listening to his radio transmissions and comes very close, but one man, Captain Bartholomew Clark, will do anything to help and support him as good as he can.

As I already said, I don't know if everything shown in the movie also happened in reality. I'm not saying that the man has told lies in his book, but Hollywood isn't exactly known for not adding extra's to a story if it makes the movie look better. Still, even if they have done so, I must say that it still is a very nice movie. In my opinion the movie is underrated at this time (6.2/10 after 1,467 votes). Especially thanks to the nice performances of Gene Hackman and Danny Glover, this movie really works well.

Especially Danny Glover was a big surprise. When I first saw him in this movie, all I thought was: 'What is that man doing in this movie?' When I think of him, I still associate him with the "Lethal Weapon" movies. But I admit, what he has done in this movie certainly made me forget about that very quickly. I didn't see him as a cop anymore, I soon started to see him as Captain Bartholomew Clark.

All in all this is a Vietnam movie that certainly deserves a good rating, because it is one of the better in the genre that I've ever seen. It's perhaps no "Platoon" or "Full Metal Jacket", but it is a very good movie and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.

Lt Col Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a high value target when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory. The Air Force is desperate to get him back and prevent him from falling into enemy hands. Capt Bartholomew Clark (Danny Glover) is the Air Force reconnaissance pilot who guide the down man to safety.

Gene Hackman and Danny Glover are top actors able to project a relationship even if they don't have the face to face interaction. This is based on a true story, but there is still some action. It's not Rambo action, but it's compelling.

The only problem is its predictability. There really isn't any surprises here. It's a functional Vietnam war movie.

In Bat*21, Colonel Gene Hackman is pulled off the golf links for a dry run on a planned bombing mission when his plane is shot down and he's on the loose in the Vietnamese jungle. Since he's a guy with a whole lot of knowledge the North Vietnamese regulars and the Viet Cong guerrillas would love to get their hands on him. Of course they'd only know how important he was once they did get their hands on him. Still he's someone that Army headquarters will go more than the extra mile for to see he does not fall into enemy hands. More than they would for some dogface private.

Trying to reach him after Hackman's been shot down is rescue evacuation pilot Danny Glover. For a combination of reasons a couple of attempts go bad and Hackman watches the deaths of people sent to rescue him. Will it go right in the end?

The film is based on a true story and Hackman plays the real life Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton who spent a couple of harrowing days in the jungle with the enemy all around. Bat*21 was Hambleton's real call sign and he and his rescuers work out a complicated route of travel based on a golf course he's played and the fact that Jerry Reed the man in charge knows the course as well. The Viet Cong listening in on their field radio conversations can't figure out what is essentially a private code.

Ironically enough I saw a film based on a similar premise called Jet Attack involving the Korean War just recently. That one however was fictional and Bat*21 is a whole lot better. The film graphically shows and without really taking a side the difficulties of fighting the war in Vietnam where the guerrillas have no compunction about using civilians as shields. At some point Hackman succeeds in begging off a possible massacre like My Lai when a copter and crew is shot down and executed by the Cong who take shelter with the civilian villagers.

Glover and Hackman work well together, there scenes as well as the well staged battle scenes are the best in the film. Bat*21 provides an objective look at the Vietnamese War as seen through the eyes of a successful rescue attempt and the men who sacrificed themselves to get Colonel Hambleton out of harm's way.

.... this was supposed to be a "true" story, so why not tell it as it really happened? Of course, there are always budget restraints and other considerations that come into play. But I can never quite work out why Hollywood changes crucial facts of a real story when making "true-life" movies of this type. Don't get me wrong - I saw this movie for the first time just last week, a full 13 years after it first appeared, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It didn't glorify war at all, and some of the scenes were quite shocking and moving. However, having read the TRUE story of BAT 21 some years ago, I couldn't help thinking "hang on a minute - it didn't happen like that!!!" In reality, the actual 1972 mission to rescue Lt. Col. Hambleton was a very complex affair that lasted for 12 days, the downed airman finally being rescued by a two-man team consisting of a US Navy SEAL lieutenant (who won the Medal Of Honour in the process) and a South Vietnamese Army Ranger. Why not include this in the movie if you're out to tell anything like the true story? Also, several US aircraft and choppers were shot down in the process, with 10 American airmen killed and two more captured. But apart from the superbly done abortive helicopter rescue attempt and the shooting of the captured crewmen, the movie led us to believe that the rescue mission merely consisted of Hambleton (Hackman) escaping & evading on the ground with Clark (Danny Glover) circling above and talking to him on the radio. In reality, Clark was himself shot down early in the mission and had to be rescued, and his role in the actual Hambleton rescue was therefore nothing like that depicted in the film.

But, that said, why let the truth get in the way of a good story? And despite its shortcomings on the historical accuracy front, this was a thoroughly enjoyable film that didn't gloss over or sanitize the horrors of war. Despite my nit-picking, I'd definitely recommend it.