Behind Enemy Lines

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.

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.

So there seems to be some debate about whether this is made-for-TV or a B movie. Well, it appears to have been made for the cinema but with writers and a director not used to producing B movie quality.

The two lead actors, Thomas Ian Griffith as Mike Weston, and Chris Mulkey as Jones, are competent, the minor ones less so. If the Vietnamese actors look like Philippinos, there is a reason for that! The camera-work is pretty good, though I could use less slo-mo, and the action scenes are frequent and watchable.

The main problem is the writing. The basic story is too stupid to be worth describing. The US military is portrayed as full of low-intellect young men who can't put a sentence together without profanity. I wondered if there was some irony there but I don't think so.

Sit back and enjoy the action, if you can?

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.

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.