Air Force : Bat 21

.... 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.

To this day I am still amazed at how well Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton was able to formulate a plan on as we say in the military, "To Get the Hell out of Dodge".

This movie didn't rely on the most sophisticated special effects to make it good. It relied mainly on the two main characters to create a good dialog between them.

For any war buffs out there, this was a good movie to sit back and watch the some of the more unique tactics used to survive in bad situations.

It's an exciting warlike movie that contains over-the-top performances , continuous suspense , poignant vignettes and unsparing action . An American officer , Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a weapons countermeasures expert with knowledge vital to the enemy, when his aircraft is shot down , he is stranded in the wilds of Vietnam . Alone ,he must rely on himself and a whole army after him. Trapped behind enemy lines , an only one man (captain Danny Glover) with whom he has radio contact can save him and to get him out . Based on true life of a lieutenant colonel stranded deep in Vietcong territory , nowadays retired and living in Arizona near a golf camp.

This stirring warlike movie mixes suspense , thrills , rugged action and dialog with lots of intrigue , without losing sight of the continuation of its interesting plot or necessities of war and works on all levels . Although relies heavily on the continuous relationship by means of radio talking among them and their solid interpretations through the enjoyable friendship by oral communication. It gets the right balance between the old-style ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Battleground¨ and the modern wartime movies as ¨Hamburger Hill¨ and ¨Casualty of war¨ . Noisy action scenes punctuate the tension without breaking it . Gene Hackman is good as a stranded officer alone after his plane is gunned down and top-notch Danny Glover as reconnaissance pilot who becomes determined to save him . Gene Hackman and Danny Glover give terrific acting in this otherwise passable film . Secondary cast is frankly good as Jerry Reed , David Marshall Frank and Clayton Rohner .Atmospheric cinematography by Mark Irwin reflecting faithfully the wilds and woods from Vietnam . Moving musical score fitting to action by Christopher Young . Compassionate thinkers , lovers warfare genre , and pacifists will all find satisfaction here .

The motion picture lavishly produced by also actor Mark Damon is well directed by Peter Markle . Peter is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing , better than average .

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 1969/70 I was a US Army Huey pilot in Northern I Corps of South Vietnam. I was on Hamburger Hill in the A Shau valley, flew in Laos and some in North Vietnam. BAT 21 is the first Vietnam War movie I have ever seen.

The truth of the war and how it was done and flown is terrible enough. This movie is way off the mark as to who flew aircraft and how they were flown.

When the UH-1N was in a left turn the the camera man made a shot out the left door showing the ground and the shadow of the aircraft, the shadow was a Bell Jet Ranger! Very poor quality. Of course the UH-1N was really a Bell 212, just look at the tail rotor. I have over 4,000 hours of helicopter time, 886 hours of which is in combat.

This movie cheapened everyone in the war, I would assume it is the norm rather than the exception.

From what I have read about the real Bat 21 I would say that truth is more interesting, shocking and horrible that this 10th rate film.

Jimmy L. Ratcliff former US Army Chief Warrant Officer