Behind Enemy Lines (2001) Reviews

• Absolute Garbage

  whatsupjay2004-01-16

  Possible "spoilers", if it's even possible to spoil a film like BEL. This is by far one of the worst war movies I have ever seen, especially in terms of realism. As a former Naval Flight Officer who was stationed on a carrier in the Adriatic in the early 90's, I can say with absolute certainty that this story, the dialogue and just about everything else was complete hogwash. It pains me to think that some hack writer actually got paid big bucks for this script, probably much more than I ever made in full year in the Navy. Anyway, I could obviously point out a million things wrong with this picture, but I'll limit to a few laughers: First, I flew EA-6B's, not F-18's, but apparently nobody else did. Every EA-6B (and non-F-18) shown in the film was tied down to the flight deck. In fact, I don't recall any other jet being launched or recovered in this film from that carrier deck other than that 2-seat F-18. Back then, the Hornet squadrons on my boat (yes it's a "boat" not a "ship". Only blackshoes called it a ship. Even had a 'shoe Senior Chief "correct" me (a lieutenant) in that regard once. Get real.) only had one seat, one pilot and no navigators/rios. Only Marines flew those D-models. At least they could have used an F-14. -Some Master Chief running around the boat chastizing an Admiral and telling him what to do/not do. Yeah, right. -The bad guys are shooting SAM's at our "heroes" who survive quite a while before getting bagged. Only after getting safely on the ground with their big, bright, colorful (!) parachute canopies, do they decide to interrupt the Admiral's meal to tell him a jet's been engaged. Oh, I better get up and see what's going on! That boat would be at General Quarters the minute the first missile was in the air. And missiles, which normally travel at many times the speed of a Hornet in burners, would either hit or miss, not follow you all around the sky. And a search & rescue mission would be in place IMMEDIATELY regardless of what some pseudo-Italian knucklehead who thinks he's in charge says. -Guys walking around the flight deck with no head/ear protection immediately before, during, and after flight ops? Uh, no. At not playing football either. -Flight crew (officers) eating meals on the enlisted men's mess decks rather than the dirty-shirt wardroom? I suppose it's technically possible, but are they out of their minds? -A Navigator/NFO threatening to leave the Navy to go fly for the airlines? Sorry, even if one had a civilian pilot's license (most do NOT) all those backseat hours in the Hornet count for squat in the eyes of the FAA. There are way too many military PILOTS that compete for commercial pilot jobs, that a navigator sure as heck wouldn't get one. -A downed pilot sitting there in an open field in enemy territory not even making an attempt to hide/evade. The other guy just leaving him there to find higher ground? Didn't you guys learn anything in SERE school? Also, a single fighter going feet dry in potentially hostile territory with no other escort, support aircraft, or SARCAP? Hah! you get the picture...

• Sick and tired of this constant trashing!

  joeyu-625-7685762010-01-03

  I have to agree that this is completely unrealistic movie but what actually annoys me the most is the constant trashing of Balkan people through presenting this war in such movies. Most actors that are portraying Bosnians, Serbs and Croats might be Slavic in origin, however the main characters are given to people who are native English speakers so the dialogs in B/H/S language are ridiculous, misinterpreted in English and offensively stupid. The storyline is offensive to all the people that died in this war, but also to people who lost a loved one in that war. I'm really sorry that Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman allowed themselves to be involved in such BS of the movie.

• In Hollywood There Are Some Lines You Should Never Cross...

  Isolated_Bastard2005-09-29

  I first saw this movie with a few buddies who had rented it on a Saturday night, and thought I'd join in. Now, if this had been a spoof of American War movies, it would've been great. Only problem is that it isn't a spoof; it's dead serious. The huge number of goofs and mistakes aside, this movie offers little in the ways of storyline and character development. You really couldn't care less if Wilson's character lives or dies, and Hackman doesn't really get anything done until the end of the movie (which is ridiculous to say the least!). Now, the thing that really breaks this movie, is the aforementioned goofs and mistakes. As I mentioned, if this movie had been a parody on American war/action movies I would've loved it, because all of the goofs actually make you think that it IS a parody! But considering the fact that it's a glorified, super-patriotic, default American war hero running around facing all kinds of problems, it all seems like a moral boost for the newly attacked America (my sympathies for all who were affected by 9/11 by the way...): The hero is a handsome, blond, all-American guy (they could've added that he was a star quarterback and we'd have the complete package) who faces irredeemably evil Serbs/Bosnians/Whatevers (we never really get to know...) and has to face the hazards of traversing unknown territories. It all seems the typical Hollywood action/war... HOWEVER... *SPOILERS!!!!!* The fact that the entire navy administration doesn't send in a rescue team until the very end is a bit silly. Also, scenes like the minefield where Wilson's character is chased by two soldiers and runs straight through the trip-mines (where he is unhurt by the explosions, one of the soldiers step on a mine that kills both him AND his buddy standing 10 feet away!), And the ending in which he's shot at by a HUGE amount of soldiers (including tanks...) and manages to get out unhurt (note also that three half-as*ed choppers take out a lot of that army without getting shot down...). And let's not forget when he runs up a hill while being shot at, and the bullets keep on following him while he's running down the other side! *SPOILERS!!!!!* So, all in all, as a war movie it's horrible Hollywood junk that falls flat on bad acting, terrible script and major goofs! As a parody on action/war movies though, this could go far! If they'd only put those weaknesses to good use... Many will try to save the movie by claiming that "It's not supposed to be realistic!". I, however, feel that war is bad enough to be taken seriously, and not turned into a stupid glorification like this, where one man can beat an entire army (and considering how incompetent the Serbs/Bosnians/Whatevers are portrayed as in this movie, I'm surprised that no one took offense!). Just like "Titanic", it undermines the very issue at hand, and deserves to be forgotten for that. 1/10

• Big Mistake (SPOILER ALERT !)

  gbnf2001-12-01

  SPOILER ALERT ! This was the sorriest movie I can ever remember seeing. I realize that everybody is still in shock from 9-11. I personally lost a family member because of it. But that doesn't mean I'm so starved for patriotism that I would blindly love this crap. A US Navy pilot and navigator disobey orders then get shot down. Suddenly he can dodge automatic fire from assaults rifles, 20mm cannons, and grenade launchers? He runs in the daytime, stops to transmit in open territory, and suddenly knows the area better then they people who are chasing him? His commanders are unwilling/unable to help him. The end is the worst, he's running around in between crossfire of his rescuers and his pursuers without ever getting hit? Grabs some disk of pictures that would have been transmitted automatically to base as soon as he took them anyway? Then runs and jumps off a cliff to someone hanging from a helicopter rather than having the stupid helicopter land for 3 seconds to pick him up. I realize that some people may need a boost of patriotism but we can do much better than this crap. See 'Saving Private Ryan' again if you're that desperate.

• Incomprehensibly bad

  imdb-5832003-07-02

  I'm sure there have been worse movies made. I just haven't seen them. Even if you are not looking for an intelligent handling of international politics, and don't care about the horribly jingoistic attitudes portrayed, I think it is still difficult to fathom how this movie could be enjoyed. Action sequences are never resolved, they just **SPOILER WARNING** end with the main character miraculously transported to another location. It is unfortunate that the U.S. military can not extend the range of its transporters to actually get characters completely out of the battle zone, instead of a mere few hundred yards. The rest of the world mocks America because of movies like this.