*** Official "BEHIND ENEMY LINES" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[DanR]

I see that this Hackman/Wilson military action/suspense movie has been moved up a few months to November 30, 2001. Are there any reviews on the internet? Does anyone know the buzz on this one? Did it screen so well that they moved it up or something?
Thanks.
Regards,
Dan

 

[Kevin Coleman]

That is exactly what I heard. It did so well in test screenings they decided to move it up. You kind of have to wonder though if it had anything to do with Blackhawk Down being moved up from March to Jan. 18Th BEL's old date. I couldn't see both of these movies coming out on the same day. Even though one is a true story and the other is complete fiction.
An interesting note about Behind Enemy Lines that I noticed since I work for Boeing. The F-18 flown in that movie is not just a regular old F-18. It is one of the new larger more capable F-18 EF Super Hornets. They must have had some help from the military when making this movie. The Super Hornet I think has only been around for about a year. I to am looking forward to this movie.
Kevin C.

 

[Pete_w]

Are you sure about Behind Enemy Lines being fiction...I thought it is based on a true story.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

My friend Jared (also on the forum) who works at Fox saw it last week in rough form (score wasn't finished) and said it's pretty solid-- though was a bit like "Bat 21." (Bat 22?)
I think one of the reasons it was pushed up was because of the sudden holes which have appeared in the Xmas/Oscar movie-going season with the removal of Gangs of New York and The Road To Perdition from the schedule. That's the real reason Black Hawk Down has been pushed up-- this way, it stands a real chance of getting Oscar nominations.
Looking forward to both of them.

 

[Jason Merrick]

Are you sure about Behind Enemy Lines being fiction...I thought it is based on a true story.

The author was inspired to write it after seeing the story of the pilot who was shot down in Bosnia a few years ago.
------------------

 

[Jeff Adams]

Any review on this film yet?

 

[Erwin]

Good movie. Very intense. This is probably one of the best Gene Hackman's Movies that I've seen in awhile. The movie has very good drama and it's nonstop action.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "Behind Enemy Lines". Please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.
All HTF member film reviews of "Behind Enemy Lines" should be posted to this thread.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Crawdaddy

 

[Howard Williams]

I saw it yesterday. It's worth seeing but far from Hackman's best work (imho).

Owen Wilson is very likable. What's the story behind his nose? Looks like he went a few rounds with Mike Tyson about 12 years ago.

There were a few unbelievible parts:

Like when the sniper missed him at the dam. Him rolling down the dam. The mine field scenes where the shock waves blows away the enemies but seem to have little affect on Lt. Harnett (?) I also found it hard to believe that Lt. Harnett would have screamed out loud, drawing attention to himself when his pilot was executed and then that the entire enemy platoon could not quickly find and kill him.
Not enough to ruin the film but enough to lower my opinion of it.

One thing I did like was:

I could not distinguish between who was a Croate, a Serbian, a muslims, a Soviet, etc. This made me stay on my toes and appreciate how they could do it so easily.


I think the ending prologue/summary is what makes people think it was a true story. It did for me. I'm glad someone cleared it up.

I thought a good twist towards the end would have been:

Remember the snipers partner? The one that stepped on the land mine. We all assume he was dead. It would have been cool if he had found a way to escape, then came back and killed the sniper right before the sniper was ready to kill Lt. Harnett. After killing the sniper out of revenge for not helping him escape the land mine, he would then try to kill Lt. Harnett etc.

 

[JohnS]

Yeah, I also thought this wasn't much of a performance by Hackman. Definitly NOT his best.
I also didn't think it didn't have much action packed scenes. I too was rolling my eyes at some scenes(mentioned above) but the ending was about the best thing.
Still I believe this over Brad Pitt walking around so casualy in Spy Game.
OH, I also liked the Castaway reference.
Owen Wilson gets his football chucked into the ocean
"WILSON!"

 

[Joe Wong]

JohnS,

The reference to Cast Away is funny but problematic. Is this movie supposed to be set in the present? Or several years ago during the height of the Bosnian crisis? If the answer is several years ago, then the reference to Cast Away (released in 2000) is ahead of its time.

Joe

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Well Seeing that the Owen Wilson character should've been dead five minutes into the movie, all that running around in the open... I did'nt think too much of it. Hackman was Excellent in Heartbreaker as the King of Flem. Check it out.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I was with the film until after they got shot down. Then it just got worse and worse. John Moore is an incompetant boob who needs to learn what a TRIPOD is, and a STEADICAM. He ripped off every cliched trick that has been done in recent war movies. The Private Ryan shakey-cam, the Michael Bay 360.

The difference is that he doesn't know WHY these are used, just that they looked cool. So he ends up totally overblowing it and NEVER stops the camera moving. He's the anti-Kevin Smith.

It's no suprise it's his first movie. I hope someone explains to him where he bombed out, and if he doesn't shape up next time, can him

 

[Elizabeth S]

Howard, I like your idea for the little twist at the end. I had the same thought in the back of my mind, that

perhaps that guy DID somehow survive that mine going off and would reappear later
.

I'm a big fan of Owen, and his inherent likeability goes a long way toward making the viewer care about Burnett. As for his nose, I don't know what happened, but it's so distracting in certain angles -- I can always hear someone who's not familiar with him whispering something about his nose during the beginning of his films. I guess it doesn't bother him, but if he got it "fixed", he'd be just too damn good-looking.

Because this entire film was built on cliches, I was almost pleasantly surprised when they did NOT follow through with one. I mean, I REALLY expected something or someone to go through that ice there!

 

[Alphonse Brown]

I always laugh at the cliche of a movie character cussing an electronic piece of equipment into working!

 

[Jim A. Banville]

I'll be checking this movie out in about an hour. I'll post my usually overly criticial opinion of it. Based on the posts so far, it sounds like it should be as good or better than the totally unbelievable and over-stylized Broken Arrow, so while it may not be thought or emotion evoking, it may at least be 2 hours of guilty entertainment.

 

[Jim A. Banville]

My thoughts? I thought it was REALLY good. My wife thought so too, although she did hold her hands over her eyes during certain scenes where you just KNEW someone was going to be blown away. SURE, there were several unbelievable scenes, but I didn't go into it thinking it was going to be another Saving Private Ryan or an Academy award winner. And much to my surprise, it was thought and emotion provoking. I wish they wouldn't have made the last action sequence SO unbelievable, but you can't have everything. I will definitely be buying this on DVD!
Some things I would have changed...
Those SAM's fly MUCH faster than that F-18 can! The had them flying at nearly the same speed. The speed they had that jet going wouldn't be condusive to the tight manuevers it was making and would've led to serious G's on that crew! I would've had the navigator pulling the pilot into the woodline before embarking on his trip up the mountain. I would've had the navigator in more cover (trees & bushes) instead of sitting on the very top of that rocky perch when he first made radio contact. The navigator should've had more injuries by the end of the movie (blackened eyes, a limp, shrapnel wounds, etc.). He just had a bunch of minor scratches and a bullet flesh wound. I would'nt have him going back for the disc after the helo's arrived. I would've made it a surprise that he had receovered it after he was rescued. At least one of those rescue helo's should've been damaged and had to retreat. I wouldv'e skipped the scene of the navigator returning to the ship and had the film end on the helo sort of like how Platoon ended. I would have shown slow-mo close-ups of the lead characters sort of like the ending of Predator with text about what happened to them after they returned. I thought the slow-mo of Gene and the rescue guy's coming up the elevator was a little too corny

I wasn't too crazy about the soundtrack either. But even after ALL this, I still thought it was a good movie! It could've been GREAT