Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
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A downed American naval officer must survive and navigate a warzone while his superiors struggle to coordinate a rescue mission.
The story
During the final stages of the Bosnian War in 1995, U.S. Navy flight officer Lieutenant Chris Burnett and pilot Lieutenant Jeremy Stackhouse are stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea. While on an aerial reconnaissance mission, they spot unusual activity in the demilitarized zone. Burnett persuades Stackhouse to fly off-course for a closer look, unaware that they are witnessing a secret genocide. When their jet is shot down, Burnett is forced to flee into the wilderness. Meanwhile, the commanding officer of the carrier strike group struggles to gain approval for a rescue mission as the situation becomes increasingly complicated by international tensions.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1995, during the Bosnian War, U.S. Navy officers Chris Burnett and Jeremy Stackhouse are on a reconnaissance mission. After flying off-course to investigate suspicious activity, they witness a massacre and are forced to eject when their jet is downed. Stackhouse is captured and executed, while Burnett escapes into the wilderness. Burnett is forced to navigate a treacherous landscape, eventually finding refuge with Bosniak guerrillas. To complicate matters, the commanding officer, Rear Admiral Reigart, faces pressure from NATO forces to abandon the rescue mission after Burnett's location is compromised. Burnett eventually manages to signal his location using a rescue beacon, leading to a tense confrontation with the Serbian forces. He eventually stabs the assassin Sasha Ivanic and is rescued by a Marine task force. The film ends with the discovery of the massacre evidence leading to the arrest of General Lokar for war crimes, while Reigart is relieved of command and Burnett continues his naval career.
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 106
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Moore
- Writers
- David Veloz · screenplay; Zak Penn · screenplay; Jim Thomas · story; John Thomas · story
- Cast and characters
- Owen Wilson · Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Chris "Longhorn" Burnett; Gene Hackman · Rear Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart; Gabriel Macht · Naval Aviator Lieutenant Jeremy "Smoke" Stackhouse; Joaquim de Almeida · Admiral Juan Miguel Piquet; David Keith · Master Chief Tom O'Malley; Olek Krupa · Serb General Miroslav Lokar; Vladimir Mashkov · Sasha Ivanic; Charles Malik Whitfield · Captain Glen Rodway
- Genres
- action; war
- Themes
- war; survival; military duty
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- military; war; action
- Source material / true-story basis
- Based on a 1995 incident involving Scott O'Grady.
- Franchise connections
- Includes three sequels.
- Reception
- The film received generally mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 36% · scale: percentage · review count: 132; Metacritic · score: 49 · scale: 100 · review count: 29; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A to F
- Production trivia
- The film was shot at the Koliba Studios in Bratislava, Slovakia.; The script was changed at the military's request.; The film's plot is loosely based on a 1995 incident involving Scott O'Grady.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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