Wolff rating: FAIR
Plot summary: Fighter navigator is shot down and must find safety.
Biased, pithy comments: What happens if you make ``Three Kings'' and then remove all of the political content? You get this movie. The special effects-driven action footage and the ``Join the Navy'' editing are great, and some early moments with Wilson being himself rather than an action hero are quality, and should be enjoyed. However, the plodding political stuff (Almeida, usually a bonus, is tired and unconvincing as the NATO admiral dude) and the overwrought ending (I can't imagine how 50 people at close range using automatic weapons could miss someone that much---I haven't seen such inaccuracy since a James Bond film) seriously drag down what is, in many ways, a remake of Hackman's own ``BAT 21''. Just watch the first 30 minutes and you'll get most of the point; you can predict the end about 45 minutes before it happens.
Other Notes: Ebert points out even more of the ``stupid movie people'' stuff in this movie; why Wilson removes his ski-mask when he walks by the tank is unknown, for instance. I wanted to know why it is that all foreign military commands have heartless, inhuman commanders who care nothing for their troops. I mean, come on, even the SS had a little esprit de corps, even though they are classic bad guys. And, for the tiniest, tiniest spoiler, you know the French special forces are useless; when have French accomplished anything militarily in American cinema? On the DVD, the "pre-visualization" of the big fighter-jet sequence shows the names of the characters as ``Luke Skywalker, The Jedi" and "Artoo" painted on the side of the plane.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Vladmir Mashkov.
Directed by: John Moore