Review of Behind Enemy Lines (2001) by Dawdlingpoet — 26 Nov 2021

There are some pretty good special effects and some nice landscape/panorama type shots in this movie, in that sort of sense I felt it was quite atmospheric. There are also some pretty tense and dramatic scenes that makes you keep watching it and I also noticed in use ocassionally is this slowing down effect where everything is shown almost frame by frame and you can see whats about to happen, as it slowly unfolds. So basically I do feel that the camerawork used is quite good. The part when heat seeking missiles chase the two jets is quite thrilling and makes for good viewing, its tense stuff!

This is quite a political movie, so be aware of that, I can't really comment on how accurate any details may be, though I am aware of the unrest there was in this are of the world in the early 90s I believe. It is typically American in some respects, with talk of 'just getting our guy outta there and heck to the peace process'(!) you know, that sort of thing.

It can also be frustrating, when the action scenes of Chris trying to avoid his pursuers, suddenly cuts back to the Navy personnel, usually Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart, discussing his location and the chances to rescue him, as well as the political implications any such rescue may have.

When there's action, though, the action is quite good and it is pretty atmospheric in places, as I mentioned briefly before, with it all taking place in a snow filled Bosnia in December. Its always nice to see Owen playing a more dramatic role, something a bit different and I think he pulls it off okay in this, although personally I do prefer his comedy roles to this, I think he's more suited to that than to these kind of roles. I can't think of anything all that bad that I can criticise him for in this role but I do feel that his gestures and his expressions and so on, just work better in more comedic roles, or perhaps its just that im more used to seeing him in such roles. Thats not to say that he doesn't play the character at all unconvincingly, I think he does quite well in it.

The special effects (mainly explosions) and the camerawork is good and the actors do pretty well too (nothing outstanding but not bad), so its a pretty decent movie, if you don't mind the fact that it is so American-y and if the political edge doesn't put you off at all, otherwise I'd say give it a go, if it sounds like your sort of thing then you should enjoy it.