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Movies / Upcoming / Behind Enemy Lines
Behind Enemy Lines

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Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:12

Rotten:18

Average Rating:4.7/10

Consensus: The plot for Behind Enemy Lines is more jingoistic than credible, and the overload of flashy visual tricks makes the action sequences resemble a video game.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $58,767,833

Synopsis: On a reconnaissance flight over eastern Europe, disillusioned naval pilot Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) and his partner, Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht), photograph a scene they were not meant to see.... On a reconnaissance flight over eastern Europe, disillusioned naval pilot Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) and his partner, Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht), photograph a scene they were not meant to see. When their plane is shot down and Stackhouse is quickly captured and executed, Burnett must struggle to survive in unfamiliar hostile territory with a cold-blooded assassin and hundreds of enemy troops on his heels. Meanwhile, on an American battleship in the Adriatic Sea, Burnett's commanding officer, Admiral Reigart (Gene Hackman), attempts to negotiate his soldier's return amidst tense political and military maneuvers. Soon Burnett discovers exactly why he's being hunted, making his situation--and Reigert's actions--even more perilous. Benefiting from Wilson's straightforward performance and Hackman's typically engaging presence, BEHIND ENEMY LINES proves itself with a solid story (loosely based on real-life events) and excellent action sequences. Shot in a cold, icy light, John Moore's film features a nail-biting aerial chase, a tense race across a grenade-filled wasteland, and a stunningly explosive final battle. Wilson, typically cast in quirky comedic roles, is an unlikely action hero who turns out to be the movie's secret weapon. By avoiding excessive macho posturing, BEHIND ENEMY LINES is smarter, more exciting, and better looking than most Hollywood military thrillers. [More]

Starring: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield

Starring: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield, Joaquim de Almeida, David Keith, Olek Krupa, Vladimir Mashkov

Director: John Moore

Director: John Moore
Screenwriter: Zak Penn, David Veloz, John Thomas, James Thomas
Producer: John Davis
Composer: Don Davis
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for Behind Enemy Lines

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1 - 11 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
09/09/02
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
12/16/01
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/01/09
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/06/02
Guardian [UK]
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An old-fashioned game of the cinematic cat-and-mouse, soldier-on-the-run variety.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/08/01
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
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A piece of junk.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
12/03/01
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Pro forma stuff, so much so that you start to wonder why no fetching femme resistance fighter materializes to help the Americans on the ground.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/30/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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This baby comes equipped with all the bells and missiles. Given the standard-issue plot, it's about all it can be.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/30/01
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
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The pop-soundtrack bombast of the too-infrequently somber Behind Enemy Lines ... sometimes reduces a mediocre pursuit movie with capable action to 'Rockin' Bosnia.'

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
11/30/01
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
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Its hero is so reckless and its villains so incompetent that it's a showdown between a man begging to be shot, and an enemy that can't hit the side of a Bos-nian barn.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/30/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Provides about as intense an immersion in military ambience as a Hollywood movie could hope to provide in just over 90 minutes.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
11/29/01
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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1 - 11 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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