I stumbled upon the 1997 action thriller "Behind Enemy Lines"; not to be mistaken for the 2001 movie with the same name but starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman. Now, I had never even heard about this 1997 movie from writers Andrew Osborne and Dennis Cooley before now in 2022, as I sat down to watch it. So I wasn't really harboring much of any expectations for the movie.
And with the likes of Thomas Ian Griffith and Chris Mulkey in the leading roles, I can't exactly say that I was expecting this to be a top of the line movie. But still, I opted to watch it, as I hadn't already seen director Mark Griffiths' 1997 movie.
Well, honestly speaking, then "Behind Enemy Lines" was actually a fairly entertaining movie. Sure, it was a very generic war movie in terms of it being a small underdog team that beat the massive opposition. And in this case it was former U. S. marines taking on Vietnamese soldiers. Yeah, that was the storyline here, so not much points scored for originality.
It was pretty hilarious that the movie was filmed in The Philippines, but was supposed to take place in Vietnam. Sure, it would have worked, if they had done a proper effort into making it look like it was Vietnam, such as having Vietnamese actors - as there is a big difference in appearances between the Vietnamese and Philippine people, also things like not using Jeepneys which is common to The Philippines, and such details. It just took away from the authenticity of the movie. I spotted the fact that it was The Philippines right away.
"Behind Enemy Lines" is a lean back in the seat with the popcorn kind of movie, and doesn't require anything cerebral from the audience. So it was fair entertainment for the masses, especially if you enjoy these predictable late 1990s war movies.
As for the cast in "Behind Enemy Lines", then I will say that Thomas Ian Griffith actually was surprisingly good in the role of Mike Weston. And Philippine actors Mon Confiado and Spanky Manikan added a lot of flavor to the movie. It was nice to see James Karen pop up in the movie, just a shame his role was so small.
This was a watchable movie, although not a particularly outstanding or memorable one. But it was sufficient enough for a single viewing.
My rating of the 1997 movie "Behind Enemy Lines" lands on a five out of ten stars.
