A television commercial for a Sega
game system that aired during the 1999 MTV Music Video Awards landed debut
director John Moore a gig behind the camera of this military action
thriller. Owen Wilson stars as Lt. Chris Burnett, a naval aviator aboard the
U.S.S. Carl Vinson who's frustrated with the strict "hands-off" political
policies that prevent him from experiencing combat against hostile Bosnian
forces in his F/A-18 Superhornet jet. Burnett's commander, Admiral Reigert
(Gene Hackman), thinks that the brash pilot doesn't have what it takes to be
in the millitary, but the eager young officer soon gets the chance to prove
his mettle. While conducting a routine photographic reconnaissance over a
remote area of the Balkans, Burnett captures grisly images that serve as
proof of genocidal crimes, but his plane is blown out of the sky. He's soon
pursued on the ground by the forces of Lokar (Olek Krupa), a Serbian
paramilitary leader intent on covering up unthinkable crimes, while Reigert
defies the NATO orders of his superior (Joaquim de Almeida) and risks his
career to mount a covert rescue mission. Behind Enemy Lines (2001), the
first of two back-to-back releases starring Wilson and Hackman (the other
being The Royal Tenenbaums), also stars David Keith, Gabriel Macht, and
Charles Malik Whitfield.| Gene Hackman | Reigart |
| Owen Wilson | Burnett |
| Gabriel Macht | Stackhouse |
| Charles Malik Whitfield | Rodway |
| Joaquim de Almeida | Piquet |
| David Keith | O'Malley |
| Olek Krupa | Lokar |
| Vladimir Mashkov | Tracker |
| Marko Ogonda | Bazda |
Genre/Type - Action, War, War Adventure, Escape Film
Produced by - Davis Entertainment
Release - Nov 30, 2001 [USA]
Released by - 20th Century Fox
Running time - 106 min.
Hamburger Hill (1987, John Irvin)
Top Gun (1986, Tony Scott)
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985, Lance Hool)
Rambo III (1988, Peter MacDonald)
Alive (1993, Frank Marshall)
Iron Eagle (1985, Sidney J. Furie)
Missing in Action (1984, Joseph Zito)
Black Hawk Down (2001, Ridley Scott)