"Die
Hard" in a Serbian Forest!
On
a reconnaissance mission over Bosnia, a pilot
and his navigator take photographs that show
evidence of mass genocide. They are shot down,
but eject into hostile territory. When one is
shot by the rebel villains the other, Lt. Chris
Burnett (Owen Wilson), must evade the chasing
assassins and make his way to a rendezvous point
to be rescued. On his way he must also try to
recover the digital evidence from the plane's
wreckage so as to prevent his friend's death
from being in vain. Unfortunately for Burnett
his Admiral (Gene Hackman), who is desperate to
rescue his soldier, has his hands tied by a
superior NATO officer who wants to preserve the
delicate peace treaty in the region.
I'm a sucker for a 'one man against the world /
race against time / escape the clutches of evil'
kind of action adventure! This is a very well
executed addition to that genre. Everything is
by the book, no real surprises here, you can
probably outline the plot before you watch the
film... but the first-time director does a
fantastic job of stylizing and adrenalizing the
action so we get a fresh perspective. The
tension pumps consistently from credits to
credits, not a minute went by where I felt
bored. This is a very good action adventure!
I suppose one could complain about the
plausibility of the action scenes. However, a
film like this deserves some suspension of
belief. You must know, going in, that our 'hero
on the run' is going to avoid all the bullets
and traps fired at him no matter how unrealistic
it may be.
I can't think of a better popcorn action flick
from 2001.
This is a fun night at the movies or a great DVD
rental... this film does NOT disappoint.
You'll love it if you liked... "Firefox", "The
Hunt for Red October", "The Fugitive", "Chain
Reaction".
©
Written by TC Candler
Richard
Propes' Comment
The fact that
TC can't think of a better popcorn action flick
in 2001 may well be the reason I don't really
care for popcorn action flicks.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
N/A
