Christopher McCabe I saw this film for the first time last night and loved it. I thought it might be a cheesy 80s Vietnam war action flick but boy was I wrong. There are some great performances here first off - Gene Hackman and Danny Glover are very convincing and totally into their roles here. I know the plot is very simple but this is based on a true story and I thought all involved measured up and did an honorable job of portraying the futility and tragic waste of life that was the Vietnam war. There are some subtle moments in the film, reviewed better by others, but suffice it to say they were touching and were metaphors for the war. I am sad that in real life, many didn't make it home, but this movie does that justice while also pointing out the brutality of war and its impact on civilians

ma-cortes It's an exciting warlike movie that contains over-the-top performances , continuous suspense , poignant vignettes and unsparing action . An American officer , Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a weapons countermeasures expert with knowledge vital to the enemy, when his aircraft is shot down , he is stranded in the wilds of Vietnam . Alone ,he must rely on himself and a whole army after him. Trapped behind enemy lines , an only one man (captain Danny Glover) with whom he has radio contact can save him and to get him out . Based on true life of a lieutenant colonel stranded deep in Vietcong territory , nowadays retired and living in Arizona near a golf camp.This stirring warlike movie mixes suspense , thrills , rugged action and dialog with lots of intrigue , without losing sight of the continuation of its interesting plot or necessities of war and works on all levels . Although relies heavily on the continuous relationship by means of radio talking among them and their solid interpretations through the enjoyable friendship by oral communication. It gets the right balance between the old-style ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Battleground¨ and the modern wartime movies as ¨Hamburger Hill¨ and ¨Casualty of war¨ . Noisy action scenes punctuate the tension without breaking it . Gene Hackman is good as a stranded officer alone after his plane is gunned down and top-notch Danny Glover as reconnaissance pilot who becomes determined to save him . Gene Hackman and Danny Glover give terrific acting in this otherwise passable film . Secondary cast is frankly good as Jerry Reed , David Marshall Frank and Clayton Rohner .Atmospheric cinematography by Mark Irwin reflecting faithfully the wilds and woods from Vietnam . Moving musical score fitting to action by Christopher Young . Compassionate thinkers , lovers warfare genre , and pacifists will all find satisfaction here .The motion picture lavishly produced by also actor Mark Damon is well directed by Peter Markle . Peter is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing , better than average .

stones78 I wouldn't call this one of my favorite films, or among my favorite war films for that matter, but I did enjoy this much more than when I first saw this many years ago. Gene Hackman is the main reason I would recommend this, and Danny Glover also puts in a solid performance. If you don't know the plot by now, I'll give a short synopsis: Col. Hambleton,(Hackman) who's a passenger in a plane flying over Vietnam, parachutes to safety, and is stuck there until "Birddog" Clark(Glover)figures out how to rescue him. Jerry Reed, who's not a country bumpkin this time, plays it straight as Col. Walker, who's Clark's superior and both men try to figure out how to rescue Hambleton. It takes some time for some action to kick in, although I wouldn't call this an action film per se, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up over time. There are some disturbing moments, not that many, but it should satisfy the action fans in some of us. After some painful delays and a reference to golf(yes, golf) terminology, the man gets rescued while others trying to rescue him get killed, which left a bitter taste in my mouth, although this is a true but heartbreaking story.I had just a few gripes, the first being why was Hambleton the only man parachuting to safety, while the others perished? Perhaps it was the only seat rigged to eject, as I have no military expertise. Finally, during the ending credits, only Hambleton's story is revealed in paragraph form on the screen, which says that he currently resides near a golf course in Arizona and is retired. I thought perhaps a mention of Capt. Clark's present situation would've been appropriate.

logisticslist61 Okay, but the real story would have made a better movie, and is, ironically more dramatic than Bat 21. Oh, and for movie makers/prop guys reading this, don't use F-5s without bombs to simulate other aircraft. Even your younger audience is becoming miltech-literates and will catch this.Good points: At least we have a movie with a FAC in it! 0-2 pilots were brave fellows, because there is no ejection seat and opening the door for a successful bailout low to the ground was not likely to work. If you can catch one at an airshow (the last O-2s retired in the 1980s from Shaw AFB) you can see and appreciate how small, light, and basic they are.