Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Behind Enemy Lines is a potentially good movie depending on what you want out of it. My primary interest in it was the subject matter: the Bosnian war. This is the major disappointment for me. While the war is the backdrop of the story, this isn’t really about the war. Case in point: we see the mass graves and people being shot, but, without already being familiar with the actual events, we don’t know that this is a factual massacre in Srebrenica.

I hoped to learn something new from the movie, but, even though it gave me new questions to ask, I didn’t feel like I walked away more informed. Other let-downs are some of the visual effects and some poor music selections (particularly when Burnett and Stackhouse are taking off on their mission, some guy is describing his girlfriend’s car, whoop-de-do).

Another low point is the Bosnian dialogue. Most Americans, including myself, won’t be able to tell that there’s anything wrong with the characters that are speaking Bosnian (or Serbo-Croatian), but it tends to make viewers that speak the language cringe. My wife (a Bosnian native who lived through the war as a teen) actually lost interest in seeing the movie because of the poor portrayal of some of the Serbs.

Still, despite my disappointments, it is very interesting to understand that the key events of the movie are steeped in fact: there was a pilot shot down over Bosnia, there was a massacre with mass graves that were cleverly disguised, and there were military personnel that fit the description and position of those chasing Burnett.

I guess this all doesn’t mean a lot if you don’t know what the movie is about, so let me pause and clue you in. The Bosnian war has ended, but peace is fragile. An American pilot and his navigator on a photo recon mission accidentally capture some footage that will result in charges of war crimes against some of the Serbs. The jet is therefore shot down and the crew forced to run. For political reasons the Navy can’t just swoop in for a rescue operation which gives the Serb forces time to send a specialist to hunt the Americans and attempt to destroy the evidence.

There is a great deal of excitement peppered with somber and dramatic moments. I don’t know that Owen Wilson was the best choice for the starring role, but Gene Hackman is terrific. I guess I have a hard time seeing Owen in the super-serious, dramatic role; he doesn’t carry the intensity like Mel Gibson or Ewan McGregor can. I don’t know any of the other actors; a few of them give excellent performances while a few lack, but since most of them have little screen time I won’t go into a lot of detail. Just know that this is not one of those movies where every actor falls in place perfectly.

The story has its high points, but there’s a lot of the hero just running from the bad guys. If fact, I thought it could have used less running and more story or at least be shortened by about 20 minutes. Only so much bullet dodging can be interesting. A perfect story enhancement could have been developing the character of the hunter or at least a follow-up on the boy that helps Burnett instead of just sending him into limbo.

CONTENT:
It’s a pretty clean movie considering its genre. Even though it’s about the war there’s not a whole lot of graphic violence. There is some, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not Black Hawk Down level or anything. The primary exception (not including deleted scenes) is at least one gruesome shot of half-buried corpses. There is no nudity or sex, and I can’t even think of any references to such things. There is a fair amount of bad language, excessive in a few scenes but not throughout. It’s an OK movie for most teens.

DVD:
Now that you know about the movie, I’ll tell you what you get with the DVD. It’s a decent amount of material in a nice package. The menus feature animation and music – not the most creative I’ve ever seen, but it does show some effort on the part of the DVD designer. They are somewhat patriotic and appropriate, but I don’t care for the score all that much.

There are 2 commentaries. The director’s fluctuates from interesting to boring, but the producers’ is mostly interesting all the way through. They are both worth a listen if you like that sort of thing. That is where I got most of the information I was really interested in such as relation to the true events.

There are 7 deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary. They show the material cut to bring the rating down from R to PG13. There’s really not all that much to most of them, and unless you watch closely you’ll likely miss the parts MPAA had trouble with. The highlights are the sequences shot for the ending, and, to a lesser degree, the original opening which carries a powerful mood but is a bit long. Most of them, except for a dialogue scene including Hackman, are better with the commentary.

There’s another clip that’s kind of an alternate scene, kind of an outtake, kind of a behind the scenes thing. Confused yet? It’s got a little bit of behind the scenes footage and Owen doing the scene in the truck bed on the way to Hac (a town he visits) but without any cuts or edits. I thought it was a lot of fun to watch & makes a good Easter Egg. Look for it in the Pre Vis menu.

Speaking of the Pre Visualization, it’s very unusual. It’s a string of clips used to cheaply plan the jet being shot down near the beginning of the story. It’s an odd mix of doodles, CG, and live action. I thought it was fun to see so many different types of artwork together. It’s kind of long, but you can swap to an optional commentary.

The last feature is a Minority Report trailer.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
All in all, I would say this movie is worth a rental but probably not a purchase. I own it because of my family’s interest in the Bosnian war. I would think the people that would get the most out of having this in their libraries would be military/patriotic movie buffs. The Navy was heavily involved with the filming so the ships and much of the crew are 100% real. I would suggest at least seeing the movie before paying $15-$20 to buy it. The features won’t take you long to watch unless you want to hear the commentaries so you can plan your rental time around that.

If you want to know more about the Bosnian war Shot Through the Heart and No Man's Land are the best ones I've seen.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older