The Hollywood crowd loved to make movies in the 90s where Muslims were being "oppressed." However, just like the Crusades, they ignored the fact that it was retribution for what had happened prior. The simple fact of a 2-Star Admiral being told something he wanted couldn't be accomplished was mind-blowing. After serving for 6 years in the Navy, I never saw a mere Captain not get exactly what he wanted, no matter what the situation. Having a Rear Admiral, in control of a Carrier Task Force, the most powerful naval force in the history of human civilization, wouldn't be so meek and accept defeat so quickly of interference with NATO. Owen Wilson might not have been the right man for the role, but he did bring legitimacy to his part. Hackman is Oscar worthy once again. The plot is solid, the action keeps you on the edge of your seat and the errors are excusable. A popcorn worthy entertainment endeavor.

>"We're on another useless joyride at the cost of mere millions to the US taxpayer." This is a very over the top war film with some very cheesy camera shots and a very serious Owen Wilson. I'll be damned if I didn't defend the jet scenes though. Oh, and it's based on an actual true story??

It was weird seeing Wilson in a serious role, but I'll pretty much watch any film featuring Gene Hackman. The strong points of the film were the action sequences and the cinematography. The photography was often beautiful and bleak. The camera work, however, was often obnoxious and seemed to use every cliched technique available at the time in the early 2000s, including slo-mo :facepalm: It almost felt like the movie was glorifying violence and death. Hmm ... Also, that Wilson's character was able to survive and evade an entire unit of baddies for most of the movie stretched credulity to the breaking point. But flaws aside, I was entertained.

While not an amazing movie I have a soft spot for it, and am very sentimental about it. Definitely poor in certain areas, makes up for it with some good set pieces (sliding on the dam, while avoiding sniper fire to name one of them). Unengaging, but also pretty fun. It's my comfort movie food. Character of Sasha is the strongest point of this movie, and - interestingly - ended up inspiring Rockstar in their character creation of Niko Bellic for their GTA IV game. Which is certainly a testament to Vladimir Mashkov's acting skills. Haven't watched the other three movies in the series, and I am not intending to.

What hurts this entertaining movie. Is that it is based on a true story. Nothing in it feels realistic. Especially all of the bullet dodging. Owen Wilson is good surprisingly. He didn’t need comedic lines in the beginning though. To come off like a Tom Cruise like hot shot. The real life person he is based on didn’t like that.