Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Behind Enemy Lines
20th Century Fox Film Corporation


6.6

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 32 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for war violence and some language

Starring Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Joaquim de Almeida, David Keith, Olek Krupa, Eyal Podell, and Elizabeth P. Perry

A Navy pilot (Wilson) is shot down over enemy territory, and struggles to survive the relentless pursuit of a ruthless secret police enforcer, a deadly tracker, and countless hostile troops. With time running out, the injured pilot's commanding officer (Hackman) goes against orders to carry out a desperate rescue mission. (20th Century Fox)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	David Veloz Zak Penn Jim Thomas (story) John Thomas (story)
DIRECTED BY:	John Moore
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 23, 2002 Video: April 23, 2002 Theatrical: November 30, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	95 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Its real agenda is rip-roaring adventure, and that it delivers all wrapped up with a bow.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

War is hellishly entertaining, especially in Behind Enemy Lines, a 21-gun salute to the commitment and preparedness of the U.S. military.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Simplistic and jingoistic. But it's also explosively fun.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

It's plenty thrilling, and it appeals to the flag-waving patriot in all of us.

Time Richard Schickel

The journey is never boring, and it's morally satisfying too. O.K., the movie is what Hollywood likes to call "a ride." But it's one worth taking.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As intense an immersion in military ambience as a Hollywood movie could hope to provide in just over 90 minutes.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A Hollywood production that appeals to our patriotism while respecting our intelligence.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Although at times ridiculous, Behind Enemy Lines nevertheless thrills, inspires.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A slickly entertaining war movie that's sometimes striking, sometimes silly -- but never, ever boring.

Miami Herald Charles Savage

The conflict (in Afghanistan) makes this updated Rambo-esque thriller seem at once dated and yet relevant in ways its creators could not have envisioned.

Variety Robert Koehler

An unembarrassed, high-octane demonstration of the virtues of a U.S. military with a mission, the latest war pic from 20th Century Fox -- a studio with a proud tradition in this field -- couldn't be better timed to fit the popular mood.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

As a director, Moore is like an energetic puppy who's all over you all at once. You admire his energy, and it's awfully hard to get angry at such high spirits, but you can't help but wish he'd calm down just a bit.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The script's labored efforts to push the proceedings into a thought-provoking military drama -- and draw some clear moral issue -- are, at best, flimsy.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

You get the feeling the filmmakers didn't want to make anyone think too hard about what's going on here behind the scenes of the main storyline, and that's more than a little insulting.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A pumped-up, flag-waving, outrageously hokey and ridiculous -- but sometimes incredibly exciting -- war movie.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Sometimes stylish flashiness can be fun, and the movie does have a terrific, bleached-out, ice-blue look. But anyone who cares about what actors do has a right to be distrustful of a director who puts more emphasis on the look of his movie than on the performances.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Though Wilson gives a customarily sympathetic, engaged, and unpredictable performance, his work is drowned out by pyrotechnics and orchestral paroxysms of patriotism.

USA Today Mike Clark

There's nothing very rockin' about seeing Gene Hackman give a rare indifferent performance as a Navy admiral trying to effect a rescue for which his hands are tied.

New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky

The film desperately wants to play like "Three Kings," a war film with a guilty conscience, but it's too pat and familiar to earn its high-minded stripes.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

There aren't many better examples of how commercial intuition sabotages story integrity in today's Hollywood.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

As it is, Behind Enemy Lines will satisfy only those in search of a rousingly, if simplistically, patriotic bloodbath.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

We, the people, are meant to cheer in response, but the spirit isn't willing. War is hell, but so is peace -- at least when it comes to movies in a no-man's-land like this one.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

A slag heap of outrageous coincidence and shimmering be-all-that-you-can-be posturing, the film is for all intents and purposes another Top Gun retread, which is why its lies don't register as deeply or offensively as those put forth by films like "Mississippi Burning" -- it's too silly to take seriously.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film's flashy visuals (apparently geared to engaging video game-impaired attention spans) are entertaining, but its cynicism is distasteful.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

A mediocrity at any time, because of its implausible script and bland characters.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This is not the story of a fugitive trying to sneak through enemy terrain and be rescued, but of a movie character magically transported from one photo opportunity to another.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

The end justifies the means as long as everything turns out OK for the not-too-obedient American soldier and everyone else who enjoys Coca-Cola.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Behind Enemy Lines has a wretched script and a director (first-timer John Moore) who either has no taste or doesn't know what he's doing.

Film Threat Gareth Von Kallenbach

Sadly, it seems that the people behind this film saw a quick buck over quality and gave audiences a turkey.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jared C. gave it a7:
Finally a follow-up to Saving Private Ryan, its a war movie that doesn't have the guts, it has actual American-can-do spirit in it. It may be a very short movie dissapointingly but it is crafted in a way Saving Private Ryan wasn't.

D K gave it an8:
Some great action sequences and two strong central performances make this a superior blockbuster. John Moores direction is perfectly suited for this sort of fair and the critical reaction of 49 really is a bit shocking.

Heather gave it a10:
fantastic film, one i could watch over and over again

Sam gave it a9:
It has great effects and performances, but without Mr. Wilson and Hackman, it just wouldn't have been as good.

Bob P. gave it an8:
Pretty much a bonehead action movie, but entertaining nonetheless.

Max H. gave it a10:
This is a great movie.

Jeremy gave it a 3:
A mismash of incomprhensible direction, a huge miscast in Owen Wilson, a few good moments by Hackman, and every war cliche you can think of times three.

Behind Enemy Lines 20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Behind Enemy Lines
20th Century Fox Film Corporation