Bat★21 (1988)

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

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.

While this is a very good film, it should not be confused with the reality of the loss of Bat-21 Bravo. The real events were more agonizing than the movie and many brave men American and Vietnamese died as a result of a seeming lack of comprehension, of the battle situation in Quang Tri, at MAC-V and 7th AF. In addition to the EB, an HH-53, UH-1H, AH-1G and OV-10 were downed with resulting crew losses either KIA or captured. This was not a piece of cake mission as the summary suggests. These aircraft EB-66 flew an electronic decoy mission to take the surface to air missile pressure off the bombers. The real downing occurred during the Easter Offensive. Many people tried to save LTC Hambleton, ultimately it was a Navy SEAL and a Vietnamese Sea Commando.

Here is a movie that had they stuck to the actual fact s would have been so exciting and completely engrossing. Instead they used two great actors and got a piece of schlock not worthy of the film its printed on. The only parts that were close to accurate were the actual shoot down and the loss of the H-3 crew (who were not returned until 1995? for burial at Arlington). The Danny Glover character was a back seater in a OV-10 Bronco and was shot down the day after Hambleton and needed rescue too.Subsequently after 2 plus weeks several downed aircraft a Navy SEAL and SVN Navy PO stole a peasants fishing skiff paddled up river passing enemy machine gun nest and had a running gun battle on the way back. The SEAL was given the MEDAL OF HONOR and the PO the USN Navy Cross the only NC given to a South Vietnamese sailor ever.There's a book by the same name as the movie written by a Air Force vet and current airline captain that is very good and I'd recommend it highly.Aa sad postscript when Hambelton was asked how he could act as technical adviser on a movie that dishonored so many men who died trying to save him he replied "When they offer you that kind of money you can't turn it down". Get the book, you won't regret it and you'll read about real heroes.Here's a movie that if remade true to actual events would full theaters with everyone on the edge of their seats. One final tid bit he was only 2 miles behind the "lines".