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Actors: Gene Hackman and Danny Glover
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Bat 21 |
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Bat 21
Directed By Peter Markel, 1988
Staring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover
This s an action packed Vietnam war movie based upon USAF Colonel Iceal Hambleton's (played by Gene Hackman) experiences in eluding enemy troops after the plane he was flying in was shot down.
Hambleton is an armchair warrior who has served his tour of duty in Vietnam in the relative safety of Saigon. As a high level intelligence officer he spent his working hours in a bunker identifying communist missile sites for our pilots to target. His free time was devoted to his life's passion, golf. Like many such rear echelon warriors, Hambleton longs for a little taste of the “real” war and, just before his tour ends, he hitches a ride on one of the unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that gathered the data he used to identify the enemy missile sites. As luck would have it, the routine mission ends in disaster when the plane is hit by enemy fire and crashes killing all on board except Hambleton. The enemy knows that Hambleton was on board and knows that, with his knowledge, he would be a mother lode of information for their own intelligence people.
The action becomes intense as both sides go all out to reach him first. Alone in the jungle and armed with only a side arm which he has only used on the target range, Hambleton's plight is dire. His only link to his comrades is his radio and much of the movie consists of Hambleton talking to Captain Bart Clark (Danny Glover) a forward air control (FAC) pilot flying a single engine spotter plane directing the Air Rescue helicopters that are attempting to rescue Hambleton. To elude the enemy, who they know are monitoring their radio communication, Hambleton and Clark, both golfers, discuss movements and direction in terms of moving from one hole to another on various golf courses each is familiar with rather than using normal compass points. Not being familiar with the golf courses, the enemy finds itself in the dark as to Hambleton's next move. Thanks to this ingenious code and the bravery and sacrifice of the Air Rescue helicopters, Hambleton is finally rescued. But not before he witnesses first hand the death and destruction that takes place on the front lines of the war that he had spent the last year helping to direct from the safety of an air conditioned bunker in the rear.
--Chuck Nugent, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Bat 21 |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1960's-1970's
War Thriller
Yes
Armed Forces:
- Air Force
Specific to
- Vietnam
War story:
- escaping behind enemy lines
Sports story?
- golf
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- senior military
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
Main Adversary
Identity:
- enemy army
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Other Asian
Setting
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- Southeast Asia
Jungles?
Yes
Jungles
- heat/bugs
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately messy visuals of dead
How many deaths in film?
- dozens
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 3 (some)
Kind of violence:
- mission to protect something
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Chuck Nugent
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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