Bat*21

1988

Action / Drama / War

20
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 58% · 17 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 58% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 10488 10.5K

vietnam war vietnam based on novel or book

Plot summary

Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route.

Director

Peter Markle Photo
Peter Markle

Top cast

Joe Dorsey Photo
Joe Dorsey as Colonel Douglass
David Marshall Grant Photo
David Marshall Grant as Ross Carver
Erich Anderson Photo
Erich Anderson as Major Jake Scott
Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc Photo
Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc as Army pilot
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
904 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 45 min
Seeds 3
1.69 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 45 min
Seeds 22

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma-cortes 6 / 10

Fine Vietnam movie that works on several levels with solid acting and rousing scenes

It's an exciting warlike movie that contains over-the-top performances , continuous suspense , poignant vignettes and unsparing action . An American officer , Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a weapons countermeasures expert with knowledge vital to the enemy, when his aircraft is shot down , he is stranded in the wilds of Vietnam . Alone ,he must rely on himself and a whole army after him. Trapped behind enemy lines , an only one man (captain Danny Glover) with whom he has radio contact can save him and to get him out . Based on true life of a lieutenant colonel stranded deep in Vietcong territory , nowadays retired and living in Arizona near a golf camp.This stirring warlike movie mixes suspense , thrills , rugged action and dialog with lots of intrigue , without losing sight of the continuation of its interesting plot or necessities of war and works on all levels . Although relies heavily on the continuous relationship by means of radio talking among them and their solid interpretations through the enjoyable friendship by oral communication. It gets the right balance between the old-style ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Battleground¨ and the modern wartime movies as ¨Hamburger Hill¨ and ¨Casualty of war¨ . Noisy action scenes punctuate the tension without breaking it . Gene Hackman is good as a stranded officer alone after his plane is gunned down and top-notch Danny Glover as reconnaissance pilot who becomes determined to save him . Gene Hackman and Danny Glover give terrific acting in this otherwise passable film . Secondary cast is frankly good as Jerry Reed , David Marshall Frank and Clayton Rohner .Atmospheric cinematography by Mark Irwin reflecting faithfully the wilds and woods from Vietnam . Moving musical score fitting to action by Christopher Young . Compassionate thinkers , lovers warfare genre , and pacifists will all find satisfaction here .The motion picture lavishly produced by also actor Mark Damon is well directed by Peter Markle . Peter is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing , better than average .
Reviewed by mark.waltz 8 / 10

Truly like a bat out of hell.

Two people who have never met encounter each other under the darkest and circumstances in this Vietnam War movie that truly will grab you from the moment it starts. Gene Hackman and Danny Glover are superb as a lieutenant colonel lost in the danger zone after bailing out of his crashing bomber and the captain on the rescue jet sent out to find him. Over the period of a few days, they begin to bond, talking about everything and anything to pass the time with Hackman giving Glover pertinent information of where the enemy is and eventually sending him and other jets into the battle zone who are the worst of the Vietnam War occurs. There are casualties, Hackman becomes a killer for the first time in his life, and the two men begin a desperate attempt, one to be rescued and the other to be a rescuer. They become friends before they even see each other's faces.It's heartbreaking to watch Hackman encounter the young children of the man he is just killed, one covered in hideous cars on his chest. Later, he encounters a little boy who walks by him in fear but gets a sense about him and rushes back where he does something truly amazing. It's little moments like this that makes a hideousness of War on screen palpable, and those moments are truly touching. Hackman and Glover are two of the best actors on-screen in the past 50 years, and their performances here are top-notch. They are acting without even saying a word over their concern as the situation goes from bad to worse to deadly. Each of them has a code name and also talked to various codes which but then sister location from being discovered by the Vietnamese who are listening in.I of course had heard of this film, but it has been somehow overshadowed by other Vietnam War films of the period, and is just as memorable as "Full Metal Jacket" and "Platoon". It's another true story that has been wonderfully adapted for the screen, no-nonsense and non-stop action, filled with terrific photography, amazing locations add showing the camaraderie of those together. In war when things get really bad. As it is not necessary to the story, it does not take a side or send a message. It is strictly about survival, something necessary for each individual in all wars, and gives a nice human element to a dark situation that most people couldn't imagine going through for one night let alone the time that Hackman is out in the wilderness.
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