Navy Seals
Short description
Navy Seals follows an elite American commando unit sent into the Middle East on a rescue operation. When the team discovers that stolen American-built missiles have fallen into the hands of a terrorist group, the mission shifts: the soldiers must find and destroy the weapons before they can be launched. The squad is led by Lieutenant James Curran, a disciplined and level-headed officer, while his second-in-command and friend, Lieutenant Dale Hawkins, is known for charging headlong into danger. The trail eventually leads to Beirut, where the missiles are hidden.
The film was directed by Lewis Teague, arriving in 1990 after a run of features that included Alligator, Cujo, Cat's Eye and The Jewel of the Nile. Chuck Pfarrer and Gary Goldman wrote the screenplay, and the cast is headed by Charlie Sheen as Hawkins and Michael Biehn as Curran, with Joanne Whalley, Rick Rossovich, Cyril O'Reilly and Bill Paxton among the thirty-six credited performers. It was produced by Orion Pictures and took about 25 million dollars worldwide.
Audience response has been modest: on IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from more than 17,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.4 out of 10 from a much smaller set of around 290 votes. A critics' rating of 4.4 out of 10 from 33 reviews places professional opinion below even those middling audience scores, suggesting the film found limited favour on either side.
What's left behind the scenes
- It was originally intended that the characters would play football, but Bill Paxton (who played Dane) felt it would be too similar to the volleyball scene in Tony Scott's action movie 'Top Gun' (1986), so he suggested playing golf. Paxton himself acted as director during the filming of the golf scene.
- The film's script was rewritten numerous times. In one version, one character sacrificed themselves to save another. In another, one of the heroes died saving some children and was mourned. Yet another version featured a fight between two characters, one of whom was a boxer and the other a karateka.
- Preparing for the role of Claire, actress Joanne Welley spoke extensively with journalists who had worked in the Middle East during those years and read news reports sent from the region.
- A significant portion of the filming took place in the vicinity of Norfolk, home to the main naval base of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet. Some scenes were filmed in Spain. The submarines, warships, helicopters, and aircraft in the film mostly belong to the Spanish Armed Forces.
- Some events in the film were inspired by actual experiences screenwriter and consultant Chuck Pfarrer had during his years of service. The second screenwriter was Gary Goldman, who, while working on the script, looked to J. Lee Thompson's 'The Guns of Navarone' (1961) and Taylor Hackford's 'An Officer and a Gentleman' (1982) for inspiration.
- The actors cast as special forces operatives underwent a course of training at a specialized training center in Winchester, Northern Virginia. The training included familiarization with the weapons they were to use in the film and participation in field exercises.
- One of the screenwriters and the technical consultant for the film was Chuck Pfarrer, a former Navy SEAL. He also recruited eight former colleagues from the same unit to train the actors and, if necessary, stand in for them during particularly complex or dangerous stunts.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
