Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines follows a US Navy flight officer, Lieutenant Chris Burnett, serving aboard an aircraft carrier during a peacekeeping deployment over Bosnia. Restless in a routine assignment, he flies a reconnaissance mission with his pilot on a holiday and photographs military vehicles in a demilitarized zone. Missiles bring the jet down; Burnett's companion is killed, and he is left alone in hostile territory, hunted by a local commander's forces and a determined tracker who seems to anticipate his every move. Back at sea, his commanding officer, Admiral Reigart, is told that political negotiations rule out a rescue. Convinced the pilot is alive, Reigart defies his orders and assembles his own operation to reach him.

The film is the directing debut of John Moore, who went on to make Flight of the Phoenix, The Omen, Max Payne, A Good Day to Die Hard and I.T. David Veloz and Zak Penn wrote the screenplay, produced by John Davis. Owen Wilson plays Burnett against type in a dramatic role, while Gene Hackman plays Reigart; Gabriel Macht, Olek Krupa and Vladimir Mashkov round out the principal cast. Made for about 40 million US dollars, it took roughly 92 million worldwide, a solid return. On IMDb it holds 6.4 from around 119,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.5 from a small pool of votes, indicating a modest but durable following rather than standout acclaim.