''Behind Enemy Lines'' is a 1986 American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Gideon Amir Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abie ...

and starring

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...

. It is set in the context of the

Vietnam War POW/MIA issue The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia. The term also refers to issues related to the tre ...

where Colonel Cooper, an Airborne commando, is sent to Vietnam to free

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soldiers caught in a Vietnamese

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

camp. The film is also known as ''Attack Force 'Nam'' (American DVD title), ''P.O.W. the Escape'' (American reissue title).

Plot

Colonel Cooper (

) is a U.S. Airborne commando who comes to Vietnam with a special mission to liberate imprisoned American soldiers. He gets caught in a North Vietnamese POW camp where there are other Paratroopers and Soldiers. Action is set at the end of the war and he, as the highest-ranking officer in the POW camp, is to be sent to Hanoi and prosecuted by the North Vietnamese. Camp commander Vinh (

Mako Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor, credited mononymously in almost all of his acting roles as simply Mako. His film roles include Po-Han in ''The Sand Pebbles'' (1966) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), O ...

) gets an order to send him to court but instead of obeying it, he offers Cooper a deal - he will help him get to the American sector and then Cooper, in return, would help him immigrate to the United States, where Vinh has family. Cooper promptly disregards his proposition, as he is a tough soldier who would rather sacrifice his own life than help the enemy. However Vinh is persistent persuading him, threatening that if he will not accept his deal, then all of the fellow prisoners from his camp will die. Given that threat Cooper reconsiders Vinh's offer, and accepts the deal, but under one condition - all of the camp prisoners must go with them. Vinh, being short of time (as Hanoi set deadline for sending Cooper to court) OK's the plan and so they leave camp in column of two jeeps and a truck (prisoners are hidden in a tank truck while Cooper goes with Vinh in a jeep). Their journey won't be without obstacles as they need to go through zones controlled by The North Vietnamese, and through the jungle wilderness.

Cast

as Col. James Cooper *Charles R. Floyd as Sparks *

as Capt. Vinh * Steve James as Johnston *Phil Brock as Adams *Daniel Demorest as Thomas *Tony Pierce as Waite *Steve Freedman as Scott *

James Acheson James Acheson (born 13 March 1946) is a British costume designer. He was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and studied at Wimbledon School of Art. He has designed costumes and sets for television, theatre, opera, ballet and film, work ...

as McCoy *Rudy Daniels as Gen. Morgan *Ken Metcalfe as Gen. Weaver *Kenneth Glover as Teague *Irma Alegre as Bargirl *

Spanky Manikan Spanky Manikan (March 22, 1942 – January 14, 2018) was a Filipino theater, film and television actor. In 1981, Manikan won as the Metro Manila Film Festival Best Supporting Actor and the Catholic Mass Media Awards Best Supporting Actor for ''Hi ...

as NVA officer *Estrella Antonio as Vietnamese mother *Tony Beso Jr. as Young boy in Se village *John Falch as GI with Thomas *

Pen Medina Crispin "Pen" Parungao Medina Sr. (born August 27, 1950, in Arayat, Pampanga) is an actor from the Philippines who started acting in theater plays in his youth. He eventually played versatile roles on the big screen and in various television s ...

as NVA #1 in empty camp *Chris Gould as POW #1 *Brian Robillard as POW #2 *Leif Erlandson as POW #3 *Brian Tasker as POW #4 * Jim Gaines as POW #5 *

Eric Hahn Eric Hahn (born March 19, 1960) is an American serial entrepreneur and computer software programmer who founded an early e-mail-based groupware company called Collabra Software in 1992. Netscape acquired Collabra in 1995, and in 1997 Hahn became ...

as GI #1 *Mansour Khalili as GI #2 *Tony Realle as GI #3 *Willie Williams as GI #4 *Avraham Karpick as Murphy *Bill Kipp as Soldier at fuel depot *Andrew Sommer as Soldier at fuel depot *Victor Barjo as Soldier at fuel depot *John Barrett as Soldier at fuel depot *Henry Strzalkowski as Soldier at fuel depot *Steven L. Long soldier in helicopter (opening credits) *Donnald P. Sibble as door-gunner

Soundtrack

Cannon re-used some of the musical scores from 'The Delta Force" (1986)

External links

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behind Enemy Lines 1986 films 1986 action films 1980s action war films American action war films Golan-Globus films Vietnam War prisoner of war films Films produced by Menahem Golan 1980s English-language films 1980s American films