''Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil'' is a 2006 American action war film and the sequel to 2001's '' Behind Enemy Lines''. The film was written and directed by James Dodson, starring

Nicholas Gonzalez Nicholas Edward Gonzalez is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Alex Santiago on the Showtime television series ''Resurrection Blvd'' and Dr. Neil Melendez on the ABC television series ''The Good Doctor''. Early life ...

, Matt Bushell,

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

Denis Arndt Denis Arndt (born November 23, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his starring role as Alex Priest in the play ''Heisenberg'' for which he earned a 2017 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. Life and career Denis Arndt served ...

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical ''Chicago'', and his portrayal of the British Ol ...

Bruce McGill Bruce Travis McGill (born July 11, 1950) is an American actor. He worked with director Michael Mann in the movies '' The Insider'' (1999), ''Ali'' (2001), and ''Collateral'' (2004). McGill's other notable film roles include Daniel Simpson "D-Day" ...

and

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cr ...

. The film was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on October 17, 2006.

Plot

The story is not linked to the first part of the series. Instead, it focuses on a fictional explanation for the

Ryanggang explosion The Ryanggang explosion was a large explosion that took place in North Korea on 9 September 2004 in the northern province of Ryanggang. The nature and cause of the suspected explosion is the subject of speculation. No neighboring nations have cla ...

in 2004, in which an unexplained mushroom cloud occurred in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. After

reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...

s detect a large, three-stage

Topol Topol may refer to: Missiles * RT-2PM Topol, a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in service from 1985 * RT-2PM2 Topol-M, a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in service from 1997 People * Topol (surname) * Chaim Topol, Israeli a ...

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

carrying a

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

in North Korea, which can strike anywhere in the

continental United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...

Adair T. Manning (

) orders a team of

U.S. Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

, led by Lieutenant Robert James (

), to destroy the missile and the launch site.

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

aborts the mission after receiving new information, but by the time the abort order is sent, two SEALs have already parachuted into North Korean territory. James stops the third SEAL from deploying, accidentally knocking the man's helmet against the status indicator mounted near the door. He steps onto the makeshift ramp to peer outside, returning to the doorway to inform the other men of the abort. The high-speed winds from outside rip the indicator loose and send it flying into his face. Stumbling backwards, James loses his balance and is blown out of the plane. Master Chief Neil T. "Spaz" Callaghan (Matt Bushell) disobeys orders to stand fast, strikes his commanding officer, and follows the first three, taking a radio with him. When North Korean forces led by Commander Hwang (

Joseph Steven Yang Joseph Steven Yang (born October 13, 1968) is a South Korean-American actor, writer and producer. Filmography External links DEFACE cast & crew* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Joseph Steven 1968 births Living people American male film actors Amer ...

) find the SEALs, they kill two in a gun battle, and Hwang and his men capture and torture James and Callaghan. After

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

rescue the pair, President Manning and the South Korean government send the SEALs and South Korean special forces to destroy the missile site. But after losing radio contact with the SEALs, the President and his top advisers believe that they have been captured again. Under pressure from his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

General Norman T. Vance (

), the President decides to send B-2 stealth bombers to destroy the site, which would start a full-scale war against North Korea. Hwang almost recaptures the SEALs and the South Korean special forces, but a defecting officer shoots him. James and the South Koreans destroy the missile silo with a bomb before the bombers reach the missile site, which averts the bombing and prevents a full-scale war. A tribunal convicts Callaghan of striking an officer (1 year) and disobeying an officer (10 years). Due to the mission's "

black op A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...

" nature, the transcript of the hearing is deemed classified and the charges are expunged from his record, freeing him to return to his family. Meanwhile, James meets the president in a classified meeting, bringing his mentor Master Chief Scott Boytano (

) to witness James receive an award. The film closes with Boytano telling James he was not red flagged because Boytano had never seen anyone who desired so badly as James did to be a SEAL. During the credits there is a news report on the Ryanggang explosion.

Cast

as Lieutenant Robert James,

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

* Matt Bushell as Master Chief Neil T. "Spaz" Callaghan, USN *

as General Norman T. Vance, USAF,

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: app ...

CIA Director The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...

Weylon Armitage *

as President Adair T. Manning * April Grace as Secretary of State Ellie Brilliard *

Glenn Morshower Glenn Morshower is an American character actor. He is best known for playing United States Secret Service, Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (24 character), Aaron Pierce in ''24 (TV series), 24'' and Colonel (later General) Sharp Morshower in the ...

as Admiral Henry D. Wheeler, USN *

as Commander Hwang *

Kenneth Choi Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance It ...

as Ambassador Li Sung Park *

as Master Chief Scott Boytano, USN *

as Commander Tim Mackey, USN *

Mykel Shannon Jenkins Mykel Shannon Jenkins (born July 3, 1969) is an American actor, perhaps best known as the winner of the first season of the SOAPnet reality television series ''I Wanna Be a Soap Star''. Career His prize for winning the contest was a 13-week-co ...

as Chief Warrant Officer Lawrence Meideros, USN * Laura Giosh as Annabelle

Precursor

The film followed on the footsteps of a previously released title: '' Behind Enemy Lines'', starring

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''The Royal ...

. Although the basic theme is credited to the first film, the plot and setting are not interlinked between either films.

Sequels

It was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, '' Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia'', which stars the professional wrestler Ken Anderson, and '' SEAL Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines'', which stars

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; born November 29, 1961) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' (1991), ''Passenger 5 ...

References

External links