In my definition a good war movie is a good anti-war movie. If we apply this definition then Behind Enemy Lines is either not a good movie or not a good war movie. Since I personally enjoy it, I would say, it is simply not a war movie but, like Hunt for Red October and similar films, one of the movies that is based on a war premise. Only in my opinion Behind Enemy Lines is far better than its predecessors, the old-school cold war movies. Not sure why I’m so fond of it, but I am. It’s a guilty pleasure, has some great scenes and pictures and a pretty decent score. And I like Gene Hackman far better than Sean Connery.
Superhornet navigator Lt Burnett (Owen Wilson) and his pilot Stackhouse (Gabriel Macht) are on an unauthorized reconnaissance mission over Bosnia in the early 90s. They fly off course in a non-flyover zone and take pictures of a mass grave, hidden by the Serbs. Unfortunately they are spotted by ground troops.
They have been stationed on the USS Carl Vinson for quite a while. Burnett is fed up with the Navy. He feels that they are a long way from WWII where American intervention made sense and that they aren’t doing any good. He wants to leave the Navy as fast as he can. His commanding officer, Admiral Reigart (Gene Hackman), is less than thrilled. He doesn’t share his opinion and doesn’t want to lose a good man. He sends him on this reconnaissance mission to remind him how much he loves to fly and hoping he would make up his mind.
When the Serbs see the plane fly over the zone where the grave is hidden, they track it and shoot it down. Those air scenes are pretty great and one of the strengths of this movie. Pilot and navigator get out alive but since the Serbs know they have taken pictures of something nobody should know about, they are hunted. From now on the movie follows Burnett’s attempt to escape. One suspenseful scene follows the next. While some of them are not very realistic, they are entertaining and suspenseful.
Burnett is left on his own for most of the time as Reigart cannot send a chopper to get him out because this would endanger the peace process and the mission wasn’t authorized by High Command to begin with.
Burnett is tracked down by his enemies more than once and each escape is narrower than the other. My favourite scene is the one in which he has to cross a mine field in order to escape.
Behind Enemy Lines is a total failure as anti-war movie but works extremely well as a war-themed action adventure. The only real flaw is the disappointingly corny ending.
All About War Movies 
Why does a good war film have to contain an anti-war undertone?
I think it shouldn’t have an undertone, it should clearly be anti-war or it is glorifying something for which I personally have not a lot of appreciation. I don’t think there is any good war movie that isn’t openly anti-war.
But surely glorifying war is a contradiction in its own right.
I think part of what gives the genre a bad name, which it unfortunately has, is the fact that people think a war movie is a movie that glorifies war. And there are some dubious movies out there.
Not a big fan. This movie is a classic example of taking a real event that is boring and going to the other end of the spectrum in the screenwriting. I prefer pure fiction to this kind of movie.
I agree more than disagree with you on the issue of a war movie having to be anti-war to be quality. I do find you try to have it both ways by claiming this movie is not a war movie. It definitely is!
I will say that 90% of the great war movies are anti-war, but there are rare exceptions. I would offer “Where Eagles Dare” as an example.
I would have to say that knowing you, it is very obvious that this movie is a guilty pleasure for you because it does not fit you. I was shocked when the review ended up being positive.
Shocked, eh? Lol I’m not sure why I like it, to be honest, i some ways I don’t and can only like it because I declare it pure action and I do not like Owen Wilson. Go figure.
Huh…I’ve never heard of this film. It is hard for me to picture Owen Wilson in this role.
It’s the first movie I saw him in… It was weird to see him in anything else. I have problem with his nasal voice and that almost spoilt Midnight in Paris for me.
I still haven’t seen Midnight in Paris.
It’s wonderful, once you’re past the first 10 minutes.