It's an exciting warlike movie that contains over-the-top performances , continuous suspense , poignant vignettes and unsparing action . An American officer , Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a weapons countermeasures expert with knowledge vital to the enemy, when his aircraft is shot down , he is stranded in the wilds of Vietnam . Alone ,he must rely on himself and a whole army after him. Trapped behind enemy lines , an only one man (captain Danny Glover) with whom he has radio contact can save him and to get him out . Based on true life of a lieutenant colonel stranded deep in Vietcong territory , nowadays retired and living in Arizona near a golf camp.

This stirring warlike movie mixes suspense , thrills , rugged action and dialog with lots of intrigue , without losing sight of the continuation of its interesting plot or necessities of war and works on all levels . Although relies heavily on the continuous relationship by means of radio talking among them and their solid interpretations through the enjoyable friendship by oral communication. It gets the right balance between the old-style ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Battleground¨ and the modern wartime movies as ¨Hamburger Hill¨ and ¨Casualty of war¨ . Noisy action scenes punctuate the tension without breaking it . Gene Hackman is good as a stranded officer alone after his plane is gunned down and top-notch Danny Glover as reconnaissance pilot who becomes determined to save him . Gene Hackman and Danny Glover give terrific acting in this otherwise passable film . Secondary cast is frankly good as Jerry Reed , David Marshall Frank and Clayton Rohner .Atmospheric cinematography by Mark Irwin reflecting faithfully the wilds and woods from Vietnam . Moving musical score fitting to action by Christopher Young . Compassionate thinkers , lovers warfare genre , and pacifists will all find satisfaction here .

The motion picture lavishly produced by also actor Mark Damon is well directed by Peter Markle . Peter is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing , better than average .

Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a respected, middle-aged strategist who has only seen the war from the air - and high in the air, too. During one reconnaissance mission, however, he's shot down behind enemy lines for the first time. Scared and out of his element, Hambleton must rely on Captain Clark (Danny Glover), a pilot, to help him keep his composure until a rescue can happen.

Most of the scenes are of just the two leads, almost making this a two-character action play. Both men provide stellar performances, with Hackman putting a decidedly different spin on his tough-guy, in-control persona. Glover is equally aces as the tireless pilot. And just in case you think there's going to be more talk than action in this movie, don't fret. The Vietcong are around somewhere, and they know Hambleton's in the vicinity. Not only does Clark have to get Hambleton out of there before good ol' Charlie finds him, he has to get him out of there before U.S. forces carpet-bomb the entire area! Needless to say, there are bombs bursting galore. Jerry Reed, who plays Clark's commander, also turns in a fine performance - a bit above par for Reed - and served as executive producer and composed some of the songs on the soundtrack.

In Bat*21, Colonel Gene Hackman is pulled off the golf links for a dry run on a planned bombing mission when his plane is shot down and he's on the loose in the Vietnamese jungle. Since he's a guy with a whole lot of knowledge the North Vietnamese regulars and the Viet Cong guerrillas would love to get their hands on him. Of course they'd only know how important he was once they did get their hands on him. Still he's someone that Army headquarters will go more than the extra mile for to see he does not fall into enemy hands. More than they would for some dogface private.

Trying to reach him after Hackman's been shot down is rescue evacuation pilot Danny Glover. For a combination of reasons a couple of attempts go bad and Hackman watches the deaths of people sent to rescue him. Will it go right in the end?

The film is based on a true story and Hackman plays the real life Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton who spent a couple of harrowing days in the jungle with the enemy all around. Bat*21 was Hambleton's real call sign and he and his rescuers work out a complicated route of travel based on a golf course he's played and the fact that Jerry Reed the man in charge knows the course as well. The Viet Cong listening in on their field radio conversations can't figure out what is essentially a private code.

Ironically enough I saw a film based on a similar premise called Jet Attack involving the Korean War just recently. That one however was fictional and Bat*21 is a whole lot better. The film graphically shows and without really taking a side the difficulties of fighting the war in Vietnam where the guerrillas have no compunction about using civilians as shields. At some point Hackman succeeds in begging off a possible massacre like My Lai when a copter and crew is shot down and executed by the Cong who take shelter with the civilian villagers.

Glover and Hackman work well together, there scenes as well as the well staged battle scenes are the best in the film. Bat*21 provides an objective look at the Vietnamese War as seen through the eyes of a successful rescue attempt and the men who sacrificed themselves to get Colonel Hambleton out of harm's way.

.... this was supposed to be a "true" story, so why not tell it as it really happened? Of course, there are always budget restraints and other considerations that come into play. But I can never quite work out why Hollywood changes crucial facts of a real story when making "true-life" movies of this type. Don't get me wrong - I saw this movie for the first time just last week, a full 13 years after it first appeared, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It didn't glorify war at all, and some of the scenes were quite shocking and moving. However, having read the TRUE story of BAT 21 some years ago, I couldn't help thinking "hang on a minute - it didn't happen like that!!!" In reality, the actual 1972 mission to rescue Lt. Col. Hambleton was a very complex affair that lasted for 12 days, the downed airman finally being rescued by a two-man team consisting of a US Navy SEAL lieutenant (who won the Medal Of Honour in the process) and a South Vietnamese Army Ranger. Why not include this in the movie if you're out to tell anything like the true story? Also, several US aircraft and choppers were shot down in the process, with 10 American airmen killed and two more captured. But apart from the superbly done abortive helicopter rescue attempt and the shooting of the captured crewmen, the movie led us to believe that the rescue mission merely consisted of Hambleton (Hackman) escaping & evading on the ground with Clark (Danny Glover) circling above and talking to him on the radio. In reality, Clark was himself shot down early in the mission and had to be rescued, and his role in the actual Hambleton rescue was therefore nothing like that depicted in the film.

But, that said, why let the truth get in the way of a good story? And despite its shortcomings on the historical accuracy front, this was a thoroughly enjoyable film that didn't gloss over or sanitize the horrors of war. Despite my nit-picking, I'd definitely recommend it.

Lt Col Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is a high value target when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory. The Air Force is desperate to get him back and prevent him from falling into enemy hands. Capt Bartholomew Clark (Danny Glover) is the Air Force reconnaissance pilot who guide the down man to safety.

Gene Hackman and Danny Glover are top actors able to project a relationship even if they don't have the face to face interaction. This is based on a true story, but there is still some action. It's not Rambo action, but it's compelling.

The only problem is its predictability. There really isn't any surprises here. It's a functional Vietnam war movie.

To this day I am still amazed at how well Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton was able to formulate a plan on as we say in the military, "To Get the Hell out of Dodge".

This movie didn't rely on the most sophisticated special effects to make it good. It relied mainly on the two main characters to create a good dialog between them.

For any war buffs out there, this was a good movie to sit back and watch the some of the more unique tactics used to survive in bad situations.

Never saw this film when it was released originally in 1988. Not knowing what to expect, we decided to take a chance watching it on cable when it was shown the other night; it was a complete surprise. Director Peter Markle, working with a magnificent cast, headed by Gene Hackman and Danny Glover, does wonders to recreate this story of valor under the worst possible circumstances.

The cinematography is excellent. The film relies on visual effects, that are not to be confused with the incredible special effects that we have seen in other movies. Yes, of course, we all know that they are special, but the movie relies in the interplay between the missing Col. Hambleton on the ground and Capt. "Bird Dog" Clark who had the courage to stay focused, first in his plane, and later in the helicopter as he searches for this man, who he didn't even know.

It's a tribute that these two military men in caring for one another in a difficult situation. Gene Hackman is an actor that always project convincing character. His take on the colonel is the real thing. Danny Glover, on the other hand, is on target. He demonstrates he has what it takes to hold it against big stars, like Mr. Hackman, or in his films with Mel Gibson. He is a joy to watch in his portrayal of a man who is an honest professional.

For fans of action war movies, this is a more real approach to the genre thanks to the vision of its director Peter Markle.

It would have been easy to turn a story like this into a cheap action flick -- heroic downed USAF Colonel fights his way through enemy territory with help of heroic self-sacrificing black pilot.

It doesn't happen, exactly. The story, as I understand it, is based on fact, but I don't know how much of it is factual. Maybe the evacuation pilot, Danny Glover, really DID take off alone in a helicopter (in which he was not qualified), rescue Colonel Hambledon (Gene Hackman) single-handedly, successfully crash the helicopter he was not qualified in, and maybe the two of them then escape a horde of North Vietnamese pursuers during a "carpet bombing" of the whole area, with Glover sustaining one of those nasty but not unphotogenic shoulder wounds in the process. Maybe it IS true but it sounds a lot like rather routine fiction to me because real life is seldom so tidy. I can believe the part that golf plays in the escape plan. It's so absurd that no writer in his right mind would dream it up.

Still -- that having been said -- this is a truly worthwhile movie. Action fans will find lots of exploding fireballs if that's what they're looking for. There will also be wounded smoking helicopters spinning drunkenly downward and a man being blown up in a minefield.

But that's not what makes the movie important. The action is usually nothing more than a means to an end. In this case, the end is the education and humanization of Colonel Iceal Hambledon, USAF.

He's your normal military men, an expert on electronic countermeasures. He is 53 years old and has spent most of his life in the military. He's never seen combat. And his being shot down constitutes his introduction to what the film shows us is a pretty ugly kind of business.

Behind enemy lines he spies a column of NV troops and vehicles and calls in an air strike. Boom. Afterward the NVA shoot one of their own wounded troops, which Hambledon finds nasty. Before he knows it, stumbling through the bush, he finds an empty hootch. While scavenging it for food and water, he is discovered by its owner. Neither man understands the other's language. A physical fight follows which Hambledon can only escape from my shooting and killing the Vietnamese farmer. The farmer's napalm-scarred family show up and rush sobbing to the dead body while Hambledon backs away, stunned, saying stupidly, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." There follows a scene in which captured American fliers sacrifice themselves to save Hambledon and the Air Force then demolishes the nearby village full of soldiers and women and children. "Everywhere I go, people die," Hambledon comments sadly to himself. (I can't emphasize too strongly how much tragedy Hackman invests his lines with. They emerge as more than simply lines of dialogue. He's a fine, reliable, unflamboyant performer.) Hambledon vows that he's all done killing people -- and he is, even when he has to opportunity to shoot an armed enemy soldier who is chasing him. The Vietnames is disoriented, twirling about dizzily while a garden of slow motion flame sprouts around him. Hambledon has a bead on him but then shakes his head in disgust and looks away without firing.

Danny Glover is good too. As an actor he may have more range than he's usually given credit for. Here, as in the "Lethal Weapon" movies, he's more of a supportive sidekick than anything else. He's the guy on the other end of the line who is there when you must spill your emotions to SOMEONE. Not that he's given trite lines in the part. Hambledon hesitates at one point, then tell him over the radio, "I killed a man today." "Roger that," says Glover. He understands what Hambledon's getting at -- but what is there to say? It's combat, not Oprah Winfrey. Also, anyone who wants to see Glover demonstrate that range might want to check out "Switchback," in which he is a good-natured, avuncular, laid-back serial killer.

Sometimes I wonder if some of us have forgotten just how lousy an experience war is for everyone involved -- for us, for our opponents, and for the civilians drawn willy nilly into it. This film is a decent reminder.

Here is a movie that had they stuck to the actual fact s would have been so exciting and completely engrossing. Instead they used two great actors and got a piece of schlock not worthy of the film its printed on. The only parts that were close to accurate were the actual shoot down and the loss of the H-3 crew (who were not returned until 1995? for burial at Arlington). The Danny Glover character was a back seater in a OV-10 Bronco and was shot down the day after Hambleton and needed rescue too.

Subsequently after 2 plus weeks several downed aircraft a Navy SEAL and SVN Navy PO stole a peasants fishing skiff paddled up river passing enemy machine gun nest and had a running gun battle on the way back. The SEAL was given the MEDAL OF HONOR and the PO the USN Navy Cross the only NC given to a South Vietnamese sailor ever.

There's a book by the same name as the movie written by a Air Force vet and current airline captain that is very good and I'd recommend it highly.

Aa sad postscript when Hambelton was asked how he could act as technical adviser on a movie that dishonored so many men who died trying to save him he replied "When they offer you that kind of money you can't turn it down". Get the book, you won't regret it and you'll read about real heroes.

Here's a movie that if remade true to actual events would full theaters with everyone on the edge of their seats. One final tid bit he was only 2 miles behind the "lines".

Missed this 1988 film and just recently viewed this outstanding film concerning the Vietnam War. Danny Glover,(Capt. Bartholomew Clark),"Missing in America",'05, who has a flying mission concerning the whereabouts of Gene Hackman,(Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton),"Class Action",'91, who experiences many difficulties and finds out the real truth about what WAR IS ALL ABOUT. They even map out a plan to use a golf course in order to accomplish their mission. There is plenty of action to keep you on the edge of your seats. Whenever Gene Hackman or Danny Glover appear in a film, you know it will be well worth your time. ENJOY

Peter Markle directed this based-on-fact account of Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton(played by Gene Hackman) a weapons counter-measures expert during the Vietnam war whose plane is shot down over enemy territory. The military is desperate to get him back, but there is an unfortunate shortage of helicopters, so Air Force reconnaissance pilot Captain Clark(played by Danny Glover) makes radio contact with Hambleton, and they work out a means of secret communication based on golf course terminology. The area he is stuck in is going to be carpet-bombed, and Iceal must also deal with enemy soldiers, and gets a first-hand view of death, which he previously only saw from afar... Well-acted and directed film is also an intriguing character study as well as a rousing action piece.

Initially I thought this was a quite thrilling movie, based on a true story. I carried my usual suspicion for Hollywood versions and cringed as usual on the huge amounts of gasoline used in the explosions.

Then I read about the true story about Gene Hambleton's rescue, and was grossly disappointed in the movie. What remains is some respect for Gene Hackman's acting, good footage and two good scenes (from an acting point of view at least, they apparently did not happen).

Why on earth did they not stick to the true story? You can read about it in a thread on the IMDb board. It is vastly more exciting than this Hollywoodized version which I cannot understand.

Do not watch this movie if you have any thoughts on the true story. But do if you just want some piece of Hollywood action with a very vague true background.

I watched this movie yesterday on the movie channel. Not knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised. When Colonel Iceal Hambelton (played by Gene Hackman)was shot down over enemy lines he saw how ugly the war really was. And with the help of Captain Bartholomew Clark (played by Danny Glover)he navigated threw the woods in an attempt to escape. Rent this movie if you get a chance or watch it next time it comes on TV. I think you will enjoy it.....

This is less a war movie than it is the story of one man coming to terms with the realities and the human cost of war that he had been largely shielded from. That one man is Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman). Hambleton is a soldier who "directs" war but doesn't really "fight" it. When possible, he's on a golf course, perfecting his already excellent game. When necessary, he's generally either behind a desk or high up in the sky, where the effect of bombs and missiles aren't obvious. But one day, flying a mission over North Vietnam, Hambleton's plane is brought down and he finds himself behind enemy lines, waiting desperately to be rescued. His primary lifeline to the outside is reconnaissance pilot Bird-Dog (Danny Glover). Bird Dog isn't really happy to be directing the rescue mission. He's tired and he's resentful of this guy who might cost a lot of lives to get out. As a war movie, this is pretty standard, with nothing much to differentiate it from any other war movie. It's Hambleton and Bird Dog - and their growing relationship over radio - that make this movie move forward.

Hambleton is the more interesting of the two. For a guy who's spent his entire adult life in the military, he has little experience of war and its impact. As he tries to get to a rescue point, he discovers the cost of war. He encounters a civilian and has to kill him or be killed, and then, having done the deed, he encounters the man's three sons as he dashes away. He encounters a young boy who does him a kindness and saves his life. He watches helplessly as, in an attempt to rescue him, the US Air Force bombs a village that still has many civilians in it - "women and children" as he cries over the radio to the pilots. He learns that war isn't anonymous, it isn't clean, it isn't sanitary and it has a huge cost beyond just those who fight it. Hambleton's change of ethical perspective is subtle but real, and well portrayed by Hackman.

Bird Dog was less central to the story, but he also changes. Resentful of Hambleton and the risks and costs involved in rescuing him at first, he develops a compassion for Hambleton and becomes committed to getting him out at whatever cost - even defying orders and stealing a helicopter to get the job done. This transformation, as Bird Dog changes from seeing Hambleton as a mission to a person and then even as a friend, is also very real, and also well portrayed by Glover.

So the movie has two fine acting performances from the leads, and an interesting depiction of two people struggling with pre-conceived notions and a lifetime of experiences and being changed. As a war movie it's not especially noteworthy, and it takes some dramatic license with the true story on which it's based, of course, but it's an excellent human story. (7/10)

Okay, but the real story would have made a better movie, and is, ironically more dramatic than Bat 21.

Oh, and for movie makers/prop guys reading this, don't use F-5s without bombs to simulate other aircraft. Even your younger audience is becoming miltech-literates and will catch this.

Good points: At least we have a movie with a FAC in it! 0-2 pilots were brave fellows, because there is no ejection seat and opening the door for a successful bailout low to the ground was not likely to work. If you can catch one at an airshow (the last O-2s retired in the 1980s from Shaw AFB) you can see and appreciate how small, light, and basic they are.

Pretty good Vietnam (anti-)war movie, with Hackman trapped behind enemy lines and Glover standing by on the radio for moral support. Occasionally, this brought to mind Bruce Willis and Reginald VelJohnson, but this doesn't maintain Die Hard's tension levels. The middle really sags while the third act lays on the violence and the savagery. It's the acting that makes this stand out, particularly with the camaraderie between the two leads, and a solid Jerry Reed as supporting.

7/10

I'm a fan of war movies and although I still prefer movies about WWI and WWII, I must say that I also like to watch a good Vietnam movie so now and then. "Bat*21" certainly deserves that qualification, because it feels real, never exaggerates in the action scenes and certainly offered me a lot of 'pleasure' while watching it. (I deliberately put the word pleasure between brackets, because I don't want you to think that I find it fun to see people die in a bombardment, being chased through a minefield, being shot in the head... - I'm not a psychopath).

Although I have some doubts, the movie claims to be based on a true story. It tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton whose observation plane has been shot down by a V.C. missile. Hambleton is the only survivor and because of his expertise in missile weaponry, it is essential for the US Army to find him before the enemy does. The Vietcong is listening to his radio transmissions and comes very close, but one man, Captain Bartholomew Clark, will do anything to help and support him as good as he can.

As I already said, I don't know if everything shown in the movie also happened in reality. I'm not saying that the man has told lies in his book, but Hollywood isn't exactly known for not adding extra's to a story if it makes the movie look better. Still, even if they have done so, I must say that it still is a very nice movie. In my opinion the movie is underrated at this time (6.2/10 after 1,467 votes). Especially thanks to the nice performances of Gene Hackman and Danny Glover, this movie really works well.

Especially Danny Glover was a big surprise. When I first saw him in this movie, all I thought was: 'What is that man doing in this movie?' When I think of him, I still associate him with the "Lethal Weapon" movies. But I admit, what he has done in this movie certainly made me forget about that very quickly. I didn't see him as a cop anymore, I soon started to see him as Captain Bartholomew Clark.

All in all this is a Vietnam movie that certainly deserves a good rating, because it is one of the better in the genre that I've ever seen. It's perhaps no "Platoon" or "Full Metal Jacket", but it is a very good movie and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.

Here is a movie that had they stuck to the actual fact s would have been so exciting and completely engrossing. Instead they used two great actors and got a piece of schlock not worthy of the film its printed on. The only parts that were close to accurate were the actual shoot down and the loss of the H-3 crew (who were not returned until 1995? for burial at Arlington). The Danny Glover character was a back seater in a OV-10 Bronco and was shot down the day after Hambleton and needed rescue too.

Subsequently after 2 plus weeks several downed aircraft a Navy SEAL and SVN Navy PO stole a peasants fishing skiff paddled up river passing enemy machine gun nest and had a running gun battle on the way back. The SEAL was given the MEDAL OF HONOR and the PO the USN Navy Cross the only NC given to a South Vietnamese sailor ever.

There's a book by the same name as the movie written by a Air Force vet and current airline captain that is very good and I'd recommend it highly.

Aa sad postscript when Hambelton was asked how he could act as technical adviser on a movie that dishonored so many men who died trying to save him he replied "When they offer you that kind of money you can't turn it down". Get the book, you won't regret it and you'll read about real heroes.

Here's a movie that if remade true to actual events would full theaters with everyone on the edge of their seats. One final tid bit he was only 2 miles behind the "lines".

A poignant and well-crafted true of surviving any war that observes a soon-to-be retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton (Gene Hackman), who volunteers for a piece-of-cake-like patrol in an U.S. observation plane during the war in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the plane is shot down and Hambleton is the only crew member to bail out from the aircraft (and never seen any combat on the ground). It's up to a determined recon pilot, Clark (Danny Glover), to get Hambleton out before the N.V.A. get him or a major air strike lights up the area that Ham's in. Director Peter Markle lets the viewer have a chance to get to know Clark and Hambleton who start up a conversation at various times of the movie. Jerry Reed and David Marshall Grant appear here and both give nice supporting performances even though the movie belongs to Hackman and Glover. Mark Irwin also adds another key asset to the film by showing several terrific shots of the jungle and countryside. "BAT 21" deserves plenty of credit for trying not to be the typical Vietnam war movie and it succeeds very well.

In BAT*21, Gene Hackman plays a soldier shot down behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War and in desperate need of rescue by his buddy, Danny Glover. The plot would be resurrected a few years later for BEHIND ENEMY LINES, with Owen Wilson in the Hackman role and Hackman in the Glover role. The endings are virtually identical. But this 1988 feature film looks badly dated, and the special effects are laughable. The Owen Wilson version is on the mark for its eye-popping special effects and sheer suspense. Also, BEHIND ENEMY LINES portrays the Serbian effort at genocide very close to what we were reading in the newspapers and seeing on TV at the time. Anyhow, BAT*21 is for Hackman completists only. Serious movie buffs will recognize the explosion sounds from a hundred previous war movies. Unfortunately.

GLOVERS PLANE HAD ROCKETS ON IT,,, BUT HE DID NOT USE THEM WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THE VILLAGE HAD SOLDIERS IN IT,,,, one copter and some of the men were downed and yet no response from glover,,, until finally after all the soldiers were killed from the copter then glover finally let a coouple rockets loose on the viet cong