Close

DVD Review: SEAL TEAM 8: BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Apr 14, 2014 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

A CIA asset (Aurélie Meriel) and her handler are taken captive in the Congo, and are being held at a military training camp affiliated with Al-Qaeda, run by the ruthless General Tonga (Leroy Gopal). Navy chief Ricks (Tom Sizemore) assembles a team of Seals to enter the camp and extract the hostages so that the CIA can level the camp. However, after locating the asset, they soon discover that the so-called military camp is actually a uranium mining operation run by the mysterious and unknown “Malin”. Now they only have 36 hours to discover the identity of Malin and stop a huge sale of uranium, but with their communications cut off, these five soldiers are stuck behind enemy lines with no way to call for backup.

 

While the film is the fourth in the Behind Enemy Lines franchise, there is no real connection between this and any of the previous films. The director states several times in the DVD’s bonus material that he was aiming for a film that would appeal to the 16-year-old who loves playing Call of Duty and Battlefield—he wanted to make a mission-based war film. For better or for worse, he has succeeded in that respect—at times it does feel like you are watching an action-packed video game. As the soldiers make their initial advance on General Tonga’s compound there are a several first-person shooter style shots where you see the gun in front of you with the POV of that soldier running into battle.

For the most part, the action is really well done. There is constant gunfire and explosions and you feel this chaos of the battle. Besides the initial raid, there are several other exciting action sequences including a high-speed boat chase and bridge shootout. However, during some of the scenes, there is excessive use of slow-motion. It seemed like every time someone was firing a gun or a rocket launcher, we had to see those bullets flying in slow motion.

The final act, while action-packed, didn’t really fit with the rest of the film. In the bonus features, the director states how he always wanted to make an urban shootout film, and that is what we get in this final act. It felt like a separate film of its own—it follows one soldier making his way through the city streets as literally hundreds of armed villagers chase after him. Somehow not one of these folks manages to hit their target, even as this soldier stops running to take out many of them. The scene felt like something out of The Walking Dead season 1 if the zombies were all given machetes and machine guns. And the final stand-off with the villainous Malin is even more cartoony.

The film seems focused more on giving non-stop action, and as a result the falls a bit flat when it comes to dialogue and character development, and any twists in the plot were easily predicted. While the men deal with loss of a soldier in one scene, the rest of the time, there is no mourning whatsoever. Even in the final scene, the soldiers are having fun and never once mention their fallen comrades. In the commentary, the director states that he didn’t want the film to be about the drama of soldiers coming home from war. However, I found it really odd that there was absolutely no mention of those who didn’t survive the mission! It’s like he was really going for this detachment from death that a video game battle provides.

The picture and sound quality on the DVD was quite good, capturing all of the action both visually and aurally. The DVD also contains a nice collection of behind-the-scenes interviews and bonus features spread across 3 featurettes and an audio commentary.

Overall, I would suggest a rental before a blind buy. The film is action-packed but still leaves a lot to be desired.

 




What’s Included:

Film: (1:37:40)

    DVD:

    • 480p / 1.78:1
    • Audio: English DD 5.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
    • Closed Captioned

Extras:

  • Commentary by Roel Reiné (1:37:40)
    Roel Reiné, the director/cinematographer of the film, provides an interesting running commentary on the film. He describes how he wanted to make a mission-based war movie without any political statement or the drama of a soldier coming home from the war. He talks about reworking the script, assembling the cast and crew, and the various filming locations. He provides a lot of fun behind-the-scenes and technical information about the filmmaking process.
  • The Ultimate Mission (10:36)
    A look at the making of the film. with the cast and crew as they discuss training for the film, the rapid production schedule, the cameras, the weapons and the action. There is a lot of great behind-the-scenes footage of the raid on Tonga’s compound, the boat race and the bridge sequence. Includes interviews with director Roel Reiné, stunt coordinator Kerry Gregg, and actors Lex Shrapnel (“Case”), Colin Moss (“Dan”), Michael Everson (“Bubba”), Darron Meyer (“Vic”), Leroy Gopal (“General Tonga”), Anthony Oseyemi (“Jay”) and Aurélie Meriel (“Zoe”).
  • Surviving the Shoot (5:28)
    A behind-the-scenes look at the final act of the film, where it’s one man against an entire city leading to one final showdown. Includes interviews with stunt coordinator Kerry Gregg, director Roel Reiné, and actors Lex Shrapnel and Aurélie Meriel.
  • Master of Chaos (5:31)
    The cast and crew talk about working with director Roel Reiné while the director discusses his shooting process, and how he wanted to make a war movie for the video gamer audience. Includes interviews with actors Colin Moss, Lex Shrapnel, Leroy Gopal, Darron Meyer and Aurélie Meriel, and location manager Deon Du Preez.
  • Sneak Peek (2:08)
    Play All or select from trailers for The Bridge Season One, 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded, and The Marine 3: Homefront.

 


Final Thoughts:

My Rating
Film:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Rent It First

Seal Team 8 is the fourth installment of the Behind Enemy Lines franchise, but the only real connection is that it follows a group of soldiers who are stuck behind the enemy lines with no means of communication. The film is action-packed but leaves much to be desired when it comes to plot and character development. It plays out more like watching a video game. The DVD contains some interesting behind-the-scenes featurettes, but a rental is recommended before a blind buy.