Best Blue Ray Movies

The plot revolves around a mission by US Navy SEALs to go into a hostile area of Nigeria and rescue an American doctor. The doctor (Monica Bellucci) is living at Mission, taking care of sick and dying Nigerians. Getting the doctor out is only a minor hassle, the real trouble begins when Willis' characters internal struggles of following orders vs. doing what is right get the best of him and he decides to try and save all the Nigerian patients. From there all hell breaks loose and there are a few surprises before the end.

As I said before, this is not your normal action movie. It doesn't go gonzo on the special effects and explosions, but obviously this is a war movie and there is plenty of violence near the end. The thing is, by the time people do start dying, you will care. On a side note, there are several parts of the movie that are unrealistic (the main one being a Navy SEAL going against explicit orders from his commanding officer), but these can be easily forgiven and overlooked.

The combat depicted is on par with the best recent war movies, such as Black Hawk Down and We Were Soldiers. It's very realistic. The "grand finale" battle at the end is a pretty intense 30 minutes, and is best experienced at a theater with good sound. Overall, this is a very satisfying movie that is worth the exorbitant ticket prices these days.

What then transpires is both well dramatized and cinematically executed, and the movie gives the viewer a quite accurate idea of the amazing firepower contained in a relatively small American fighting unit, and at the same time it also renders a glowing and accurte portrait of just how selfless and caring American fighting men can be. In the wake of so many such recent examples in Iraq, it is touching to see it so convincingly dramatized here. Yet at the same time, some troubling social and political questions regarding the nature of the human beings that inhabit the planet are depicted in quite gritty detail, and the subsequent theme of how to make sense in an absolutely insane situation plays a major role in making this an excellent, albeit a bit self-conscious and serious, action film.

The action is superb, the cinematography of the African landscape is breath taking, and the actors provide a wonderful ensemble portrait of people trying to cope with the manifest craziness of conflict and war. One leaves the film thinking about what has been said and shown, and with a greater appreciation for just how marvelously complex our position in the world is. I highly recommend the film both for entertainment and for edification. Enjoy

The film was incredible because it so accurately dealt with the murky complexity of war. Suddenly on a simple mission to snatch 4 missionaries out of a hospital village that is in the line of the now killer spree military, Willis' small force finds themselves with loads of moral dilemmas. Belluci won't go without her patients, three of the missionaries refuse to go at all so strong is their commitment to the African people they tend. To get them moving Willis lies to Belluci and then can't live with the lie when they leave behind dozens of helpless people. What drove me in this film is what would I do, what is teh military's responsibility, what is a human being's responsibility to another? Do we just abandon each other on "orders" or political ties that may not even touch us personally or is every life valuable.
When this film came out, the Iraq attack was on and people were literally screaming in the streets about kill, kill, kill.
War is an abomination. It is literally the raping of the human race as an action to take against another. And yet we not only do it but produce it as entertainment. What made thsi film stand out, I generally don't go to war films nor gangster films, is that the very message of this film is about the people who are caught inbetween all of this drama. People who are just drinking a glass of water, raising their families, tending their fields.
The film also demands a conclusive answer to a central question, a presupposition of war----you must be able to kill women and children. Put a gun to their heads or allow them to die. And there comes a point when the soldiers can not do this, nor watch it be done. That's what makes thsi film stand out and why I heartily reccommend it to people who don't get off on war, on gore, on watching the pantomime of people dying.
I cried during the movie because I knew that a few thousand miles to the East people, just normal folk, were being slaughtered much as the people in the film were, simply for being caught between two armies/ideologies.
Aksua Busia plays one of the rescued villagers, she was Celie's sister in the Color Purple and did a heavy re-write on Beloved the screenplay. She is a commendable actress though her part here has to embody such positive African sentiment that it does seem maudlin, or too "cloying" of gratitude. She is an excellent actress and the best twist of all is how Belluci's character makes it infaticly clear, without regards to race, that these are HER people and she will not be safe if they aren't safe.
And it soon becomes apparent during the film that she will even lie to the American soldiers to protect her adopted people. That form of not simply heroism but diverging from the norm stance----a character willing to die, to put it all on the line without even having a weapon for the racial "other" is wondorous thing to see.
I also recommend the soundtrack which is moving and haunting and foreboding and as lush as the jungle these people move through. I enjoyed Fuqua's direction, particularly the African military being portrayed as a force so intent, so massive that literally the only thing that saves anyone from them is a deux ex machina.

The title Tears of the Sun literally refers to the final ten minutes of the movie when the whole world has gone to hell and a battle breaks out that can't be won.

I also like a good chase film, where someone is being chased and must compensate for the fact that they are outnumbered or outgunned.

This is a classic film and I don't use that lightly----particularly for the timeframe that it's come out in.