Field of Fire Reviews

When a valuable air ace, Major Wilson (Jim Moss), is shot down behind enemy lines in Vietnam, the American military headed by General Corman (David Carradine) initiates a desperate rescue mission: find Wilson before the Commies can torture information out of him. Simplistic and boringly brutal, FIELD OF FIRE traces the jungle slogging of Yankee saviors who escort Wilson through this hostile terrain. Whether blowing up paddle boats containing the sequestered enemy or engaging "gooks" in hand-to-hand combat, Uncle Sam's boys, headed by Sgt. Duncan (Eb Lottimer), always manage to outsmart the Viet Reds. Although Wilson is soon plagued by jungle rot, he puts on a brave face as he and his rescuers climb what seems like every mountain in Vietnam. Unfortunately, their radio hook-up was tampered with back at headquarters, and the soldiers lose contact with General Corman. Ambushed and then surrounded after they run for cover, things look bleak. While one martyrdom-embracing hero holds the line, the others drag Wilson into an underground bunker and start praying. Locating a copter in Laos, General Corman proves he's a hands-on kind of guy and flies through a hail of bullets himself in order to save Wilson and his own men. Outsmarting the enemy, Corman saves his fighting men and Major Wilson--proving himself a hero and saving the US government from a major embarrassment. During WWII, propaganda films served a specific function, successfully stirring audiences' patriotic feelings and thereby fueling the war effort. These days, all the retro-Vietnam War films glutting the direct-to-video market seem pointless. Why whip up hysteria over a lost cause? Certainly, during the actual course of that tragic conflict, audiences weren't beseiged by gung-ho salutes that made them want to go out and bayonet a Commie (and this despite the fact that, thanks to the glory of TV, Vietnam was the first such conflict to invade American living rooms). Attitudes were too complex. Today, it's disheartening to witness the Vietnam conflict recast as a good vs. evil action tableau. How can these tacky, warmongering movies view such a muddied, confusing conflict in such a clear-cut, arrogant manner? Even as an athletic action movie, FIELD OF FIRE fails to ignite. Not one combat scene is staged well enough to shake this slow-moving film out of its lassitude. If you're going to grind out Vietnam replays as an excuse for jingoism then at least provide some technical razzle-dazzle and skill at staging action sequences. Falling asleep on the bayonet of its own lowly ambitions, FIELD OF FIRE reeks of deja vu. This film needs to go back to basic training. (Violence, profanity.)