Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia DVD review

On January 6th, Fox and WWE Studios released the action film Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia on DVD. Starring WWE’s Mr. Kennedy, Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia is the first direct-to-video premiere resulting from a first-look agreement between WWE Studios and Fox. The deal allows for Fox and WWE Studios to create film projects for release in a variety of distribution formats including theatrical, direct digital download and DVD.

While Mr. Kennedy admittedly is a talented showman and entertainer, he couldn’t save the Behind Enemy Lines and Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil follow-up, from a standard case of lack of storyline and an over-abundance of implausibility. But the real issue for me was that the film takes way too much time before the heavy action ramps up.

Once it does, there’s enough decent setups and stunts to keep things humming along fairly smoothly. With Colombia as it’s setting, the story reveals a country caught up in chaos, during a bitter war between its government and insurgent guerillas. A team of U.S. Navy SEALS is sent on a secret mission to observe a meeting between the factions and ensure peace is the end result. But when the meeting is attacked and the leaders of both sides are murdered, the SEALS are framed for the assault. Abandoned by the government and trapped “behind enemy lines”, the group must survive long enough to find evidence of their innocence and prevent the brutal war from spilling over the border.

Some recent films have proved that a solid action film benefits greatly from originality and good storytelling. Unfortunately, Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia is not one of those films. I did enjoy the action sequences, once things heated up. It just took too long to get there.

However, the extras for the film are very well done and entertaining. They include solid behind-the-scenes peeks, including interviews with the cast and crew, a look into how the film was made, and much more. The featurettes The Big Guns:  Military Action On Film and Colombia Norte: On Location In Puerto Rico, both provide an inside look at the making of the sequel, from its location, to stunts and weaponry.These short documentaries are also informative looks at how the action sequences were created. There’s also an enjoyable commentary track with Eric Moro, Chris Moffett and Chris Carl, a look at how pyrotechnics are handled in filmmaking and a pretty funny gag reel.

Here a complete list of Extras:

• The Big Guns: Military Action On Film Featurette
• Colombia Norte: On Location In Puerto Rico Featurette
• The Rocket’s Red Glare: Explosions Explained Featurette
• The Art Of The Fall: Stunt Secrets Featurette
• Comedy In Colombia: Bloopers and Other Relief Featurette
• Stars With Stripes: Casting Joe and Mr. Kennedy Featurette
• Commentary With Tim Matheson, Joe Manganiello And Mr. Kennedy
• IGN Commentary

The Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia DVD is presented in widescreen format (1.85:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and Spanish/French Stereo sound, with English, Spanish and French subtitles.

Director: Tim Matheson
Writer: Tobias Iaconis
Cast: Joe Manganiello, Ken Anderson, Channon Roe, Yancey Arias, Chris J. Johnson, Antony Matos, Keith David, Jennice Fuentes, Steven Bauer

DVD Release Date: January 6, 2009

Film

Extras