"Jewel of the Nile" director Lewis Teague's fast-paced military actioneer "Navy Seals" qualifies as an above-average, but half-baked exercise in male testosterone with Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Rick Rossovich, Dennis Haysbert, and Bill Paxton as members of an elite unit that accept what are essentially suicide missions. These guys fight hard and play hard, but the odds whittle down their numbers by fade out. Lensed partially on location in Spain, this is one of those anti-Middle Eastern terrorist rants that pits our heroes against die-hard Arab fanatics who have acquired Stinger missiles. Teague keeps the action moving fast enough to satisfy the action junkies, but the Chuck Pfarrer & Gary Goldman screenplay, loosely based on former Seal Pfarrer's exploits, is thick on plot but thin on characterization. Sheen has more character to work with than his co-stars. He is an adrenaline junkie who would rampage into Hell with a bucket of ice-water before he realized how he had imperiled himself. Meanwhile, as Lieutenant Curran, Michael Biehn is the cool under fire cucumber who knows when to evacuate.
The film opens with a U.S. Navy helicopter crew trying to rescue personnel from a burning civilian ship. Unexpectedly, an enemy gunboat plies through the clouds of smoke and unleashes a hail of gunfire that kills two of the crew and riddles the tail rotor. Down goes the chopper and the terrorists take the crew hostage. In Norfolk, Virginia, Graham (Dennis Haysbert of "The Unit") is about to get hitched when his buddies and he receive an alert to report to work. His bride to be cannot believe that they are walking out on her before they can exchange their marital vows. The Seals show up in time to catch the Arabs just before they can kill all the hostages. They save the pilot and the badly beaten co-pilot, but Hawkins (Charlie Sheen of "Platoon") follows his instincts when he should be obeying Curran's orders. The team stumble onto a full-scale terrorist operation as the villains are about to move a shipment of deadly American-made Stinger missiles. These weapons are particularly lethal because they are not only portable but also hand-held. Suddenly, terrorists pour out of nowhere to attack the heroes. Curran decides to evacuate his men after the terrorists gun one down.
When they reach headquarters, the big wigs decide that Curran should have stuck around to destroy the Stingers. Eventually, when their own intelligence community cannot furnish them with answers about the whereabouts of the terrorists, Curran persuades a beautiful half-Lebanese journalist (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer of "Scandal") to help them.
The thing that dates "Navy Seals" the most is "Cobra" composer Sylvester Levay's 80's style music. John A. Alonzo's photography is an asset. Teague orchestrates the action so that it builds to a climax when our heroes invade Beirut to blow up the Stingers and Hawkins gets to redeem himself.
The film opens with a U.S. Navy helicopter crew trying to rescue personnel from a burning civilian ship. Unexpectedly, an enemy gunboat plies through the clouds of smoke and unleashes a hail of gunfire that kills two of the crew and riddles the tail rotor. Down goes the chopper and the terrorists take the crew hostage. In Norfolk, Virginia, Graham (Dennis Haysbert of "The Unit") is about to get hitched when his buddies and he receive an alert to report to work. His bride to be cannot believe that they are walking out on her before they can exchange their marital vows. The Seals show up in time to catch the Arabs just before they can kill all the hostages. They save the pilot and the badly beaten co-pilot, but Hawkins (Charlie Sheen of "Platoon") follows his instincts when he should be obeying Curran's orders. The team stumble onto a full-scale terrorist operation as the villains are about to move a shipment of deadly American-made Stinger missiles. These weapons are particularly lethal because they are not only portable but also hand-held. Suddenly, terrorists pour out of nowhere to attack the heroes. Curran decides to evacuate his men after the terrorists gun one down.
When they reach headquarters, the big wigs decide that Curran should have stuck around to destroy the Stingers. Eventually, when their own intelligence community cannot furnish them with answers about the whereabouts of the terrorists, Curran persuades a beautiful half-Lebanese journalist (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer of "Scandal") to help them.
The thing that dates "Navy Seals" the most is "Cobra" composer Sylvester Levay's 80's style music. John A. Alonzo's photography is an asset. Teague orchestrates the action so that it builds to a climax when our heroes invade Beirut to blow up the Stingers and Hawkins gets to redeem himself.