Tears of the Sun

In this picture's rose-colored military world, orders from superior officers are little more than suggestions and the mighty United States war machine always does the right and righteous thing. Navy SEALS led by Bruce Willis head into the thickest jungles of war-torn Nigeria to extract a Western doctor (talented Italian beauty Monica Bellucci) from a missionary village, then break regulations (without more than a shrug from superiors) to rescue natives from violent, ethnic-cleansing, rapist rebels. If the movie's message is that such selfless acts of heroism should be our military's status quo, that's admirable. But since Tears of the Sun takes place in a fantasy where the American military is unrealistically altruistic, the point of such a message is lost. In 1999's Three Kings, an Army unit disobeyed orders by helping civilians escape from Iraq after the first Bush administration encouraged an uprising against Saddam Hussein, then stood by as the dictator's armies slaughtered insurgents and their families. That film had something to say about the self-serving double standards of American diplomacy; this one is nothing but well-made action-movie propaganda built on pseudo-substance. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary by director Antoine Fuqua and “writer's observations” by Alex Lasker and Patrick Cirillo, a text Africa fact track, a 14-minute “Journey to Safety” making-of featurette, eight “Voices of Africa” interview segments, eight deleted scenes, an interactive map of Africa with text info, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a shamelessly jingoistic action flick. (R. Blackwelder)