BAT*21

                        “Bat*21” is the true story of the rescue of Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton after he parachuted into North Vietnam.  He was an electronic warfare officer whose EB-66 was shot down during the 1972 Easter Offensive.  The planes call sign was Bat-21.  Hambleton was Bat-21 Bravo.  He survived eleven days on the run and was rescued in the longest and most costly rescue mission in the war.  His story was told by retired Air Force Colonel William Anderson in a book of the same name.  Anderson adapted his book for the screenplay.  The movie was directed by Peter Markle (“Faith of My Fathers”).  Hambleton served as the technical adviser.  It was made in Malaysia with substantial cooperation from the Malaysian government and military.

                        Hambleton (Gene Hackman) suggests a reconnaissance flight over an upcoming bombing route to ferret out enemy anti-aircraft positions.  Although he is a valuable electronic warfare expert, he hops a ride on the EB-66.  The very fake-looking plane gets hit by a SAM in a scene where you wish they had had CGI back then.  Hambleton ejects and is the only survivor.  On the ground, he comes under fire from enemy mortars, so the movie gets off to a shaky start.  Things pick up when Danny Glover shows up as “Bird Dog” Clark.  Capt. Clark is piloting a Cessna Skymaster in his role as part of search and rescue.  The two men communicate via radio and do the requisite bonding.  Since, besides us, the enemy are listening in, Hambleton devises a code using his favorite golf courses to inform Clark where he is going next.  He has to keep moving because the Commies are on his trail.  Keep in mind that this guy knows so much about our electronic warfare that if he is captured, the North Vietnamese will win the war!  The Air Force and the filmmaker are willing to do whatever it takes to rescue him.  Virtually every Vietnam War movie references “leave no man behind”.  This movie shows the efforts made to live up to that mantra.

                        “Bat*21” is the kind of movie that you wonder as you are watching it:  “how much of this is bull shit?”  It has several moments that made me face palm.  For example, Hambleton is ready to be picked up by a village.  Easy, peasy.  But it’s a trap!  A Huey drops mines between the enemy and Hambleton.  The mission is aborted, but a Jolly Green gets hit by an RPG and crashes.  The pilot and co-pilot are captured.  They shoot the co-pilot and force the pilot to tell them where Hambleton is.  Then they force him into the minefield where he steps on a mine.  Hambleton opens fire and Clark comes in to fire missiles so he can escape.  Phew!  There are some moments of truth in this scene, but most of it is for entertainment purposes only.  (See my Historical Accuracy section below) 

                        The reason to see the movie are the two leads.  Hackman and Glover are their usual reliable selves and they elevate the material.  It needs elevation because it is a pretty generic action thriller.  It may be set in the Vietnam War, but it could easily have been a Bruce Willis movie (with Samuel L. Jackson).  It does not avoid clichés.  The rear echelon MFers learn what war is really like.  Clark is disobeying orders because he knows what is right and to hell with his bosses.  There is a lot of action, in between all the talking.  It’s unrealistic as hell, but fun.  And it’s not just gunfire.  Hambleton is defended by a fleet of missile-firing and bomb-dropping aircraft.  Whoever was in charge of pyrotechnics earned their pay.  You get a lot of bang for your buck with this movie.  Much of the budget must have gone to explosives (and two salaries), leaving little for the rest of the production.  And you get to see the 58 year-old Hackman trekking through the jungle.  (Hambleton was 54.)   The cinematography is fine and we get some nice chopper-eye views.  The Malaysian jungle stands in well for the Vietnam jungle.  I hate to be a jungleist, but if you seen one, you’ve seen them all.

                        When it comes to Vietnam War, “Bat*21” is second tier.  If it wasn’t based on true story (loosely), it would be third tier.  That would put it with Hackman’s other opus – “Uncommon Valor”.  He made that movie five years earlier.  It did a lot better at the box office which reflects the public’s desire to see fantasy fiction over fantasy nonfiction.  I personally prefer “Bat*21”.  It is decent entertainment and it encouraged me to research Lt. Col. Hambleton out of curiosity about that bull shit issue I mentioned.  The real story is even more amazing.

GRADE  = C

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  The setup is accurate.  Lt. Col. Hambleton was an electronic warfare officer assigned to Korat Air Base in Thailand.  It was his 63^rd mission as a navigator aboard an EB-66 codenamed Bat-21.  It was a typical signals intelligence gathering mission to enable countering anti-aircraft efforts by the North Vietnamese.  This was in conjunction with a B-52 bombing strike as part of the Air Force’s reaction to North Vietnam’s 1972 Easter Offensive.  The EB-66 was hit by a SAM and Hambleton was the only survivor.  Hambleton did have Top Secret access to Strategic Air Command operations and was an expert of SAM countermeasures, so he was a  valuable commodity.  It is possible the North Vietnamese knew about his status and value.  This explains why both sides expended so much effort to get him. 

                        First contact with Hambleton was made by Forward Air Controllers in a Skywalker.  In fact, Hambleton made radio contact while he was still parachuting down.  They pinpointed his location in some bushes in a dry rice paddy.  They also reported that he was smack dab in the middle of the offensive.  Hundreds of soldiers were within 100 meters and the area was full of anti-aircraft assets.  Hambleton was able to direct Skyraiders and Phantoms in to harass the enemy closing in on his position.  A rescue attempt by two choppers failed as both were hit by ground fire.  One crashed with all but one of the crew killed (the one survivor was captured) and the other was severely damaged and forced to abort.  When the Air Force was informed of the identity of Hambleton, it declared a no fire zone to the standard 27 kilometers around him.  No friendly artillery or bombardment was to be done in the zone unless approved from the highest up.  The North Vietnamese, with the cooperation of the Soviets, were monitoring the situation and moved in more anti-aircraft units.  Two Jolly Greens were badly shot up.  The Air Force tried bombing around him, but the area remained very hot.  Another Jolly Green was shot down with all six killed.  All this time, Hambleton was hiding in a hole.  At one point ten Skyraiders tried to pave the way for  Search and Rescue team, but eight were damaged.  A Skywalker was shot down while directing protective fire.  One of the FACs was killed and the other was captured and died in prison.

                        It was the rescuers who suggested the golf holes code so he could avoid mine fields and get to the river.  Hambleton moved and went through the bombed out village that had shot up the two choppers earlier.  He killed a North Vietnamese soldier with a knife.  He fell off a cliff and broke an arm.  Continuing to move, but nearing the end of his rope, Hambleton managed to signal some Skyraiders.  One of the few SEALs left in Vietnam made it his mission to get to Hambleton.  Lt. Thomas Norris should have been the other hero in the movie.  This remarkable man risked his life to go behind enemy lines to rescue not only Hambleton, but another downed airman in the area.  Norris was accompanied by a South Vietnamese SEAL named Nguyen Van Kiet.  They located him and put him in a sampan and paddled down the river, sometimes under fire.  They called in air support and managed to deliver Hambleton to friendly forces.