NAVY SEALS. Directed by Lewis Teague; written by Chuck Pfarrer and Gary Goldman; produced by Brenda Feigen and Bernard Williams for Orion. Starring Michael Biehn and Charlie Sheen. Rated R.
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Ordnance is in, it would seem.
If you're really entertained by the sights and sounds of a nearly continuous barrage of automatic weapons fire, punctuated occasionally by bursts from larger armament, and even less occasionally by dialogue, Navy Seals is definitely for you.
It's rather a pity too. Because some of that infrequent dialogue is witty and cleverly delivered. Some of the related character interaction, although hokey and predictable, is at least diverting.
But the barrage, and accompanying carnage, is too overpowering. Such normally appealing actors as Biehn and Sheen are merely swept before the tide.
The movie does its best to give us truly despicable villians, so that we'll not feel guilty cheering their bloody demises. Lebanese terrorists, after all, don't have any good points.
But the effect of the overkill is to make us practically sympathize with the thugs. Quite a feat of audience manipulation.
Sheen's character, a triggerhappy thrill-seeker, manages to be fairly interesting, with the help of some amazing stunts and some clever, if inflamatory, dialogue.
It's stretching credulity way to far, however, to believe that any group of fighting men, even those as fond of danger as the Seals, would put their lives in the hands of this self-destructive wacko.
Biehn, with an intriguing mix of quiet strength and down-to-earth intelligence, is better served by a stronger, more intelligent script than this one. One more like Aliens, where he battled a vicious enemy, like in Navy Seals, but was much more entertaining doing it.
August 1, 1990