Tears Of The Sun (Director's Extended Cut) |  | Director: Antoine Fuqua
Actors: Bruce Willis, Cole Hauser, Monica Bellucci, Eamonn Walker, Johnny Messner
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
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Rating:  279 reviews
Sales Rank: 35902
Format: AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: COLD10860D
ISBN: 140497976X
UPC: 043396108608
EAN: 9781404979765
ASIN: B0008JIJ2Y
Theatrical Release Date: March 7, 2003
Release Date: June 7, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A SPECIAL-OPS COMMANDER LEADS HIS TEAM INTO THE JUNGLE OF NIGERIA TO RESCUE A DOCTOR WHO WILL ONLY GO WITH THEM IF THEY AGREE TO RESCUE 70 REFUGEES TOO.
Amazon.com
While it offers nothing new to the military action genre, Tears of the Sun distinguishes itself with fine acting, expert craftsmanship, and seriousness of purpose. Its familiar "extraction mission" plot is essentially similar to that of Black Hawk Down, involving a crack team of U.S. Special Ops commandos struggling to rescue innocent missionaries amidst the bloody horror of Nigerian ethnic cleansing. With Bruce Willis as their grizzled, no-nonsense commander, the skillful team enters a hot zone that gets even hotter when their "package"--an American national (Monica Bellucci) who runs the isolated mission--demands that 70 Nigerian villagers be included in the rescue. Willis's uneasy conscience leads him to defy orders and expand his mission, and in an ambitious follow up to Training Day, director Antoine Fuqua escalates tension and strike-force with considerable emotional impact. Originally considered as a potential entry in Willis's Die Hard series, and released on the eve of America's war with Iraq, Tears of the Sun admirably avoids jingoism with its rousing story of personal good vs. political evil. --Jeff Shannon
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 279
 Enjoyable Unrealistic January 11, 2010
Ron (Jersey)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a good action/drama from the director of Training Day. There are some comparisons to Black Hawk Down, but I find this movie to be the lesser of the two and has less action. Bruce Willis is good as a grizzled special ops leader charged with extracting an American national in Nigeria during a political upheaval. The movie tugs at the heart with the tale of genocide that is all too prevalent in Africa even today. The problems I have with the movie are with realism. Willis as a special ops vet would not have gone against orders several times to be a hero. He would have completed the mission as ordered. Also his commander would not have shrugged off his insubordination so casually. Military men do what they are told whether they think it is right or not. Special ops guys always do as they are ordered to the letter, that is why they are special ops. I found the doctor character annoying, so I spent most of the movie wishing Willis would have left her behind. That aside, it is a well made movie and worth a watch for any action fan who likes a good story with their guns.
 HEARTRENDING, GUT WRENCHING, DEEPLY MOVING December 22, 2009
Mary Clayton (Queensland, Australia)
I saw this movie on T.V. two nights ago. (We don't get to movies in theatres, my husband has hearing aids and can't handle the noise!) I'd wanted to see it for some time, because the simple blurb in the T.V. magazine preview indicated something special. It's unfortunate most people will simply think it's just another Bruce Willis 'actioner'. I haven't read all the reviews but I may be one of the few women to write one. I won't repeat the details of the script, simply list my own observations.
Story: all important, in both books and movies. This story was played out with clarity and compassion. Certainly it became a little gung-ho at the end, but one could become deeply involved in the action scenes, the portrayals of the members of a small, highly trained military unit, and the simply accepted fact, once unknown in the movie world, of Africans as human beings.
Acting: Bruce Willis has matured well. He played his role perfectly and believably, conveyed all the feelings of a man and a soldier in terrible circumstances with admirable economy. Seldom has a wooden expression served its owner so well! The men under his command were equally believable in their roles. Monica Bellucci as the doctor I could not quite warm to. She did all that was required of her, yet I couldn't quite believe in her character as I did the men's. After the movie finished I wondered what an actress of the ilk of Meg Ryan or Susan Sarandon would have made of the role. And Tom Skerrit didn't quite click as the senior officer.
Blood and Violence: I don't handle these well. I've refused to see the Mel Gibson produced movies for that reason. But, as in 'Gladiator', the brutality and cruelty of human beings to one another, as depicted, was acceptable because it was part of the storyline. It was neither explicit nor graphic; it wasn't thrown in for the sake of sensationalism.
Why gut-and-heart wrenching? In a phrase, I cared for the people and what happened to them. In a word, realistic. Why deeply moving? Because after the end of the story I realised how fortunate we in the western civilisations are, to live in even comparative safety.
P.S. And its title is similar to that of my favourite science-fiction story, The Sun's Tears by Brian M. Stableford, published in 1974!
 Not the film as originally written or made November 5, 2009
Anntichrist S. Coulter (West Redneckistan, LA)
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
I think that it is important to note that this film was moved halfway 'round the earth and the entire plot changed BECAUSE OF THE SO-CALLED "ACCIDENTAL" DEATH OF KEVIN TOD SMITH, who goes uncredited in THIS version. Originally, it was shot in China, and was Smith's first "big American film role." Apparently, Bruce Willis couldn't take the competition of a taller, more-skilled, more handsome, funnier, more physically-adept and built like a brick house "co-star." Although I doubt that, had Kev lived, he would've gotten THAT much credit from Mr. 5'7" New Jersey Boy. If they'd finished this war-mongering diatribe in China, and left Tod's scenes in, I might want to watch it. But as a Willis vehicle, it sounds like a load of crap.
a disturbing look a Nigerian genocide . . . October 7, 2009
trebe
Set in Nigeria, Tears of the Sun (2003) is a typical jungle rescue, combat epic, with plenty of explosions, and thousands of rounds expended. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Replacement Killers) also wanted to shine a light on the very dark side of humanity, taking a look at the brutality of ethnic cleansing (genocide).
Bruce Willis (Die Hard) is Lieutenant A. K. Waters, the leader of a group of Navy SEALs sent into the jungle to extract Lena Fiore Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) a doctor practicing in a clinic there. Dr. Kendricks insists that her friends also be taken to safety. A large group head for the rendezvous point, where Kendricks is dragged aboard a helicopter, and forced to abandon her friends. Flying out, the mission is all but done, when Waters unexpectedly turns the chopper back. The chopper transports just a few of the refuges to safety, leaving the SEAL team, Kendricks, and the remaining refuges, to try and find a way out on foot. During their journey, they encounter the horrors of ethnic cleansing, as rebel forces systematically exterminate anyone the encounter.
As an African-American concerned about the future of Africa, revealing the horrors of ethnic cleansing, was Fuqua's goal. He presents the terror of murder, rape, and torture, where men are burned alive, and women have their breasts cut off. This part of the film is truly shocking, providing a glimpse into the kind of atrocities reported to have taken place in Nigeria.
While the massacres make a strong impression, the overall story has many elements that are not very credible. While having Doctor Kendricks along adds to the 'drama', clearly the logical thing to do was to have included her in the group sent to safety on the helicopter. Securing her life was the goal of the mission, and Waters fails big time when given the chance. Other plot elements involving secret intrigue among the refugees, and the wishy washy attitude of Navy command, add drama, but strain the limits of believability.
Up until the final battle, the action sequences are well done and mostly realistic. Fuqua had effectively shown the genocide, and the plight of the victims. Unfortunately, much of the credibility built up to this point, is blown away in the film's finale, that is pure Hollywood. Way over the top, and too talky. The fighter planes coming to the rescue, take forever to arrive. And the melodramatic finish, is terribly clichéd.
Antoine Fuqua covers many subjects in his fiery commentary track. The film was shot in Hawaii, because after 9/11, there was reluctance to film outside of the country. Fortunately the terrain, weather, and plant life there, was very similar to the area of Nigeria featured in the film. The evil brutality of genocide definitely has impact, but is somewhat overshadowed the overdramatic ending. If you don't mind a Rambo type finish, the film is worth seeing.
 Just when I thought it could not get better October 3, 2009
The Dark Knight
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have a bias because I had this movie in SD and since getting my ps3 I have systematically been converting my library from SD to HD. This is great movie not only from a cinematic standpoint but also from a story standpoint. In Blu-ray, the audio and video is amazing. The action sequences and the nuances of the cinematography are clearly apparent.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 279
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