Tears of the Sun (film): A pretty terrible action film

Remember how Blood Diamond showcased the atrocities of how democratically elected governments are overthrown by barbaric tribes committed to ethnic cleansing? That was a pretty good movie right? I liked it a lot! Well this movie attempts to go down the same path and fails at every turn.

[source](https://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/9567/moviethumb/tears-of-the-sun-572d90abf1351.jpg)

To be fair, this film was made 3 years before Blood Diamond so it is not like they were trying to capitalize on its success. Generally speaking, I quite enjoy Bruce Willis films and feel as though a vast majority of the projects he takes on are successful, but I suppose everyone is entitled to a dud every now and then.

Willis plays the role of Lieutenant A.K. Waters, the commander of an elite Navy SEALS team that has a mission to extract some high-profile foreign national targets from war-torn Nigeria. One of them is the daughter-in-law of a Senator and she is really the only important target as Waters dupes her into thinking that he is also going to rescue all of the sick and injured people in the village the she was working in. He has no intention of rescuing them but just as the mission was complete, he has a change of heart and instead decides to escort the group on foot to neighboring Camaroon - which apparently is a safe zone.

This is where the movie becomes a turd and I'll briefly explain why.

• Despite the fact that everyone knows they are being pursued by a much larger force that is definitely going to slaughter them if they catch up, all anyone does in the group is winge about how tired everyone is and how they need to rest
• Bruce Willis says "get your group ready to go" at least 30 times in the movie because he always lets everyone stop to rest
• When the civilians are told to stay put, they don't... and this causes problems constantly
• This film features the most amazing ammunition magazines because no one ever runs out of bullets
• The commander on the aircraft carrier refuses to send air support claiming some sort of breach of international law. At the last minute he sends them anyway, after a bunch of people have died, breaking international law.
• The Navy SEALS stand against a much larger group armed with automatic rifles, in plain view with no cover, and don't get shot (The RAMBO factor!)
• The doctor is rendered non-responsive and unconscious by a falling tree, and 30 seconds later is leading the charge of escape for all the refugees (even been knocked out? Well, you ain't leading anything after that happens.)
• Virtually all of the dialogue is meaningless to the story
• Bruce's team as a last-ditch effort throws a smoke grenade to indicate where the approaching air support should strike - it lands maybe 10 feet from their position. All of the baddies are obliterated while all of his guys escape basically unscathed
• helicopters dispatched from the aircraft carrier at the same time as supersonic jets arrive at the final battle 12 seconds behind them - the fastest military helicopter in existence can fly roughly 300 miles/ hour. An f-14 has an estimated top speed of 1500 miles per hour.

This trailer is nearly as bad as the movie, which says a lot because normally a good editing job can be done on even the worst films. This movie has some good moments, but they are all contained in the first 14 minutes of the movie or so. Beyond that, it is just a eye-rolling bonanza that actually was difficult to watch at times. I don't expect true realism in fictional war films, but this was just waaaay too much for me.

On a scale of "Urgh!" to "Wowsers" I give Tears of the Sun a blistering score of.....