In Her Line of Fire

Plot synopsis:
'Air Force Two', the aeroplane carrying the Vice-President of the United States and his staff, is flying over the South Pacific, when it's damaged by an electrical storm. It's forced to ditch in the ocean off the coast of the (fictional) country of San Pietro, near Solomon Islands.
As the few survivors make it onto a beach of a small off-shore island, one is immediately shot dead by a sniper from a guerrilla camp. The remaining survivors, including the Vice-President, who is a former US Marine, manage to escape and hide. It emerges that the sniper belongs to a group of armed rebel forces intent on overthrowing the island's dictatorial government. The rebels are led by Armstrong, a ruthless American mercenary.
The Vice-President is eventually caught by the rebels, who plan to hold him for ransom. It falls to his two aides, Secret Service agent Lynn Delaney (Hemingway) and press secretary Sharon Serrano to infiltrate the rebel camp and save him. They are also captured, but Delaney is able to escape and sets out to rescue the others.
As US helicopters search for them, Delaney's military and combat skills enable her to rescue them and kill Armstrong.
In return for the V-P's rescue and the cooperation of some of the rebel forces, the US offers aid to San Pietro on condition that they agree to hold democratic elections.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence

Review:
If you like action flicks it is quite entertaining.
Why the plane crashed in the first place is uncertain, when the plane crossed over the island it's engines where running and the pilot had both elevator and aileron control judging by the way it maneuvered around obstacles on the island.
The crash was of course necessary to set-up the main plot of the movie.
This is a pretty standard action flick except the main Rambo type hero character is female.
Like most movies of this genre the hero's seem to be immune to pain or serious physical injury even when they jump out of a moving jeep and slide down the side of a cliff, apart from the occasional cut or scratch.
If you like action flicks it is quite entertaining, but like most of this type of movie one is not expected to take them seriously.
I must admit I was a little surprised by MagicStarfire's review and his obsession with lesbian sexuality, I was not sure we had watched the same movie.
I saw Mariel Hemingway's character as a well-trained ex-marine as capable, tough and resourceful as any, regardless of gender.
The tension between the to female character's I saw as territorial in that the reporter was encroaching on her relationship with the Vice-president.
As to the suggestion that it should have had a sex scene I feel that given the time frame the events are supposed to have occurred, the plot scenario and the pace of the film any sex scene regardless of sexual orientation would have been inappropriate, Evan if MagicStarfire would have given more points.
PS:- with apology to MagicStarfire it appears that we were not watching quite the same movie in the Australian release for some reason all references to Mariel Hemingway's characters sexuality has been edited out so the character comes across as a strong resourceful woman and in the context of the plot (such as it is) the characters sexual orientation is irrelevant, there is no reason why a strong resourceful woman has to be a lesbian.Goofs In the opening scene's in the aircraft despite the apparent turbulence affecting the passengers the cards and glasses did not slide around on the polished wood table, although the liquid in the glasses did slop around slightly.Incorrect procedureWhen the six passengers put on their life jackets they all inflated them immediately.
If you inflate the life jacket before you leave the plane it will pin you to the ceiling with the rising water making it extremely difficult if not imposable to get out.When the plane crashes into the sea with enough force to rip the engines from the wings, the cards still do not slide off the table, even as the water rushes in the cards are still there..
A lesbian war movie?.
I'm the soldier in the machine gun pit at the beginning of the movie.
As a bit of a war buff myself, I would have done the movie for nothing, so was very pleased to get paid as well.
Once released, I was quite amazed that it was better than I thought it would be but some parts were quite unbelievable such as the big table they hugged during the crash, surely they would have proper airline seats to strap themselves into, the explosions looked too computer generated and David Milbern asking the Vice President if he'd ever heard of Mogadishu, both being ex-Marines, seemed rather ridiculous.
By the way, Mariel and David were very nice people to work with.
They showed respect to all on set, even us lowly extras and Mariel was wonderful and showed no fear toward us rather large Polynesians at the post-shoot drinkies.
To be in a lesbian war movie is something I can take to my grave with pride!!!.
The fact someone even wanted to do a female type Rambo movie with a lesbian character makes me give them kudos for trying.With a little tweaking, this could have been a pretty good film.It is sadly lacking in the lesbian department - all we get are a couple of kisses, that's it.The rest of it is non-stop jungle action.The heroine, played by Mariel Hemingway, who unfortunately is a bit past her prime, hangs tough and kicks major butt, as well as knowing how to handle a gun.Jill Bennett is her love interest, and she's attractive and brave, although of course she's not allowed to be quite as brave as Mariel's character.If only the writers had realized you need some breaks in all that action, at least a few minutes where maybe one woman bandages up the other gal's flesh wound, and then they strip off and go for a nude swim in a jungle pool, and do some making out--it could have gone all the way up to an 8 or 9 star film for me.The plot, such as it is, concerns the plane the Vice President is on going down in a storm near an island where some mercenaries and rebels have their training camp.Reality goes out the window from the get-go, because the Vice President has one bodyguard, Mariel Hemingway.
She may be as tough as a battalion of Marines, but people like Vice Presidents always have dozens of secret service people with them everywhere they go.They're still struggling ashore when they come under attack by the militant operation on the island, after that it's just action, action, and still more action.I gave it 6 stars out of 10.
I suppose it didn't deserve it, but positive lesbian films come along so rarely, I like to encourage them..
Sorry, lesbian content censored in the video release.
I am not a lesbian, but very much gay sympathetic, and I was attracted to this film because both reviews on this site commended this film for its featuring a lesbian heroine who just happened to be lesbian, and not making any big thing out of it.
It really did seem that someone very sensitive and sensible about human rights issues had gotten hold of the script.Imagine my dismay when I took this DVD home from the shop and found that any reference to the Meriel Hemingway character's sexuality had been expunged!.
Shame, shame on whoever released the movie on DVD in Australia.
Other than that the movie was very average indeed in spite of the non-stop action..
Don't expect too much high quality anything with this film and you should enjoy the action.Mariel Hemingway could still turn heads and interrupt conversations just by walking in the room and Jill Bennett would get more than her wanted fair share of female attention!
I reckon that it was the hope of the cast and crew that their audience would leave all sense of rationality and believability behind when they pushed the 'play' button on their DVD players.
As I had read the previous comments prior to buying the DVD (from overseas, thanks to the Aussie censors who cut references to the 'friendship' between the female characters), I wasn't expecting Academy Award performances and so found myself pleased with my purchase and a welcome addition to my 'collection'.Definitely a nice way to spend a spare afternoon.
I was working at my job and watched it one day at work or I may have even taken it home.
I always rent Mariel's movies since I used to take tennis lessons alongside her sister Margeaux.
I know, movies can be hard to get right, but it would be better sometimes if they'd apply more quality control.
I think I've watched worse movies, at least 3 or 4.
If you want to watch a pretty bad movie, go ahead..
Since I don't have cable & there ain't any good shows on Wed., I was watching Telefutura.
I learned from watchin' the opening the movie was called "Air Force Two," which I seriously doubt was a sequel to the Harrison Ford film.
Only as I found the film's page here on IMDb have I learned that Mariel Hemingway was playing a lesbian.
When I was watching the movie, I wouldn't notice it as it just appeared to be another shoot-'em-up, mindless action film w/ Spanish dubbing.
& yep, once I also found out that those reviewing this movie were Austrians, I must've been the only non-Hispanic American watching it.
A movie where the bad guys are jungle insurgents a la Iran-Contra/ Sandinistas/ Manuel Noriega?
The film was such a blatant throwback to those "Rambo" or "Die Hard" flics.
Besides, this is the type of film that Telefutura would air on a Wednesday, as opposed to a Sunday night, which would draw more viewers.
That's why I saw more promos for "Spider-Man 2" when it was on Telefutura on that Sunday night.
This is for sure a film you will likely stumble upon when nothing good's on TV, & not a movie you "prepare" for by w8n' for it 2 start, watch it w/ others & have a snack..
Lesbian Action in the Jungle (suitable for all ages ;-).
**possible thematic spoilers** (Excuse the length of this comment; I feel like I might be one of few IMDb users to see the film while it's in theaters, so I'm trying to be thorough) For years, Hollywood has been releasing big-budget, testosterone-driven action films.
TV has released its own challenge to the dominant paradigm.The film begins with a standard action plot: the Vice President's plane is caught in a storm, and crash-lands off the coast of a Pacific island, filled with violent rebel insurgents.
Fortunately, the VP was a former Marine, and he and his Secret Service agent manage to survive the crash, along with a garrulous and driven reporter, played with aplomb by Jill Bennett.
When discovered by the rebels, the agent must save the VP, find a way off the island, and get the girl.
The agent is, herself, female.There are many difficulties confronting any filmmaker deciding to show a gay or lesbian relationship.
Primarily, the trouble is one of focus; should the story take precedence over a character's sexuality, as in your average heterosexual film, or does a character need to have an emotional coming out (wherein their sexuality pulls focus from the plot)?
Unfortunately, those films that choose the latter path often end up losing any sort of impact on the audience, as their narratives become lost in a jumble of sexual definition and re-definition.
Happily, "In Her Line of Fire" begins with - and maintains - sexual tension between the two female leads, while the males who know Delaney seem to respect and jokingly admire her attraction to women.Even when these issues of plot can be resolved to include sexuality without fixating on - and thereby "othering" it, women rarely stand on their own as lesbians.
Films like "Kissing Jessica Stein" or "Chasing Amy" suffer from this second problem, if one can call it that, whereby characters that are bisexual or bi-curious stand in for true lesbians, giving a lesbian audience little with which to relate, even in supposedly "lesbian-themed" pictures.By choosing not to overemphasize the women's sexuality, "In Her Line of Fire" joins what will hopefully be a new upsurge in films (including such recent fare as "Imagine Me & You") which have the potential for mainstream acceptance, due to their classical Hollywood style and narratives, while still depicting lesbian and gay relationships.Of course, the main drive of the film is its plot, which stands up to most typical action fare.
The film is violent enough for any thrill-seeking viewer, whether their interest lies in the women's relationship or not; unfortunately, the violence is not tempered with enough sex and comic relief - some of which falls flat - but, despite this, "In Her Line of Fire" lives up capably to the legacy of action movies preceding it.The main flaw of the film is the lack of solid acting/writing on the part of the rebel leader(s).
The one-dimensional bad-guy is somewhat played out, and is not revitalized by the mediocrity of this film's characterization.
The best - and most surprising - part of the film is Jill Bennett, who manages to outshine most of the other actors.
Her relationship with Mariel Hemingway's character builds suitably, and, though clearly contrived, gives her an opportunity to express a range of emotion that feels natural.In terms of the visual style, it certainly seems like a made-for-TV film, and hopefully will get a strong run on DVD.
My tastes tend not to run to action films, and though not the best film I've ever seen - or even seen in the last month - hopefully this will be a precursor to stronger films with similar themes.
what a horrible horrible movie, the plot is outrageous...
if the second most powerful man's plane crashes somewhere in the so called "pacific" (which was quite amusing because geeez never realized the area was so dangerous) those types of planes, that carry people like the president and vice president of the mighty United States of America, usually have numerous tracking procedures, for not the man thats important, they can be replaced, but the secret paperwork and what not...another B grade movie, where the main character never gets shot, even though there are 10 men shooting with machine guns, although she can take them all down with 6 bullets...
sorry but this movie was just too ridiculous.
and extremely bad special effects when the plane was crashing.
do have to admit if anything, this movie was quite funny, even though i don't think it was its intent.but who am i to judge....
A Nice Action Movie!.
I'm a sucker for action movies and this one really lived up to my standards.
There's a whole lot of gun blazing, running for your life, making hard choices and good old fighting action.What intrigued and amused me about this movie was one of the posters I found on the internet.
I loved the tag line "Behind Enemy Lines No Man Can Stop Her. Only One Woman Can Touch Her." That obviously hinted that there was to be a lesbian storyline in the movie.But the movie does not revolve much around the main character's love interest, resulting in a lack of intimate scenes between Mariel Hemingway and Jill Bennett's characters, save for two brief kissing episodes.
But agreeing with another user's comments, it would not have seemed plausible for the movie to have a love scene seeing as the characters were always too busy looking over their shoulders and trying not to get killed and/or kidnapped.Besides the movie has lots to entertain audiences with, including realistic gun fighting and chase sequences through a muddy, green jungle.
The only disappointing scene in the movie was the plane scene.
It was quite obvious that it was a computer generated scene and as a user pointed out, many mistakes and improper procedures aboard the plane were made.But overall the actors did an amazing job at keeping my eyes glued to the screen.
The chemistry between Mariel Hemingway and Jill Bennett's characters were a bonus so kudos to them for making it so..
Low rent action thriller is clunky rather than slick.
A cheap, second-rate, save-the-vice-president thriller from hard-working director Brian Trenchard-Smith.
This is the chap who made THE MAN FROM HONG KONG and TURKEY SHOOT back in the day but who seems to have been abandoned by the studios to make inferior-scripted products like disaster movies or this cheap action thriller.
It's a pity as I've always enjoyed Trenchard-Smith's work and he really does need bigger budgets.
He shot this film in Auckland standing in for Central America.In any case, IN HER LINE OF FIRE (I saw it under the rip-off title AIR FORCE TWO) features Mariel Hemingway as a ferocious secret service agent who has to step into action when the vice president's plane crash lands onto an island occupied by mercenaries keen to catch him for ransom.
The cast is populated by stereotypical characters and poor actors, but there'a wealth of action here which makes it mindlessly enjoyable in places.
However, the low rent nature of the production is more than apparent and the action is often clunky rather than slick.
David Keith plays in support as the vice president..
Worst Movie Ever.
To all of those who were wasting time writing and commenting down on the plot and stuff, discerning between ailerons and rudder, and other craps, i have to tell that this is clearly the worst movie i have ever seen in my entire life.
Nobody knows why the VP was there, with only a crew of 3, getting to an Island with a couple of Maoris and rebel GIs...oh sweet Jesus...Some of you gave up to seven stars to it?
As for David Keith, i'm gonna forgive him provided i watch "an officer and a gentleman" this very night..
I rented this movie on DVD in Australia.
Is there such a thing as a D Grade movie?
If you wanted a study on how not to make a movie then this is the one.Location is supposed to be an island off South America but we are told that the Vice President is on his way to Tokyo.
Plane is struck by lightening and of course there is no time for a MayDay before it crashes conveniently near an island near the Solomons which is just closer to Australia.Of at least the 10 persons on the plane only 5 survive the belly landing in the water.
Of the 5 on the beach one is quickly shot on sight by "rebels" in what looks like Australian rainforest.
This could explain why all the rebels appear to be Polynesian and not of South American/Spanish origin.The first view of the rebel leader is that he sleeps under mosquito netting, has bad dreams and a USMC tattoo on his left forearm.This is a movie where you get a group of friends, beer and popcorn around a TV with the volume turned down and you each take turns doing the voice overs.