Bat*21 [VHS]
When Gene Hackman's plane gets shot down behind enemy lines in Vietnam, he manages to hang on to his radio--and maintains contact with Danny Glover, back at the base. Hackman must rely on his own instincts--and the long-distance assistance of Glover--to work his way back to his own territory. The script, by Marc Norman and William Anderson, can't rise above war-movie clichés and Peter Markle's direction can't lift it. Neither can David Marshall Grant, as an overly passionate copter jockey whose rescue attempt proves more hindrance than help. But crafty veterans Hackman and Glover know a thing or two about transcending mediocre material with performances of depth and humanity.--Marshall Fine