List Price: $14.94You Pay Only: $9.99 You Save: $4.95 (33%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 9781404902749
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 1404902740
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: June 10, 2003
Running Time: 121 minutes
Sales Rank: 3913
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: March 07, 2003
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Loyal veteran Navy S.E.A.L. Lt. A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) is sent into the heart of war-torn Africa on a hazardous mission to rescue Dr. Lena Hendricks (Monica Bellucci) a U.S. citizen who runs a missionary. When the beautiful doctor refuses to abandon the refugees in her care Lt. Waters finds himself having to choose between following orders and the dictates of his own conscience. Together they begin a dangerous trek through the deadly jungle all the while being pursued by a rebel militia group with only one goal in mind: to assassinate Lt. Waters unit and the refugees in his care.System Requirements:Starring: Bruce Willis Monica Bellucci Cole Hauser Fionnula Flanagan Eamonn Walker Johnny Messner and Nick Chinlund. Directed By: Antoine Fuqua. Running Time: 121 Min. Color. Copyright 2003 VPD Inc.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 043396097513 Manufacturer No: 09751
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Contradictions Blur
It is its contradictions that make Tears of the Sun challenging to judge and which no doubt account for the wide disparities in opinion. On the one hand are the pitfalls of corny dialogue, logical stretches, and a weak performance by Willis. On the other hand is the drama of the faintly addressed but seething issues of human rights, multilateralism, and the limits of military power. Tears doesn't deal with these complexities with the finiteness of a film like Platoon, nor does it possess the visual beauty of a film like The Thin Red Line. To its credit, there are fine performances by Monica Bellucci and others, and the film avoids the condescending and even racist view of Africans in Black Hawk Down. But most significantly, and not to give anything away, viewers should look for a single scene that is as brutal, vengeful, compassionate, and poignant as any in the finer combat films. Perhaps Tears doesn't quite reach the nobility its script aspires to, but this successfully done, difficult, and powerful scene is redemptive of the effort and leaves the viewer with an image--and something to thing about--he'll recall long after seeing the film.
Rating: - Price of conscience
Like BLACK HAWK DOWN, TEARS OF THE SUN is ultimately a Hollywood action film with a strong military basis. But like BLACK HAWK, I highly recommend it for its outstanding production values and as-good-as-you're-likely-to-get portrayal of the difficulties of direct action intervention in African ethnic cleansing.
TEARS lacks BLACK HAWK's tight, no-nonsense script, but Antoine Fuqua has crafted a visually beautiful, and his control over the long-take, wide-angle action sequences is flawless. Despite its intentions to be politically meaningful, TEARS is at its best when the bullets are flying. The sets, scenery (with Hawaii filling in for Nigeria) and costumes are all impeccable. And this extended, director's cut is better paced and more fleshed out with regards to backstory.
Bruce Willis leads a solid cast, and even when the script is failing them, he and his squad of Navy SEALs share a genuine chemistry on screen, both in tactics and personality, that you couldn't fake with lesser actors. Monica Bellucci, though an exceedingly talented actress, stumbles with her English lines.
Though it will ultimately be dismissed as right-wing, "Republican" propaganda (just like BLACK HAWK), TEARS is ultimately too noble in its intentions (naive, even), to stoop to that. Willis and his soldiers, like the best of Frank Miller's heroes, are out-gunned and out-numbered, and still try to do the right thing. It makes the film's finale emotional, even despite its stilted writing.
Rating: - Neither really good or really bad, but worthwhile for a few reasons
"Tears of the Sun" (2003) tells the story of a squadron of Navy Seals lead by Bruce Willis who are on mission in Nigeria to remove a beautiful American doctor (Monica Belucci) from a Christian village before evil Islamic militants move in and annihilate 'em all. Belucci insists that "her people" go with them. Willis initially refuses but later has a change of heart. Since there are too many to remove via helicoptor, they have no choice but to lead 'em out on foot to the Carmeroon border. Will they make it out alive?
I remember seeing a scene or two while channel surfing a few years ago and it perked my interest. What I saw had an ultra-serious vibe and seemed to have depth as well. It looked like my cup of tea because I'm a huge fan of the original "Apocalypse Now." The icing on the cake is the presence of Monica Belucci, who's definitely one of the most beautiful women to ever grace God's Earth. Seriously, her face is incredible!
Well, I've seen it twice now and, despite all the positive items it has going, I can't help but find it kinda disappointing. I've already listed the positives so allow me to cite what doesn't work:
After seeing the film twice now I only remember two characters -- Willis and Belucci. Every other character is totally forgettable. This isn't the case at all with, say, "Apocalypse Now" wherein the viewer knew and remembered every single member of Capt. Willard's team after seeing the film once, not to mention the major peripheral characters. ... Read More
Rating:  - Tears of the Sun on Blu-Ray
Tears of the Sun is one of the best war movies I have seen years. It is amazing how real a movie becomes on Blu-Ray.
Rating: - Navy Seals
A film that is thought provoking. A SEAL team commander is put in a moral dilemma, and must act outside the "box". SEAL fans should enjoy.
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