Tears of the Sun

"He was trained to follow orders. He became a hero by defying them."

2003 2h 1m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 2,723

WarActionDrama

Synopsis

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Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician.

“He was trained to follow orders. He became a hero by defying them.”

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Cast

Bruce Willis
Lieutenant A.K. Waters
Monica Bellucci
Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks
Cole Hauser
James 'Red' Atkins
Eamonn Walker
Ellis 'Zee' Pettigrew
Johnny Messner
Kelly Lake
Nick Chinlund
Michael 'Slo' Slowenski
Tom Skerritt
Captain Bill Rhodes
Akosua Busia
Patience

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writers: Patrick Cirillo, Alex Lasker, Jim Magdaleno
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

209+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, shot by Mauro Fiore. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lisa Gerrard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci and Cole Hauser carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He was trained to follow orders. He became a hero by defying them.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Antoine Fuqua directs. Mauro Fiore behind the camera. Lisa Gerrard scores. Conrad Buff IV cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 23 years ago.
3209+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Antoine Fuqua, shot by Mauro Fiore. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Lisa Gerrard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci and Cole Hauser carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "He was trained to follow orders. He became a hero by defying them.".
9IMDB entry: tt0314353 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "civil war", "war crimes", "refugee", "village".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Mauro Fiore
Original score: Lisa Gerrard
Editing: Conrad Buff IV
Production design: Naomi Shohan
Costume design: Marlene Stewart
Makeup / hair: John Blake
VFX supervisor: Scott Farrar
Sound: Steve Pederson
Stunt coordinator: Phil Neilson
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $75,000,000
Box office: $86,500,000
Return: 115% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Tears of the Sun (2003)

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Antoine Fuqua

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Wuchak2023-01-29
★ 6/10
Solemn life-or-death jungle mission is one-note, but worthwhile for a few reasons A squadron of Navy Seals led by Lt. Waters (Bruce Willis) are ordered to Nigeria to remove a beautiful American doctor (Monica Belucci) from a Christian village before Islamic militants move in and annihilate 'em all. The Doctor insists that "her people" go with them and so Waters opts for leading 'em out on foot to the Cameroon border. Will they make it out alive? "Tears of the Sun" (2003) has an ultra-serious vibe and some depth. If you appreciate "The 7th Dawn" (1964) with William Holden and Capucine, this is cut from the same cloth, just with modern production quality and more focus on grim jungle drama & action, like "Rambo" (2008). While it's arguably on par with "The 7th Dawn," it doesn't stand with the giants of the genre, such as "Apocalypse Now" (1979) or "Platoon" (1986). For one thing, the characters outside of those played by Willis and Belucci are relatively forgettable, which isn't the case with "Apocalypse Now" and "Platoon" wherein you know and remember the bulk of the key characters. Another good example would be "Last Of The Mohicans" (1992), which has a similar tone and theme, i.e. protagonists being chased through the forest by savage antagonists. The issue I have with "Tears of the Sun" is that it jumps right into the thick of the jungle story without allowing the viewer to get to know anyone. The theme is heavy and the vibe is fittingly serious, including the score, but because we aren't emotionally tied to the characters the picture comes across too heavy-handed and melodramatic. It doesn't help that it's one-dimensional. Meanwhile the 2-hour movie is fairly slow moving with the big-action sequence not taking place until the finale. The problem with this "exciting" climax is that the viewer, once again, doesn't care what happens at this point because we don't really know the characters and therefore have little emotional attachment. Although the story takes place in Nigeria the picture was obviously shot in Hawaii. The difference in geography is enough that the film loses points for realism, but who can deny the beauty of Hawaii? So maybe it gains the points back. The Director's Cut merely adds the deleted scenes from the Special Edition DVD to the film. In other words, unless you absolutely love the flick it's not necessary to buy the Director's Cut; just watch the deleted scenes. Speaking of the deleted scenes, there's one quietly potent scene where a black American talks with a black Nigerian. It has good dialogue and should've never been cut. Yet "Tears of the Sun" has some attributes, including the ultra-serious vibe, cinematography, score and Monica Belucci. The harrowing sequence where the squadron saves a rural village from some ruthless militants is well done. But this is far from a good film IMHO; at the same time, it's not bad and has its points of interest. Check out "Rambo" (2008) if you want to see the same theme done in a more effective manner. GRADE: B-/C+

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