''The Hunt for Eagle One'' is a 2006

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

. The story takes place during Operation Enduring Freedom in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. A group of

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

are sent to rescue a captured U.S. Marine Captain and a Filipino Major while tracking down a group of Al-Qaeda terrorists intent on launching

biological weapons A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

.Cetti 2008, p. 144. The film was produced by the legendary B-movie producer

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. ''The Hunt for Eagle One'' stars

Mark Dacascos Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor, martial artist and television personality. He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is known for his roles as Wo Fat in '' Hawaii Five-0' ...

, Theresa Randle,

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

, Joe Suba and

Zach McGowan Zach McGowan (born May 5, 1980) is an American film, television and voice actor. He is known for his roles in television series '' Shameless'' as Jody, ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' as Anton Ivanov/The Superior, '' Black Sails'' as Charles Vane, an ...

. The sequel, '' The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point'', featuring many of the same production crew and cast, came out on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, some months later.

Plot

After a successful amphibious insertion, a small group of Marines prepare for combat against the local rebels in the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

in the southern

. While making a routine fly-by, a

UH-1 Huey The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

helicopter, carrying some Philippine troops and Marines, is shot down by the rebels. Among the occupants is USMC Captain Amy Jennings ( Theresa Randle) and Major Aguinaldo (Ricardo Cepeda). Jennings and Aguinaldo escape the wreckage, and try to flee from the pursuing rebels. A rescue team is dispatched to save Jennings and Aguinaldo, but is shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The surviving Lt. Daniels (

) and his team continue onward to search for Captain Jennings and Major Aguinaldo. Jennings and Aguinaldo are captured by the rebels, and taken to a village. There, Jennings tries to escape, but is caught. The following morning, Aguinaldo is executed by the rebel leader. They take Jennings to their headquarters. Gen. Frank Lewis (

) is in charge of the Marine Corps on the island, and receives hell from higher ranking Marine Corps officials regarding the captured Jennings. The rescue team approaches the village, and learns that the rebels have moved Jennings to their HQ. They begin following the rebels. The rebels try to force Jennings to tell the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(through a video camera) that the Marines must leave the island; but she refuses. In response, the rebels torture her. After battling several rebels, the rescue team link up with Philippine troops, and battle the remaining rebels in the HQ. They rescue Jennings and destroy an anthrax lab. They escape from the blast. The rebel leader survives the blast, but Jennings shoots him dead. The film ends with Lt. Daniels and a Filipino attached to him mourning the loss of their soldiers.

Cast

as Lieutenant Matt Daniels * Theresa Randle as Captain Amy Jennings *

as General Frank Lewis * Joe Suba as Captain Seth Cooper *

as Specialist Hank Jackson * Joe Fozzy as Spec. Jeff Parker *

Rey Malonzo Reynaldo Malonzo or Rey Malonzo is a former Filipino actor, film director and politician in the Philippines. He was a famous action star doing mostly martial arts in his films during the 1970s up to the 1980s. Film career In the 1970s, Malonz ...

as Lt. Narcisco Montalvo * Ricardo Cepeda as Maj. Aguinaldo *

Jose Mari Avellana Jose Mari Hontiveros Avellana (May 6, 1941 – June 26, 2011) was a Filipino actor, screenwriter, director, and production designer. Biography Avellana was the son of National Artists director Lamberto V. Avellana and actress Daisy Avella ...

as Gen. Romero Panlilio * Ronald Asinas as Sgt. Tonito Bangayan *

Monsour Del Rosario Manuel Monsour Tabib del Rosario III (born May 11, 1965) is a Filipino actor, martial artist, producer, and politician. He is popularly known as a Filipino taekwondo champion and actor who starred in several Filipino and international action f ...

as Lt. Herman Reyes * Robert Escutin as Cpl. J.P. Daomilas * Jerry Corpuz as Pvt. Amador Magtuto (as Jerry Corpus) * Troy de Guzman as Pvt. Marvello Abaya * Reiven Bulado as vt. Don Tubayan (as Raiven Bulado) * Joel Giray as Pvt. Benito Duran * Jorge Canias as Khalil * Jun Colao as Abdul * Jojo De Leon as Abubakar

Production

Hollywood producer Roger Corman has some experience in producing films on small budgets, and launching the careers of many later well-known filmmakers and actors. Corman managed to turn a profit on every single one of his films, using the small budgets to the effect and exploiting marketing techniques. For ''The Hunt for Eagle One''. Corman tamed with Philippine producer Cirio H. Santiago as his co-producer. The pair had worked together on over 20 productions, including ''

When Eagles Strike ''When Eagles Strike'' (released in the Philippines as ''Operation Balikatan'') is a 2003 war action film co-produced and directed by Cirio H. Santiago. The film stars ex-bodybuilder Christian Boeving, Stacy Keach, Davee Youngblood, Nate Adams ...

'' (2003)—a similar war action movie, filmed in the Philippines. Much of the principal photography took place in the Philippines with Corman employing a number of local actors. The actors who played terrorists spoke in the

Tagalog language Tagalog (, ; ; '' Baybayin'': ) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines, and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, ...

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

with key scenes having English subtitles.

Reception

Critical response

While not reviewed by critics in mainstream media, ''The Hunt for Eagle One'' did garner some interest from internet bloggers and critics. Nix in ''BeyondHollywood.com'' said, "For an action film on a budget, 'The Hunt for Eagle One' is more than decent entertainment. A bigger budget and longer shooting schedule, not to mention about 30 extra minutes added to the running time, would have fleshed out the characters and the political situation in the Philippines . To be sure, the script for “Eagle One” doesn’t show much interest in being substantive on a geopolitical level, not that anyone should notice, as that particular niche is currently filled up by Hollywood ala “Syriana” and others. Which leaves you to wonder what Brian Clyde and company could have done with 'Syriana's budget ... Hopefully, we’ll get to find out one day."Nix
"The Hunt for Eagle One (2005) Movie Review."
''BeyondHollywood.com'', January 17, 2006. Retrieved: December 16, 2015. Robert Cetti in ''Terrorism in American Cinema: An Analytical Filmography, 1960-2008'', described ''The Hunt for Eagle One'' as mainly a war film with "parallels to the mainstream hit 'Black Hawk Down'." As an allusion to geopolitics, the film was "one of the few films to deal with Al-Qaeda directly. It explores the terror group's Philippines' connection to local anti-government rebels.

References

Bibliography

* Cetti, Robert. ''Terrorism in American Cinema: An Analytical Filmography, 1960-2008''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2008. * Morris, Gary. ''Roger Corman''. Woodbridge, Comnnecticut: Twayne Publishing, 1985. . * Nasr, Constantine. ''Roger Corman: Interviews'' (Conversations with Filmmakers Series). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2011.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt For Eagle One, The 2006 films 2000s action war films American action war films American aviation films Films about shot-down aviators Films about the United States Marine Corps Films shot in the Philippines 2006 directorial debut films Films directed by Brian Clyde Films produced by Roger Corman 2000s American films