''Goodbye America'' is a 1997

action drama The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Thierry Notz. The film examines how the closing of the U.S.

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

base at

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

, Philippines affected the Filipinos and the Americans who had served there.Goodbye America, The New York Times and NYTimes.com
retrieved on June 14, 2007 The film was an attempt to bring Filipino cinema into the international audience.

Plot

As the U.S. Subic Bay naval base's operations slowly wind down and naval manpower begins to dwindle, Commander Hamilton (Wolfgang Bodison) relies on three U.S.

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

to help keep the base secure. William Hawk (

John Haymes Newton John Haymes Newton (born December 29, 1965) is an American former actor. He is known for his regular roles on the television programs ''Superboy'' as Clark Kent in the show's first season and as Ryan McBride on the soap opera ''Melrose Place''. ...

), a longtime American sailor nearing the end of a tour of duty, is involved with a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

, Lisa Velasquez (

Nanette Medved Nanette Gwen Medved (born January 21, 1970) is a Russian- Chinese philanthropist, businesswoman, and former actress and model based in the Philippines. Career In 2014, Medved founded Generation HOPE, a social enterprise that produces packaged w ...

), a representative of the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

's office in nearby

Olongapo City Olongapo (), officially the City of Olongapo (; ; ; Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Olongapo''), is a highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 260,317 peo ...

. Lisa has to deal with the economic crisis that the base's closing will bring to her community, as well as her own personal problems brought on by Hawk's imminent departure and the strained relationship of her mother, Anna (Daria Ramirez), and

stepfather A stepfather or stepdad is a biologically unrelated male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren. In fiction Thou ...

, Ed (

James Brolin Craig Kenneth Bruderlin (born July 18, 1940), known professionally as James Brolin, is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes and an Emmy Awards, Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August ...

). Paul Bladon (

Alexis Arquette Alexis Arquette (; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress and transgender activist. Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children to Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Now ...

), another Navy SEAL at the Subic Bay base, is the son of a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

(

Michael York Michael York (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television, and stage actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Romeo ...

), who will be visiting Subic Bay for the base's closing ceremonies. Senator Bladon is bringing along Paul's American girlfriend Angela (

Maureen Flannigan Maureen Flannigan (born December 30, 1972) is an American documentary filmmaker and former child actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as teenager Evie Ethel Garland on the fantasy sitcom ''Out of This World (American TV series), Out ...

), though Paul has fallen in love with a Filipina, Emma (Alma Concepcion), a former

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

who now plans to marry Paul. The third Navy SEAL, John Stryzack (

Corin Nemec Joseph Charles Nemec IV (born November 5, 1971), known professionally as Corin Nemec, is an American actor, producer, and screenwriter. He was billed as Corin "Corky" Nemec or Corky Nemec until 1990. Nemec is known for playing the title characte ...

), is furious over what he sees as America's

betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Of ...

of its responsibilities in the Philippines; he winds up behind bars after a violent incident, but he plans to escape to assassinate Senator Bladon, whom he believes is responsible for the closing of the base.

Cast and characters

as Paul Bladen *Alma Concepcion as Emma Salazar *

Angel Aquino Angelita Grace Velasquez Aquino (born February 7, 1973) is a Filipino actress, fashion model, and television personality. Prominent in independent films, she has also worked on Television in the Philippines, television shows of varying genres, ...

as Maria *

as John Stryzack *

as Ed Johnson *

as William Hawk *

as Angela *Michael J. Sarna as Large Sailor *

as Senator Bladon *

as Lisa *Daria Ramirez as Anna *

Rae Dawn Chong Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film ''Stony Island (film), Stony Island'', and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film ''Quest for Fire (film), ...

as Danzig *

Wolfgang Bodison Brian Wolfgang Bodison (born November 19, 1966) is an American actor and creative director best known for playing Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson in the 1992 drama film '' A Few Good Men''. Early life Brian Wolfgang Bodison was born on November ...

as Jack Hamilton * Richard J. Gordon as himself, the mayor of

Release

The film premiered in the Philippines on August 20, 1997, and at the Film Market of the 1997

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, where the screening attracted curious distributors and the movie garnered some hype. It had a television premiere in Greece, Finland as ''Hyvästi, Amerikka'' and in Germany as ''Im Namen der Ehre.''

Reception

Most critics found the subject potent and timely. However, the film had an excess of characters and the end product was disorganized. It was hailed as a Filipino film thinly disguised as a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

. In

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it has an average score of 3 out of 5, based on 124 user reviews.

Home media

The official DVD of the film was released on April 16, 1999, in the Philippines and Hungary. In United States, the film was released by MTI Home Video. In Brazil, it was released by Sunset Productions and D+T.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0119218 1997 films 1997 action thriller films 1997 romantic drama films Films set in the Philippines Star Cinema films Films about Filipino Americans American romantic drama films Films shot in the Philippines Films about United States Navy SEALs Films directed by Thierry Notz 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language action thriller films English-language romantic drama films Subic Bay