Tears of the Sun
Encyclopedia
Tears of the Sun is a 2003 American war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...

, depicting a United States Navy SEAL team rescue mission amidst a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

 in the West African country of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. Lt. A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...

) commands the team sent to rescue U.S. citizen Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks (Monica Bellucci
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress and fashion model.-Early life:Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan...

) from the civil war en route to her jungle hospital. The film was directed by Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua is an American film director. He directed the film Training Day as well as Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter and Brooklyn's Finest...

.

Willis produced Tears of the Sun through Cheyenne Enterprises
Cheyenne Enterprises
Cheyenne Enterprises is a television and film production company privately owned by Bruce Willis and Arnold Rifkin.-Motion Pictures Produced:* Your Perfect Angel * Charlie Irish * Dolly Dimple * The Lowenfish Party...

, his production company, and took the title from an early sub–title for Live Free or Die Hard
Live Free or Die Hard
Live Free or Die Hard , is a 2007 American action film, and the fourth installment in the Die Hard series. The film was directed by Len Wiseman and stars Bruce Willis as John McClane. The name was adapted from the state motto of New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die"...

, the fourth film in the Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...

series; he filmed the sequel on condition he could use its sub-title for his SEALs war film.

Plot

A coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

occurs in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, violently overthrowing the Presidential Azuka family, and establishing the dictatorship of rebel general Mustafa Yakubu. The Northern Fulani
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...

 Muslim rebels then execute a violent ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....

, against the Christian (mainly Catholic) Igbo
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...

 tribes in the southern region.

Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...

) and his SEAL
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...

 Team are sent by Captain Bill Rhodes (Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...

) to Nigeria to extract a "critical persona", one Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks (Monica Bellucci
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress and fashion model.-Early life:Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan...

), a U.S. citizen by marriage. Their secondary mission is to extract the Mission Priest and two Nuns.

The mission begins as planned. LT Waters tells Dr. Kendricks of the company of rebel soldiers closing on her hospital and the mission, and that the team's orders are to extract U.S. personnel; however, Kendricks refuses to leave without the patients. Waters calls Captain Rhodes for options; after their short and ambiguous conversation, he concedes to Dr. Kendricks that they will take those refugees able to walk. She begins assembling the able-bodied for the twelve-kilometre hike; the priest and the nuns stay behind to take care of the injured. Irritated and behind schedule, the team and the refugees left the hospital mission after daybreak.

At nightfall they take a short break. Guerrilla rebels rapidly approach their position, and Waters stealthily kills a straggling rebel. Dr. Kendricks warns LT Waters that the rebels are going to the mission, but he is determined to carry out his orders, and they continue to the extraction point. When they arrive, Waters' initial plan becomes clear: the SEALs suddenly turn away the refugees from the waiting helicopter. LT Waters forces Dr. Kendricks into the helicopter, leaving the refugees stranded in the jungle, unprotected against the rebels. En route to the aircraft carrier, they fly over the original mission compound, seeing it destroyed and all its occupants murdered, as Dr. Kendricks had predicted. Remorseful, LT Waters orders the pilot to return to the refugees. He then loads as many refugees as he can into the helicopter instead and decides to escort the remaining refugees to the Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

 border.

During the hike to the border, using satellite scans, they discover the rebels are somehow tracking them. As they escape and evade the rebels, the team enters a village whose inhabitants are being raped, tortured, and massacred by rebel soldiers. Aware of having the opportunity to stop it, Waters orders the team to take down the rebels. The team is emotionally affected by the atrocities they see the rebels have done to the villagers.

Again en route, Slo (Nick Chinlund
Nick Chinlund
Zareh Nicholas "Nick" Chinlund is an American actor.-Early life:Chinlund was born in New York City. He attended the Friends Seminary in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Albany, NY in order to participate in Albany High School's varsity basketball program...

) determines that a refugee is transmitting a signal allowing the rebels to locate them. The search for the transmitter reveals the presence of Arthur Azuka (Sammi Rotibi), surviving son of deposed President Samuel Azuka, which they realize is the reason the rebels are hunting them. Samuel Azuka was not only the president of the country, but also an influential tribal king. As the only surviving member of this royal bloodline, Arthur is the only person left with a legitimate claim to the leadership of Nigeria. A newer refugee picked up during the trek is discovered with the transmitter on his person. He attempts to run but is shot. Waters is angry at Dr. Kendricks, because she knew all along about Arthur, yet never informed him.

The team decides to continue escorting the refugees to Cameroon, regardless of the cost. A fire fight ensues when the rebels finally catch up with the SEALs. The SEAL team decides to stay behind as rearguard to buy the refugees enough time to reach the border safely. Zee (Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...

) calls the Harry S. Truman for air support; two 18E/F Super Hornets  take off and head for the fire fight. The rebels kill Slo, Flea, Lake, and Silk. Waters, Red, and Zee are wounded, but direct the fighter pilots on where to attack. Arthur and Dr. Kendricks are scrambling to the Cameroon border gate when they hear the fighters' approach and bomb the entire rebel force.

Waters, Zee, Doc (Paul Francis
Paul Francis
Paul Francis is an American business executive and politician who served as the Director of State Operations for the State of New York. In that position, he oversaw the states' eight major departments, along with the other offices and divisions of the Government of New York...

), and Red (Cole Hauser
Cole Hauser
Cole Kenneth Hauser is an American film and television actor.-Family background:Hauser was born in Santa Barbara, California, son of Cass Warner, who founded the film production company Warner Sisters, and actor Wings Hauser. His paternal grandfather was Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dwight...

) rise from the grass as Navy helicopters land in Cameroon, opposite the Nigerian border fence gate. Captain Rhodes arrives and orders the gate open, letting in the SEALs and the refugees. A detail of Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 then escort the SEALs to some helicopters. Captain Rhodes promises LT Waters that he will recover the bodies of his men. Dr. Kendricks says farewell to friends and flies away in the same helicopter with LT Waters.

The finale shows the refugees recognizing Arthur Azuka as tribal chief and bearer of his father's democratic dreams for Nigeria. He raises his arm exclaiming "Freedom!" as everyone celebrates around him. Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....

's epilogue for Tears of the Sun is "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

Cast

The cast of Tears of the Sun features refugees portrayed by true African refugees living in the U.S.
  • Bruce Willis
    Bruce Willis
    Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...

     as Lieutenant
    Lieutenant
    A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

     A.K. Waters: Team Commander/Rifleman
  • Monica Bellucci
    Monica Bellucci
    Monica Anna Maria Bellucci is an Italian actress and fashion model.-Early life:Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci, who was born in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, East Pakistan...

     as Dr. Lena Kendricks
  • Cole Hauser
    Cole Hauser
    Cole Kenneth Hauser is an American film and television actor.-Family background:Hauser was born in Santa Barbara, California, son of Cass Warner, who founded the film production company Warner Sisters, and actor Wings Hauser. His paternal grandfather was Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dwight...

     as James "Red" Atkins: Explosive Specialist;M-60
    M60 machine gun
    The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...

     Machine Gunner
  • Eamonn Walker
    Eamonn Walker
    Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...

     as Ellis "Zee" Pettigrew: RTO
    RTO
    RTO may refer to:* The Really Terrible Orchestra* Recovery time objective, the time for a business process to be restored after a disruption* Regenerative thermal oxidizer, in off-gas treatment...

    /Grenadier
  • Johnny Messner as Kelly Lake: Lead Scout/Rifleman
  • Nick Chinlund
    Nick Chinlund
    Zareh Nicholas "Nick" Chinlund is an American actor.-Early life:Chinlund was born in New York City. He attended the Friends Seminary in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Albany, NY in order to participate in Albany High School's varsity basketball program...

     as Michael "Slo" Slowenski: Automatic Rifleman (SAW)
  • Charles Ingram as Demetrius "Silk" Owens: Sniper
  • Paul Francis as Danny "Doc" Kelley: Corpsman/Rifleman
  • Chad Smith as Jason "Flea" Mabry: Marksman
  • Tom Skerritt
    Tom Skerritt
    Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...

     as Captain Bill Rhodes
  • Malick Bowens as Colonel Idris Sadick
  • Akosua Busia
    Akosua Busia
    Akosua Busia is a Ghanaian actress who now lives in the U.S..The daughter of Kofi Abrefa Busia, the ex-prime minister of the Republic of Ghana, Akosua is the daughter of a prince of the royal family of Wenchi, a subgroup of the Ashanti. She herself is not a princess, since the Akans of Ghana...

     as Patience
  • Sammi Rotibi as Arthur Azuka

Production

The actors who portrayed SEALs underwent a two-week boot camp; during principal photography, they had to address and refer to each other by character name — even off camera, to improve interaction. Tears of the Sun is the first film photographed on the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier
Nimitz class aircraft carrier
The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a class of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the United States Navy. With an overall length of and full-load displacements of over 100,000 long tons, they are the largest capital ships in the world...

 USS Harry S. Truman
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)
USS Harry S. Truman is the eighth Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy, named after the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. HSTs callsign is Lone Warrior and is currently homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.Harry S...

. The SH-60B Seahawk
SH-60 Seahawk
The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant airframe modification is a hinged tail to reduce its footprint aboard ships.The...

 helicopters in the film are from HSL-37, the "Easy Riders" stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Marine Corps Base Hawaii , formerly Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay and originally Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, is a U.S. Marine Corps base facility and air station located on the Mokapu Peninsula of windward O'ahu in the City & County of Honolulu. As of the 2000 Census, the base had a...

, Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. The F/A-18A Hornet jet fighters are from VFA-204
VFA-204
Strike Fighter Squadron 204 , also known as the "River Rattlers", is a Strike Fighter Squadron flying the F/A-18A+ and is based out of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans. They are part of the United States Navy Reserve Tactical Support Wing...

, the "River Rattlers". VFA-204 is a Navy Reserve
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...

 strike fighter squadron at Naval Air Station New Orleans
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans is a base of the United States military located in Belle Chasse, unincorporated Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. NAS JRB New Orleans is home to the 159th Fighter Wing as well as other naval activities...

.

The shooting was touched by misfortune when actor Kevin Tod Smith, cast as one of the SEALs, died accidentally, while visiting a film set in China. On February 6, 2002, while waiting for a ride back to his hotel, and after completing work on Warriors of Virtue 2
Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao
Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao is a 2002 fantasy martial arts film, the sequel to the 1997 film Warriors of Virtue...

, Smith decided to walk about the Central China Television film studio grounds, and climbed a prop tower in a set of another film, lost his footing and fell approximately three stories, severely injuring his head. He was taken to a hospital, then transferred to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

. He lapsed into a coma and was on life support for ten days, until it was discontinued. He died on February 15, 2002, without regaining consciousness.

Reception

Tears of the Sun received mixed to negative reviews; the movie review aggregation websites Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 record average favourable review ratings of 38% and 45% respectively. Time Out London was scathing, lambasting the focus on a fictional atrocity in a real country, when there was ample opportunity to explore similar, but historically accurate atrocities. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

, however, gave the film three stars out of four and said "Tears of the Sun is a film constructed out of rain, cinematography and the face of Bruce Willis. These materials are sufficient to build a film almost as good as if there had been a better screenplay."
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