Touchstone and Beyond: "The Rescue"
Marquee Attraction: The Rescue
Release Date: August 5, 1988
Budget: $14.5 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $5,855,392
Plot Synopsis
An advanced American submarine has been disabled near North Korea. The Navy Seals are dispatched to destroy the top secret technology that the sub has before the damaged ship finds its way to North Korean waters.
When the Seals are captured by the North Koreans and paraded on television for all the world to see, the US military is unwilling to mount a rescue. As the government and military sits idly by trying to let the situation cool, the kids of the captured Seals take it upon themselves to save their fathers.
With J.J. leading the group, Shawn and Adrien join their fellow military brats on an adventure to North Korea in hopes of bringing their dads home alive. Throughout the journey, they are double crossed and face peril at every turn but eventually make it to the prison camp and sneak in to save their dads.
Together with their children by their side, the Navy Seals fight the enemy in hopes of escape and safety back in friendlier territory.
Standing Ovation
Kevin Dillon is a compelling lead actor. The audience will easily connect with the motives that his J.J. has for leading the mission.
Time for the Hook
The story is simplistic, almost to the point of stupidity. Granted this is the 1980s, and there is a lot of forgiveness that needs to be granted to films with this type of plot, but the characters, and the sheer luck they had at getting to the prison camp, is impossible, even by 1980s standards. These kids would have been shot to death long before they came in sight of the prison walls.
The Rescue captures a moment in cinema which promoted the notion that citizens with the right will and firepower could take on anyone. The problem is, these kids should not have been able to rescue their dads, who were the elite fighting force that got captured.
There are multiple cringe level bits of exposition in the film that reminds every viewer that this film is a product of the decade. The fact that commercials were labelling the exploits of the kids in the film as ‘an adventure of a lifetime’ tells me they don’t know what the word adventure means. Being shot at and having to kill other people does not describe to me an adventure that my fifteen- or eighteen-year-old self would want to join.
Bit Part Player
James Cromwell as Adm. Rothman. He’s by no means a bit part player now, but early in his career he was often playing small roles in bigger features, and his Adm. Rothman is what you would expect. He’s authoritative and compelling, which is just what you want from an actor in a small role.
Did You Know?
- Kevin Dillon was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his role in the film.
- Michael J. Henderson was uncredited for his work on the screenplay for the film.
- The movie was a critical and commercial flop. Leonard Maltin did not have nice things to say about the picture describing it as, “Dumb, and obnoxious."
- The prison camp set was constructed in Queenstown, New Zealand, and still stands today.
- When the movie opened, it made just over $2 million at the box office.
- Lieutenant Phillips is listed as an officer, but wears the collar device of Chief Petty Officer, and is often referred to throughout the film as Chief.
- One can tell that this movie was filmed in New Zealand because several of the cars have the driving wheel on the right side, instead of the left which is what New Zealand has.
Best Quotable Line
When the freed Navy Seals ask their kids how they got to North Korea, the most quotable line comes from Adrian Phillips, “We had to use mom’s car."
Bill’s Hot Take
This film is a poor copy of a much superior film named Iron Eagle.
Casting Call
- Kevin Dillon as J.J. Merrill
- Christine Harnos as Adrien Phillips
- Ned Vaughan as Shawn Howard
- Edward Albert as Cmdr. Merrill
- Timothy Carhart as Lt. Phillips
- Charles Haid as Cmdr. Howard
Production Team:
Directed by Ferdinand Fairfax
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Silver Screen Partners III
Written by Jim Thomas / John Thomas
My Critical Response
{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}
The Rescue gets my Snub Award. This is a small film with minor actors leading a story that is ridiculous, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. What is well executed in films like Navy Seals and Iron Eagle is poorly crafted in this tale of kids taking matters into their own hands.
While some Disney+ subscribers want every Disney film available on the streaming service, The Rescue is one film to be forgotten and left behind in the decade it came from.