Taglines: A hero should never have to stand alone.
Rules of Engagement movie storyline. Colonel Terry Childers is a 30 year career Marine. When he is ordered to go the American Embassy in Yemen, when it’s learned that things there are starting to unravel. After evacuating the Ambassador and his family, Childers orders his men to fire at the crowd cause he believes that they are armed.
Back in the U.S., certain officials fear that there’ll be a backlash against other embassies and Americans, if Childers claim is proven to be true. So they have decided to make Childers a scapegoat. Childers asks Colonel Hayes Hodges, a man whom he knew and saved in Vietnam to defend him. And while there is no evidence or witness that can back Childers’ claim, Hodges feels that he owes it to Childers to do what he can.
Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American war film directed by William Friedkin, written by Jim Webb and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays U.S. Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial after men under Childers’ orders kill a large number of civilians outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen.
Film Review for Rules of Engagement
In 1968, a disastrous American advance in the Vietnam War has Lieutenant Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) executing an unarmed prisoner in order to intimidate a captive North Vietnamese army officer into calling off an ambush of U.S. Marines. His act thereby saves the life of the wounded Lieutenant Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), though many of Hodges’ men die in the battle.
In 1996, now a Colonel, Hodges is about to retire from the Marine Corps and is reminiscing about his years in uniform. As a result of wounds he sustained during Operation Kingfisher, he was no longer able to continue as an infantry officer, so the Marine Corps sent him to law school and he continued his career as a JAG officer. He subsequently enters the Camp Lejeune Officers Club, where numerous Marine officers wait to honor his service at a pre-retirement party. Hosting the event is his old friend, Col Terry Childers, who is now the Commanding Officer of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).
Subsequently deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, Col Childers and his embarked MEU are called to evacuate the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen from the embassy grounds, as a routine demonstration against American influence on the Arabian peninsula and in the Persian Gulf turns into rock-throwing and sporadic automatic rifle fire by snipers from nearby rooftops.
After escorting the Ambassador Mourain (Ben Kingsley) and his family to a waiting helicopter, Childers returns to the embassy to retrieve the American flag; meanwhile three Marines are killed by snipers on nearby rooftops with more gun fire following. Childers then orders his men to open fire on the crowd and “waste the motherfuckers”, resulting in the deaths of 83 civilian protesters and injuries to over 100 more.
Back in the U.S., the U.S. National Security Advisor, Bill Sokal (Bruce Greenwood), pressures the military to proceed with a court-martial to try to deflect negative public opinion about the United States, shouldering all the blame for the incident onto Childers and salvage American relations in the Middle East.
Childers subsequently approaches Hodges and asks him to be his defence attorney at the upcoming Court Martial. Hodges is reluctant to accept, knowing that his record as a JAG officer is less than impressive and Childers needs a better lawyer. But Childers is adamant, because he would rather have an attorney who has served in combat.
Rules of Engagement (2000)
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Kingsley, Blair Underwood, Anne Archer, Blair Underwood, Guy Pearce, Philip Baker Hall, Mark Feuerstein
Screenplay by: James Webb, Stephen Gaghan
Production Design by: Robert W. Laing
Cinematography by: William A. Fraker, Nicola Pecorini
Film Editing by: Augie Hess
Costume Design by: Gloria Gresham
Art Direction by: William Cruse
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: R for scenes of war violence, and for language.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: April 7, 2000
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