Navy SEALs (1990) ***

I’m not sure why 1990’s Navy SEALs, in particular, was singled out as a Clerks (1994) punchline. It’s an average action film with a good cast, strong cinematography, a driving score (by Sylvester Levay, one of the composers of the disco classic “Fly, Robin, Fly”), and a few decent one-liners. It’s clearly modeled after “military team of dudes” movies like Tony Scott’s 1986’s Top Gun (review). Its beats are very familiar, its characters are underdeveloped, and it’s never as exciting or as over the top as Point Break (1991) (review), The Rock (1996), or Con Air (1997) (review). It could have used a few more big stars and Bill Paxton is also woefully underused, but overall it’s fun, authentic, and never boring.

Lewis Teague Films Ranked