The basic story line has been reviewed by nearly all the others, so I'll more or less skip that. But it is an interesting concept. It deals with the training of military personnel to deal with becoming a prisoner of war. Escape and evasion, refusing to answer questions even under the threat of torture and basic survival under primitive circumstances are all covered in this syllabus. When the film was made, the US had no women working anywhere near a combat area, but of course, that has now changed. With women now in combat situations, and having already had a couple of them become POW's, the question becomes how the heck to train them for possible capture? I'm not suggesting that POW training include rape or even stripping of the POW, but males going through the course are routinely stripped of every stitch of clothing. Should women be treated any differently? No....and yes. If the military gives the green light to clothing deprivation for female POW's, I believe that the captors would spend their time ogling naked women who were, (they'd think) put there for their enjoyment. It's a very sticky question, and one that is bound to arise. So far, the real captors of US women haven't sexually molested them, but it's only a matter of time. Recently, Americans have been accused of sexual torment of Iraqi POW's, not including rape. But had there been some female POW's who knows what might have happened. This film brings that question into specific relief and begs to be answered. Time will tell. It IS ironic that this film, so topical now, was made a while back!
Review of Opposing Force
