Movie Review

The Guardian

Reviewed by LCDR Chip Lancaster, USN (Ret.)

I chose this movie for a number of reasons. Whenever I walk into the NHA and NHAHS offices I go down passageways lined with hundreds of squadron and detachment plaques filled with thousands of names of pilots, aircrew, mechs, riggers and yeomen. When I walk into the training building at HSC-3 I walk down a passageway lined with pictures and paintings of the aircraft, aircrew and in particular the rescue swimmer in action. And, every few weeks I observe the graduation ceremony of a new class of Navy Rescue Aircrew men and women getting their "gold wings." I think that a movie dedicated to them is appropriate. Rescue Swimmer in both the Navy and the Coast Guard is actually a collateral duty with the aircrew much more involved in other things than this film portrays. Let’s put that aside for now and just look at The Guardian movie.

The movie starts off with a quote about the legend of “The Guardian” as someone who lives beneath the sea and is the last hope for all who have been left behind. The action moves us into the cabin and cockpit of an HH-60J Jayhawk rescue operation in progress in heavy seas. The mission is successful, albeit, with some minor complications and returns to homebase, CGAS Kodiak, Alaska. Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) Ben Randall, played by Kevin Costner, goes home to disgruntled wife, Helen (Sela Ward), who is in the process of moving out. Ben’s dedication to his military duties has led to Helen filing for divorce. SCPO Randall’s day worsens when he is called in for a night rescue to a sinking fishing boat. The crew abandons ship before the rescue helo can get there. By the time they arrive on station, nothing is left but a debris field and the bodies of the crew dead by hypothermia. One of them pops a flare and Ben is jumped into the raging seas. The rescue basket is lowered and the victim loaded into it. However, before they can hoist him up a debris laden wave hits the tail rotor with the Jayhawk going into the water. It quickly sinks with the only one making it out being the crew chief, and Ben’s best friend, Carl. A C-130 drops them a raft but another helo can’t get there for three hours. Carl dies before they can be rescued.

Ben is transferred to Louisiana to be an instructor at the Rescue Swimmer “A” School where he can spend time recovering while training new recruits. This is where most of the rest of the movie takes place. Besides a lack of aviation and rescue missions, it concentrates on the Coast Guard training techniques. It’s also where we meet some key instructors and newbies. Chief among these are Chief Aviation Survival Technician CPO Jack Skinner (Neal McDonough), and recruits AN Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) and PO3 Billy Hodge (Brian Geraghty). We also meet the base CO, CAPT Frank Larson (John Heard). Ben takes over the position of lead instructor. He has a reputation of legend among the

rescue swimmers and is looked upon with awe by the recruits. Ben, however, is suffering from PTSD as a result of his last mission where the aircraft and whole crew except for himself were lost. Despite the PTSD which keeps cropping up, SCPO Randall launches into training the recruits with a passion and vigor often exceeding the bounds of the established training program. Two special cases among the recruits are Jake and Billy. Jake has attitude problems and Billy is going through for the third time. These two get extra attention from the instructors, especially CPO Skinner and the Senior Chief. The recruits develop personal relationships among themselves and with some of the locals which are key to their completing the school. Things come to a head for both Randall and Skinner with Jake and Billy. Everything works out and they graduate, getting their aircrew wings. Starting with a class of 50, only 11 complete. Along with their wings, they get their orders. Jake goes to Kodiak, which is also where Ben goes back to following his tour as lead instructor.

Kodiak, with Ben and Jake as fellow rescue swimmers, is where the rest of the action takes place. That action is hot and heavy and I’m not going to tell you what it is or how things resolve. Suffice it to say that it is rewarding and worth sticking through the middle of the movie. The film is supported by a strong cast under excellent direction with amazing cinematography. Director Andrew Davis, with seven Academy Award nominations, has brought together a cast of seasoned actors with Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Winner, Kevin Costner (Field of Dreams, Wyatt Earp, Yellowstone), Obie and Emmy Winner, John Heard (Gladiator, Justice League, Sharknado), Emmy and Golden Globe Winner, Sela Ward (The Fugitive, Westworld, FBI), Screen Actors Guild and Critics Choice Award Winner, Neal McDonough (Resident Evil, Yellowstone) as well as relative new comers in Ashton Kutcher (That 70’s Show, Two and a Half Men) and Brian Geraghty (Jarhead, Flight, Big Sky). The cinematography is crisp and colorful, Director Davis started as a cameraman and cinematographer, with the aerial and water sequences especially realistic and graphic.Earp, Yellowstone), Obie and Emmy Winner, John Heard (Gladiator, Justice League, Sharknado), Emmy and Golden Globe Winner, Sela Ward (The Fugitive, Westworld, FBI), Screen Actors Guild and Critics Choice Award Winner, Neal McDonough (Resident Evil, Yellowstone) as well as relative new comers in Ashton Kutcher (That 70’s Show, Two and a Half Men) and Brian Geraghty (Jarhead, Flight, Big Sky). The cinematography is crisp and colorful, Director Davis started as a cameraman and cinematographer, with the aerial and water sequences especially realistic and graphic.

The Guardian was generally panned and given bad reviews when it came out, probably because of its length at 2.5 hours and central training sequences and romantic aspects. For me, as an aviator, this is undeserved. I find it interesting and informative in its training sequences, the romantic aspects are not bad, and all is more than made up for by the exceptional aviation aspects. The movie used a host of Coast Guard advisors, including pilots, aircrew and actual instructors who were used as supporting cast throughout the filming. It was filmed at more than a dozen Coast Guard air stations and facilities, including Kodiak and San Diego using actual Jayhawks, cutters and fishing boats and trawlers so any CGI was kept to a minimum. They even constructed huge wave pools where the ships and actors could be staged using bluescreen tech. Also of note is what I learned after the fact. A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer is actually an Aviation Survival Technician (AST) whose “A” School is 24 months vice 18 and their training continues for over a year afterwards until they are finally designated as AST. Wrapping it all up, The Guardian gets two thumbs up from this SAR pilot. I consider it a fitting tribute to those Coast Guard and Navy Aircrew who go into sea to save others; the film ending with the dedication “To the men and women of the United States Coast Guard … so others may live.” By the way, stay for the closing credits, a pictorial history of Coast Guard rescue ops from earliest days to current SAR, rescue and relief operations. Sit back, pop some corn; and enjoy this flick, you won’t be disappointed.