While it offers nothing new to the military action genre; Tears of the Sun distinguishes itself with fine acting; expert craftsmanship; and seriousness of purpose. Its familiar "extraction mission" plot is essentially similar to that of Black Hawk Down; involving a crack team of U.S. Special Ops commandos struggling to rescue innocent missionaries amidst the bloody horror of Nigerian ethnic cleansing. With Bruce Willis as their grizzled; no-nonsense commander; the skillful team enters a hot zone that gets even hotter when their "package"--an American national (Monica Bellucci) who runs the isolated mission--demands that 70 Nigerian villagers be included in the rescue. Willis's uneasy conscience leads him to defy orders and expand his mission; and in an ambitious follow up to Training Day; director Antoine Fuqua escalates tension and strike-force with considerable emotional impact. Originally considered as a potential entry in Willis's Die Hard series; and released on the eve of America's war with Iraq; Tears of the Sun admirably avoids jingoism with its rousing story of personal good vs. political evil. --Jeff Shannon