Brothers Under Fire - B Action Movie with Premise that was not Really Bad but Lacking in Execution

Last week I saw this movie's trailer (under the title Sierra Madre) in the cinemas but it did not really interest me. So even though it was already released in Indonesia since last Friday and still played in some studios, I was not too keen to see it. However, yesterday after finishing other series on streaming services, I was browsing HBO Max to search for something and came across this movie which I thought looked similar to the one in the cinema. Once I find out more, I found out it was indeed the same film. Hence I thought why not give it a try as it's very convenient to watch from my home. All right then, let's get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Experienced and tough US Army Captain Jordan Wright (Kiefer Sutherland - Juror #2, 24 TV series etc) had been fighting in various war zones in many tours. After finishing a mission, his team member Alberto (Tommy Martinez - Disclosure Day, Good Trouble TV series etc) invited Jordan and their very close army buddies of Danny (Solly McLeod - Practical Magic 2, Fear TV series etc), Hino (Laird Akeo - Persona, 7000 Miles etc) and Carson (Ashton Sanders - Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Wu-Tang: An American Saga TV series etc) to celebrate Alberto's wedding with his fiancee Isabella (Laura Osma - Fake Profile TV series, Pimpinero: Blood and Oil etc) in Mexico.

What started as a happy occassion though, turned disastrous when the group somehow got into altercation with Mexican Cartel led by their ruthless boss Baker (Omar Chaparro - Detective Pikachu, Blackout etc). With the safety of Alberto's family and people in his village under harm, Jordan had no choice but to lead his team to fight the army of the Cartel.

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As I said above, I was not too keen to see this film as it looked like low budget B movie that did not seem good. But since I could watch it without paying extra money, I was willing to give a try. I was not too concentrating in the beginning where it showed Jordan's unit in the dangerous war zone, though I felt it did not have any major impact on my understanding of the film. Anyway things gotten more interesting when the scenes moved to Mexico with signs of the viciousness of the Cartel. The family reunion between Alberto and his family was nice to see with the backdrop of lovely Mexico sceneries as they looked quite convincing as warm family. 

It took quite a while though before the movie became more exciting with the altercation of Jordan's group with the Cartel. However, I thought after that it would be nonstop action till the end which sadly did not materialize. Luckily the ultimate "war" was still OK even if it was not that great. I thought it lacked the brutality plus the fates of people involved from the protagonist and the villain side were not satisfying. It's a pity though cause the premise was actually quite interesting and seemed like it was going to be a satisfying all out war movie with strong wild west feel. Even the title and names shown in opening and closing credits looked like the old Cowboy movies. 

The film itself was directed by Justin Chadwick whom apparently was nominated for directing several episodes of Bleak House mini series back in 2005 and also directed Mandela: Long Walk etc. It was written by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers (The Grey, Death Sentence etc) and Delbert Hancock. Sadly this one would not enhance everyone's portfolio as it was poorly received by critics and audience alike. Thing is the film lack strong action and the story telling was not that great combined with bad decision making of the main characters which made it weird for a group supposedly very experienced in war zones. 

The cast did not really impress me either. Kiefer Sutherland looked like he was just doing the minimal while others (especially his team members) I thought were poorly written. I thought Alberto's family seemed more convincing. Aside from the names above, there were few support cast like Orlando Pineda (Griselda mini series etc) as Alberto's brother Miguel, Gabriel Camero (Colibri etc) as Baker's younger brother Stevie, James Keach (Evil Town, The New Swiss Family Robinson etc) as Moncrief and some others who I believe mostly were Mexican actors. Oh the movie had duration of 101 minutes including closing credits which showed the names of the cast and their characters. Obviously there was no mid or post end credit scenes here. Btw, I noticed in Indonesian cinemas website, the duration was 100 minutes probably because there were few brief nudity scenes that were cut/censored.

In the end, this was something that I was pleased to have seen it on HBO Max instead of in the cinema. It did not have anything that would warrant to see it there as the action was not spectacular and did not require good sound effect. The premise was pretty interesting but execution was poor and the ending was not satisfying. However I would not say that this is a really bad movie that I hate cause I thought it was still watchable. But I would not recommend seeing this in the theater though. Nevertheless if you long to see Kiefer Sutherland on large screen of cinema in an action movie, albeit not a great one, then by all means you can give it a try. But if you have HBO Max subscription, then I say better watch it there.

Mike's movie moments rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

PS: The original title of this movie was actually Sierra Madre but it was replaced with Brothers Under Fire in March 2026.