When people see the name Bruce Willis associated with an action movie, they often think of movies like “Die Hard” or “Armageddon.” These movies are notorious for being filled with large explosions, expensive special effects and a great amount of brainless violence. “Tears of the Sun,” while containing its fair share of violence, is very different from your typical action-adventure film.

The movie stars Willis as A.K. Waters, a special ops commander who must lead his team into Nigeria to rescue an American doctor stationed at a mission deep in the jungle. But the doctor, played by Monica Bellucci, won’t leave the mission without the 70 Nigerians who have been living at the mission with her.

Waters and his team must move over 70 people through the deep jungles of Africa, all the while avoiding the rebel forces who have already assassinated Nigeria’s presidential family.

Although “Tears of the Sun” is full of violence, it does differ greatly from most action movies. There are no over-the-top stunts in this movie. No one dives off of a helicopter and survives nor jumps over canyons. For the most part, it is as realistic as any movie could be.

The movie is also very emotional. Throughout the journey in the jungle, the travelers come across numerous villages that have been pillaged and plundered. They find bodies that have been tortured and greatly disfigured as well as women who were brutally raped. It was interesting to see these hardened killing machines break down crying because they couldn’t save these people from the soulless rebels.

The television reviews for this movie compare it to “Die Hard.” About the only thing these movies have in common is Bruce Willis. Don’t get me wrong, “Die Hard” is a great movie — in fact, it is one of my favorites. However, whereas “Die Hard” is strictly about gratuitous violence, “Tears of the Sun” has violence for a purpose.

If you are a fan of war movies, then you will definitely enjoy this movie. If you are a fan of Bruce Willis, you will also like this movie. It may not be his most challenging role to date, but he still shines brightly while portraying his character in the film.