The A-Team

The A-Team is a 2010 American action comedy film based on the 1980s television series of the same name created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell. Directed by Joe Carnahan and written by Carnahan, Brian Bloom, and Skip Woods, the film stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Quinton Jackson, Sharlto Copley, and Patrick Wilson. The film tells the story of a Special Forces team who, imprisoned for a crime they did not commit, escapes and sets out to clear their names. The film was produced by Cannell, Tony Scott, and (as executive producer) his brother Ridley Scott. The film had been in development since the mid-1990s having gone through a number of writers and story ideas and being put on hold a number of times. Neeson, Cooper, and the rest of the cast joined in summer 2009, and filming took place around Canada later that year. The film was theatrically released on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast and action sequences but criticized the script. A sequel was initially anticipated, but after the film underperformed at the box office, grossing $177 million worldwide against its $110 million budget, plans were scrapped. Plot John "Hannibal" Smith is held captive in Mexico by two corrupt Federal Police officers working for renegade General Javier Tuco. Hannibal escapes and sets out to rescue his friend Templeton "Face" Peck, who is also held captive at Tuco's ranch. Hannibal saves Face after enlisting former Ranger B.A. Baracus, driving to the rescue in B.A.'s modified GMC Vandura. Pursued by Tuco, they stop at a nearby Army hospital to recruit the services of a pilot Howling Mad Murdock. They flee in a medical helicopter and are being chased by Tuco in a dogfight. They lure Tuco's helicopter into American airspace where it is shot down by a fighter jet for trespassing, killing Tuco. Eight years later in Iraq, Hannibal is contacted by CIA Special Activities Division operative Lynch, who assigns them on a black operation to recover U.S. Treasury plates and over $1 billion in cash slated to move out of Baghdad in an armored convoy. Hannibal's commanding officer, General Morrison, consents to the operation but Face's former girlfriend, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Capt. Charissa Sosa, tries to discourage the team from getting the plates.