 |
Infamously cruel Sergeant West takes his unit into the Panama jungle on a training exercise. Two days later two of his men return and report the rest dead. When the base investigator makes no process, the base commander calls in shamed DEA agent Hardy. The investigation continues well with both of the two men telling their stories, however Hardy finds that the stories contradict themselves and that the truth is much, much more complex than first appeared. For the majority of this film everything goes the way you expect it to, but yet it all still works reasonably well. The plot twists in several ways as each contradiction brings out a bit more truth in the overall tale. It is filled with dramatic interrogation scenes which, although clichéd, do still serve to be reasonably gripping. However at some point, and I can't say exactly when it happens, the sheer volume of twists and the leaps we are expected to make simply become too much for the quality of the material and it more or less collapses in on itself. It isn't that the twists are too much of a stretch, it's that they are too much of a stretch for this film. Usual Suspects has massive twists that bewilder and require big jumps, but that had the acting and script to back it up. Here the same isn't true, the script doesn't do a good enough job of gradually revealing a story to us just to twist it; instead it just seems to be constantly changing the foundations to the point that I felt I was on quick sand rather than a base where the walls kept moving (if you get my meaning). What I'm saying is that the story didn't set itself up well enough to provide killer twists, instead it was constantly pulling small then bigger twist after twist - to the point where I was expecting the next one before it arrived. Not to unfairly compare, but Usual Suspects gradually added layers rather than twists as it builds to a climax. Basic just keeps twisting but eventually gets to the point where it overstretches itself and the twists lose their impact. The dramatic tone suffers for this reason and, after a good start it all too quickly loses it's impact. Travolta tries hard and for the most part he does OK, but his slick character loses it towards the end, and his final `winks' are not easy to understand. I got the feeling that he didn't understand his character anymore that I did. Jackson gives a better performance in flashback although his character is pretty much a basic sergeant-major cliché, until the ending goes and ruins a fair amount of what he had done up till that point. Nielsen is pretty good but gives a masculine performance in a masculine film. The support cast is actually pretty good although Ribisi damaged his reputation with me by doing some sort of weak effeminate spoof character. Diggs, Holt, Daly and Sanchez all do pretty well and their solid flashback sequences help the interrogation to be more dramatic. Overall this film is too twisty and some of them really demand jumps that are just not made possible by a script that doesn't do enough to help the audience out. It still manages to be pretty dramatic and enjoyable for at least the first half, but the final third demands too much and twists too much for the material to cope with. Not as awful as other reviews lead me to expect but it collapses alarmingly fast towards the end.Read full review
Fist off don't be fooled by the name on the cover, I had the idea that the movie was about Army Basic or some sort of "program" in the Army. What I got was a twisted maze of "who done it". Now I do like a movie with plot twists , and love movies and books that deal with time travel and the whole chicken egg thing, but this movie was just "screwed". The worst part of the move for me was when John Travolta and this Female MP are asking questions between 2 people (at first), the movie flash backs to a training mission, fist you get the one guys story, then they ask the other guy and its different, then they go back to ask the first guy what happen again because the 2nd guy said different, SOOO the story changes again, and your forced to watch this each time, then when they add another person to question into the fold the story once again changes, they move does this until toward the end when you were supposed to pick up on the little things each one of them said. Other odd ball things upset me as well, like some how for some reason a woman was with the group of Army Rangers during this training mission as I took it as a part of Ranger school, well no females are allowed in Army Rangers and the movie left out the part of why she was around. Add to the director making Soldiers out to be drug dealers, racist, ill disciplined, and all around "stupid" it made me feel like a wasted my money. If I were you I would rent this movie before owning it, because it really was a crap movie that had too many "changing" flash backs and holes. It was cool to see Samuel L. Jackson as a Soldier he played the part like he done it before. Changing a flat tire would have felt better then viewing this movie!Read full review
John Travolta is a Sgt in the Army Rangers, former Ranger and now works with DEA.Samuel L Jackson is a mean rotten Training instructor who is killed during a training excersize. Travolta is brought in at the request of the Colonel. During the investigation he works with a woman Security Police Officer, a Captian. She thinks he could have been better, He thinks she would be great. As the story unfolds, it slowly becomes evident there is more than meets the eye here.We find there are twists and turns in the story line that go from one end to the other. Until towards the end you find out one man not only lied about who he is, but, everything about him.And the woman Captain soon finds out the worst secret-the magic number "8". The mystery number through the storyline is the 8Ball or Section 8. Rogue Rangers. Lets not spoil the ending, as you will find out, there is only a few deaths in the story line. And the 8.Well they soon are growing in number. Who said there is no honour in the ranks? Great scenery, special effects, violence and blood scenes make for reality. Some romance, but the Drama and Dialogue is there to keep it going strong just like the Guardian.Read full review
Was unsure about buying a used DVD but it played great. Have seen this movie before but it is one you need to watch more than once to get all the twists. Had loaned my previous copy and it took a walk.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I haven't actually watched it yet. Rcv'd 7-17-19, but I've never had DVD issues. I've seen this movie several times and just wanted my own copy.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in DVDs & Blu-ray Discs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on DVDs & Blu-ray Discs
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
