Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Drama, Military, Suspense, Murder, Gay/Lesbian, Hostage, Detectives, Drugs, Investigation
Tagline: Deception is their most dangerous weapon.
Plot: Travolta stars as Tom Hardy, an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, who is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West (Jackson), as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees on what appears, at first, to have been a routine military exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama.Only two survivors are found, Dunbar (Brian Van Holt), and a badly wounded Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi), the son of a high-profile Joint Chiefs of Staff official. Neither is willing to cooperate with the head of Fort Clayton's military police, Capt. Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen). So base commander Col. Billy Styles (Tim Daly) calls in ex-ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator. Osborne disapproves of Hardy who is on leave from the D.E.A. after having come under suspicion of accepting bribes from local drug traffickers. She is also uneasy when she learns that Hardy once trained under West and hates him almost as passionately as his current recruits. With time running out, Hardy and Osborne call a temporary, if uneasy, truce. Hardy cajoles a confession out of Dunbar, who claims that Sgt. West and the missing Rangers have been murdered and their bodies blown away by the hurricane. When they later
More Plot Descriptions
 |
Behind the Scenes:
Read more about the production
| | Download Movie Script
For entertainment and informational purposes only. |
 Discussion forum for this movie
|
| |
 John Travolta's sneaky! Samuel L. Jackson is tough as a boiled owl! But that's all there is to say for this nonsensical military action flick.--Stephanie Zacharek (Salon)
As the plot unfolded, and unfolded, and unfolded, and unfolded, I leaned forward earnestly in my seat, trying to remember where we had been and what we had learned.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
Maybe the combination of Travolta's presence and the ultimate punch line are enough for many audiences. But that still renders "Basic" into entertainment more suitable for the living room than the movie theater.--Desson Howe (Washington Post)
Some may knock the story for being scattered and not portrayed in a typically logical sequence, but the varying perspectives make this movie what it is. 7/10--Dick Douglas (Movie-Vault.com)
Basic marks John McTiernen's first film since the collosal flop, Rollerball. And the ironic thing is, Rollerball was just a little bit better than this.  --David Nusair (Reel Film Reviews)
Unlike "The Usual Suspects", which delivered a coda of such outright chutzpah that audiences were desperate to see the film again in order to work out how they'd been duped, this movie's much-vaunted final reel twist makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  --Jamie Russell (BBC Films)
Starts reasonably well, twists its way into disappointing, then spins wildly to an end that’s nothing short of ridiculous. 62/100--Brian Webster (Apollo Guide)
Its story, about a squad of Rangers who go missing during an exercise in Panama, is written as a Chinese box that keeps opening without getting anywhere.  --Jack Mathews (New York Daily News)
|
| Cast |
|
 | |
 | Samuel L. Jackson
Pulp Fiction, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones |
 | Timothy Daly
The Object of My Affection, Diner, The Associate |
 | Giovanni Ribisi
Saving Private Ryan, Lost in Translation, Gone in Sixty Seconds |
 | |
 | |
 | |
[more] |
|
| Music By |
Klaus Badelt
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Constantine, Equilibrium |
 |
|
Awful, awful film that should be avoided at all costs – a twist-laden plot that actually insults the audience and a swaggering, showy performance by Travolta.  --Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
Somewhere in this country there probably will be someone willing to watch "Basic" five or six times, with pen and paper in hand, to figure out if the film's story makes sense after all. But I would not want to meet such a person.--Mick LaSalle (San Francisco Chronicle)
A disappointing military mystery that doesn't possess half the intelligence it clearly aspires to. 5/10--Gary Panton (Movie Gazette)
|
|
Movie Database
In Theaters
