Basic
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Movie Reviews of Basic
Movie Review: Great action. Unnecessary ending.
Summary: 4 Stars
I went to see this movie since I enjoy any movie featuring John Travolta and was expecting a regular action movie - I was quite overwhelmed. This is a fast pace, (mostly) intelligent movie, which moves along different lines then those you are used to. The film's ending is yet to be discussed and I can only say that my understanding of the film's events was totally changed at the last 5 minutes. I am not sure this ending was truly necessary - for me it was only a gimmick and the whole logic and understanding of the film was totally shattered. The movie starts with a great scene of a military helicopter making its way through a stormy rain with the knowledge of a great storm breaking in. The helicopter holds a team of seven men and one woman, headed by the great Samuel Jackson playing the tough Sgt. West. You cannot but feel pity for this wet group of people wondering what does the near future hold for them.
The next scene is filmed 17 hours later when something is understood to have gone wrong with the team. The search team arrives in time to catch three men involved in a gun fight. One man dies, one man is wounded and the surviving soldier is not ready to talk. Hence - enter John Travolta, a former army interrogator, asked to find out what has happened. Travolta arrives after the regular interrogator (Connie Nielsen) is unable to get any information from the survivors. Together with Travolta they start a search for the truth of what happened, a search that becomes harder with every new piece of evidence.
This is not a movie that "goes home with you" or that gives you a new understanding of life, but is very entertaining and there is no dull moment.
Great act of Travolta (charming as always) Connie Nielsen and Samuel Jackson.
Movie Review: Overall good but can be a little scattered...
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a big Travolta fan and I like seeing him step out of the box of his previous typical roles but this type of character seems to be becoming more of his typical role these days. Unpredictable. Headed up by an all star cast of Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly and Giovanni Ribisi, Basic is full of action and twists and turns. It gets a little hard to follow at times but is generally good. My big time pet peeve is Connie Nielson's acting. Her thick southern accent which was very prevalent in the beginning of the film seems to disappear much of the time and then she remembers "oh, I'm supposed to be southern!" If you're being paid to act as a certain character, I'm real big on staying in character. Ribisi played his character really well but I'd give anything for him to have used another dialect. I can't even beging to explain how annoying it was, so much so that for me, the dialect detracted from the brilliance he was trying to bring across. Another peeve is the cinematography can be annoying. The rain in the beginning shots is the most horribly computer generated rain I've seen in years. In the DVD extras it shows one scene where Sam Jackson is ragging on a soldier and it was a brightly lit set...on film it's raining and just done badly. So if you're not nit picky, you probably won't notice or care.
Overall worth the rent/buy due to the plot, just keep your eyes peeled and your brain sharp!
Movie Review: Dark and twisty
Summary: 4 Stars
Twist-wise this is a heckuvagreat movie. It's a steaming, down and dirty whodunnit-to-who under the guise of an army training exercise gone wrong. A Special Force team goes into the jungles of Panama, under the supervision of Samuel L. Jackson (West,) but they don't all come out. The onus of finding out what happened falls on Connie Nielsen (Osborne), but then Tim Daly (Styles) brings in John Travolta (Hardy) to take over the investigation.
It's not Travolta's best role, but he does a passable Hardy, the great inquisitor. Connie Nielsen steals most of the movie, even though her accent grates on the nerves sometimes, but otherwise she's got what it takes. Timothy Daly is good for most of the movie (until the end), and there just isn't enough Samuel L. Jackson to go around.
Poor Giovanni Ribisi - he must be really tired of being type-cast by now. He plays the same role, once again, for the umpteenth time.
My problem with the movie is that a lot of the scenes are shot out of focus and in the dark - so it's hard to figure out who's doing what to whom most of the time. (My copy didn't have sub-titles, and the close-captioning was pathetic, so that didn't help much)
Any attempt to summarize the plot would contain spoilers, so I won't. Spending a few hours on this 3.5 star movie, wouldn't be time wasted.
Amanda Richards, February 25, 2005
Movie Review: More twists than a bag of twizzlers....
Summary: 4 Stars
First off I would like to state that despite any flaws this movie contains it is still a joy to watch. John Travolta is excellent in his role, and the rest of the cast plays their parts well enough so that the story doesn't suffer from that aspect. The movie is filmed brilliantly with just the right amount of darkness on the scenes to add that feeling that something is being hidden from you. And it is.This films main problem lies in the fact that you are lead into a dazzling investigation about the deaths of several soldiers on a training mission. You hear sides, you form ideas, and then you realize that none of that even matters. It is that element alone that takes away heavily from this movie. As you travel through this deep and dark military atmosphere in your mind you go through so many twists that you are anticipating this great slam bang ending. It is as that point when you recieve a soft curb in the road that gradually tells you that nothing you've learned on this trip has any bearing on the outcome of the film, and you come face to face with something you saw coming the whole time.
I am not saying that this movie completely destroys itself in it's final moments. It doesn't exactly leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, just a feeling that your candy has lost some of it's flavor. All in all this is a very enjoyable film, that fails to deliver that final knockout punch you were waiting for...
Movie Review: Not a Basic Story
Summary: 4 Stars
I love action movies with a twist. I enjoyed "The Recruit" because even though it twisted and turned it never kept me in the dark. You best be on your toes here or you will miss some important clues. I had trouble catching some of the clues the first time I watched it. Being a Travolta and Jackson fan I expected a great deal, and I got it. I follow detective series all the time and I usually know whose guilty long before the end. This one kept me guessing who was a killer and who wasn't. When a group of soldiers is dropped in a jungle on a training mission only two get back alive. Travolta is asked to investigate by the Colonel running the base where the men were being trained. The investigation leads to killings and drugs. Be prepared to be thrilled and stumped. If you haven't figured it out by the end they will paint a clearer picture of what the unit Section 8 really is doing. One thing that would have helped me during my first viewing of the movie was something to indicate that maybe those supposedly killed might not be. I think there should have been some kind of hint, but otherwise a great story. I added this to my collection because it definitely is one you will want to watch regularly. The quality of the DVD is excellent and it has commentary and other extras.