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Basic

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Basic (2003)

April. 18,2003
|
6.4
|
R
| Drama Action Thriller Crime
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A DEA agent investigates the disappearance of a legendary Army ranger drill sergeant and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry.

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TinsHeadline
2003/04/18

Touches You

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UnowPriceless
2003/04/19

hyped garbage

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Smartorhypo
2003/04/20

Highly Overrated But Still Good

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Odelecol
2003/04/21

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

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Leofwine_draca
2003/04/22

BASIC is a very dumb military thriller and the last film (to date) to be directed by John McTiernan, the former great who brought us DIE HARD and PREDATOR. This film's a far cry from those movies and even from John Travolta's previous military film, THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER. It's an attempt at a RASHOMON-style narrative in which the disappearance of a group of soldiers is told in flashback in different ways by multiple witnesses, but the script is badly-written and gets bogged down in one silly twist after another, eventually causing the viewer to lose interest in the exercise. The actors are on autopilot here, including Samuel L. Jackson, and the end result is tedium rather than excitement.

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NiWi
2003/04/23

In one sentence, I'd say this film was a "absolutely Brilliant delivery and reliable plot twist"When they say 'keep them guessing', this film will officially come up in my memory, because it send me on sooooo many curves and circles. But without spoiling, the ending was by far the biggest circle out of the whole film.I must admit I did slightly find it interesting to see John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in the same movie. Both our there performances were great, can't say the same for the female protagonist, her acting was flat and just there as a place holder.I enjoyed this film and the only think that made me take away a star is the constant inappropriate comments in the beginning.(Could have done without)

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indiedavid
2003/04/24

I have to admit that I didn't watch the whole film because I just couldn't stop laughing at the horrible portrayal of military protocol and operations. If I intentionally tried to make a film with more errors, I would struggle to do so. Rank, uniforms, formations, etc. were all bungled. I am not sure if the Producers used a military consultant but if they did, they were either from the Civil War or a foreign military because these guys knew nothing about US Army Ranger training, Military Police investigations, equipment, uniforms, rank, Panama, etc. I was confused at many points. I couldn't tell if Samuel Jackson was supposed to be a Ranger Instructor at Ft. Benning or a Platoon Sergeant in Panama. In either case, both were incorrect in nearly every aspect. At one point, he was leading a platoon but was wearing Specialist rank then he was with same group in a jungle but he was wearing SFC rank. I could go on and on about the uniform issues but I will only point out one that provided the most entertainment for me. After conducting hundreds of hours of jungle patrols, I have never seen somebody so stupid that they wore a beret instead of a patrol cap.

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g-bodyl
2003/04/25

Then this would be a reasonably entertaining thriller. No matter how muddled or confusing this film, Basic ends up being, there is no denying how smart the film is. The script could have used a major overhaul because there are so many twists, but somehow I was able to stay on page. Yes that gave me a headache, but I couldn't help but be intrigued by the characters, especially those played by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. The directing is excellent and so are the technical side of things.John McTiernan, known for directing Die Hard and Predator, directs a film and it's about how a group of army rangers head to Panama for training during a hurricane and ends up in disaster. When two survivors are picked up and each tell different stories, it's up to DEA Agent Tom Hardy to figure out who is telling the truth.The acting is pretty good for the most part. John Travolta was excellent and quite sinister as Hardy. I always love when Jackson plays a badass and he does that here as the Master Sergeant. Connie Nielsen is decent as Captain Julia Osborne. For the rest of the crew, they were good but nothing memorable.Overall, I found Basic to be a good movie. I generally like twists in my thrillers, but too many of them can hold a movie back from greatness. This film had potential, but the screenplay failed to justify that potential. That being said, it's an intriguing thriller with great acting, great direction, and of course is action-packed so it won't get boring. But with a twist too many, this film can settle for mediocrity. I rate this film 7.5/10.

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