Cheap Basic (DVD) (John Travolta, Connie Nielsen, Samuel L. Jackson) (John McTiernan) Price

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Customer Reviews of Basic

Full of sound and fury, signifying...well, you know.
"Basic" features one of the great fakeout performances of all time from John Travolta, though it's more deplorable than admirable. If the movie is to be believed, then only the final five minutes feature Travolta's character, DEA agent Tom Hardy, speaking words that could not be considered a con job. Were "Basic" a David Mamet picture, well now. But it's a military movie about a combat accident, then murder, then drugs, then...nothing. There has to be easier ways to ferret out crooked officers than this.

Truth be told, the journey in "Basic," directed by John McTiernan, is pretty entertaining. A "training" exercise in the Panamanian jungle goes awry when a soldier (Who? How? When?) murders the sadistic drill instructor, Sgt. West (Samuel L. Jackson). Out of eight soldiers, two survive, neither is talking, and the commanding officer in Panama (Timothy Daly) has an impending image problem. Hardy is a friend called in to assist the on-base investigator (Connie Nielsen) with the predictable butt of heads ensuing.

A leaner, meaner Travolta has his moments, especially with the first uncooperative solider (Brian Van Holt). The other, wounded soldier is played by Giovanni Ribisi as a mannered, slightly deranged gay man forced to join the military by his general father. Uh huh.

Naturally, the soldiers have alternate stories that implicate one another. Naturally, there's another layer below those stories. And another. And another. The final layer reveals there were no layers; it's like icing, suspended in air, over a nonexistent cake. You can see how this might not be pleasing.

Movies can be, and often should be, clever. Every so often, movies can even fib a little -- flashbacks, for example, are seen in the eye of beholder, and are not necessarily the actual truth. "Basic" goes much further into this territory, toward blatant abuse of the audience's trust. Consider a scene where Hardy discovers that one soldier has been using the name of another; the camera zooms in on Hardy, then cuts to several scenes we've already seen in the movie, only with a different soldier in the role of the previous soldier. The way this scene is cut, it's clear these flashbacks are meant to occur in Hardy's mind; thus, he would seem to be putting together the pieces as we are.

But later, "Basic" reveals Hardy not only had this information, but concealed it. How to explain the previous scene? There is no explanation, beyond the screenwriter, James Vanderbilt, wanting to make the viewer feel like a fool. His clear obsession with a trick ending throws a javelin through the heart of the film.

Judging by the A-list supporting cast -- Jackson, Nielsen, Taye Diggs, Ribisi, Roselyn Sanchez, in a nice turn as a twisted, goofy female grunt -- "Basic" had some heft behind it. What a bitter shame it amounted to nothing.

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Very intriguing and suspenseful
Besides Identity, Basic is probably one of the best, well-made drama/suspense films I've seen. Roles were well casted; Samuel L. Jackson always makes a good, hardened army soldier, and John Travolta makes a good investigator who is very quick, nimble, if not full of mystery. I will admit it has taken a few times to watch to fully understand everything this rich plot had to offer. I would say my only reason for a 4 was the language... I usually don't mind language, but please take note this film as language-ridden like none other before it. For me it was a bit too much than what the film really called for.

However, weighing everything, this is a good film worth it's money.

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Highly underrated- a real brain-twister
If you don't like to think while you're watching a movie then stop reading this and go rent some overblown blockbuster. Basic is an incredible movie with more viable twists than I've seen in any other movie. It's fun to watch it multiple times simply to try to figure out how it all fits together (which, I assure you, it does). I can't help but like Travolta in this movie, and Jackson is always great. Critics panned the movie in theaters- more proof that critics actually don't think themselves- but everyone I've shown it to has enjoyed it. If you like suspense/mystery, then don't miss this one.