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Basic

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Basic (2003)

21%
19%
57%
N/A
N/A
N/A
21 %
Reviews Counted: 135 Fresh: 28  Rotten:107 Average Rating: 4.5/10
 
Consensus: Basic gets so needlessly convoluted in its plot twists that the viewer eventually loses interest. Basic gets so needlessly convoluted in its plot twists that the viewer eventually loses interest. more
 
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Theatrical Release: Mar 28, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $26,536,120
Synopsis:
John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson team up in BASIC, an action-packed military thriller from director John McTiernan (DIE HARD). Jackson plays Sergeant Nathan West, propagator of a harsh military training program that appears to have pushed a group of young recruits too far, when an... [More]
John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson team up in BASIC, an action-packed military thriller from director John McTiernan (DIE HARD). Jackson plays Sergeant Nathan West, propagator of a harsh military training program that appears to have pushed a group of young recruits too far, when an exercise winds up with them attempting to kill each other. Only two soldiers emerge alive from the slaughter, and Jackson isn't among them. Rogue DEA agent Tom Hardy (Travolta) is called in to question the survivors, teaming up with Lieutenant Julia Osbourne (Connie Nielsen), in an attempt to solve the puzzle. The two remaining soldiers (played by Giovanni Ribisi and Brian Van Holt) tell their conflicting tales, with director McTiernan utilizing flashbacks to illustrate what may have happened in the Panama jungle. It quickly transpires that Jackson and Travolta's characters are old army acquaintances, both with a penchant for unorthodox techniques; and when it transpires that corrupt doctor Bill Styles (Harry Connick Jr.) has been selling the recruits illegal drugs, it also appears he has a romantic history with Nielsen's character. The subsequent plot twists come thick and fast, resulting in a white-knuckle ride to the finale, in which nothing can be taken for granted. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Harry Connick, Taye Diggs, Connie Nielsen

Director: John McTiernan
Screenwriter: James Vanderbilt
Producer: Mike Medavoy, Michael Tadross
Composer: Klaus Badelt

DVD Info

Release:

Jul 8, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 2.4

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - French

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. John McTiernan - Director
  • Trailers
  • Featurettes - 1. BASIC: A DIRECTOR'S DESIGN
  • 2. BASIC INGREDIENTS: A WRITER'S PERSPECTIVE

Interactive Features:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Selection

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Filmographies

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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N/R

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01/26/06 03:16 AM
Time Out
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Full Review | Comment
12/06/05 08:09 PM
Film Threat
Ratings Image

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Full Review | Comment
10/07/04 07:30 PM
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
05/19/04 08:16 AM
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

McTiernan's bitten off way more than he could chew, spicing up the Usual Suspects approach with a dash of Rashomon and a little of help from A Few Good Men.

Full Review | Comment
04/21/04 02:39 PM
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife
Ratings Image

Basic is one of those rare movies without even a single redeeming quality.

Full Review | Comment
01/06/04 08:12 AM
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
Ratings Image

The problem is that we’ve been given nothing to make us care for any of these people, so when the mysteries unravel there’s nothing in the answers that hit us at a gut level.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/04 04:00 AM
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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Full Review | Comment
12/19/03 05:52 PM
Empire Magazine
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Full Review | Comment
11/11/03 05:13 PM
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ratings Image

A estrutura narrativa (obviamente inspirada em Rashomon) é interessante, mas a necessidade de criar reviravoltas surpreendentes praticamente destrói o filme, já que, ao final da projeção, nada mais faz sentido.

| Comment
10/14/03 06:51 PM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

Best described as military noir, Basic reunites John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in a kind of Pulp Fiction with rain and fatigues, plus a chaser of Rashomon on the side.

Full Review | Comment
09/16/03 07:45 PM
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press
Ratings Image

Samuel L. Jackson's performance is the main reason to watch this ultimately disappointing mystery that thrives on audience deception and mass confusion.

Full Review | Comment
09/09/03 08:53 AM
Andrew Manning
Radio Free Entertainment
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
07/08/03 05:21 PM
Guardian [UK]
Ratings Image

The final parts of this movie are the kind that you'd swear were slapped on by the studio, until you realise the whole story must have been built around them.

Full Review | Comment
07/08/03 05:21 PM
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic
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Full Review | Comment
06/21/03 08:15 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

Fumbling the setup, the Die Hard helmer quickly loses his grip on the material, turning Basic into little more than a mechanical exercise in plotting.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/03 05:19 PM
Jamie Russell
BBC
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I had to take on faith that the plot could, theoretically, be made sense of

Full Review | Comment
05/18/03 07:35 PM
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit
Ratings Image

Everyone involved just watched their stock price drop 79%.

Full Review | Comment
05/15/03 09:16 PM
Oz
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

Noisy, dark and headache-inducing, John McTiernan’s Basic is one of those brain-twisting legal thrillers that can only be enjoyed by those determined not to worry about things like consistent internal logic

Full Review | Comment
05/05/03 10:35 AM
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image

Basic is one of those films that thinks itself clever in its use of confusion, when in reality it's just confusing. Sound confusing? Yeah, thought so.

Full Review | Comment
04/30/03 12:12 PM
Spence D.
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