The General's Daughter Reviews

The Generals Daughter is a great mystery thriller and one of my favourite John Travolta movies. The movie is loaded with great talent that produce really good performances. Travolta and Stowe have great chemistry in this. The story was a great mystery. The secrets revealed in this story is sickening and really broke my heart for Elisabeth Campbell. To have her father brush away what happened to her and tell her to forget had me fuming. It is not something one could forget and brush off. It was disturbing and gut wrenching watching what happened to her. The movie is one of the better mystery thrillers I have ever seen. A must see in my opinion.

The General's Daughter is an interesting Thriller, but ends up being a fairly average one at best. The film has a decent enough cast starring in it. Overall the film is an average piece of cinema that delivers decent thrills as the main character played by John Travolta seeks to uncover the truth about the murder of a C. at West Point. He uncovers many cover ups and soon discovers that the C.O's daughter wasn't all that she seemed to be. Though a good film, I thought that The General's Daughter could have used a bit more story to the subject matter because here you have a story that is almost flat at times. However theres some good twists and good thrills to be had watching this film. The film is good, but it's nothing terrific. The acting is fairly well delivered, James Cromwell and James Woods are terrific and even John Travolta is good here, but his performance is at times uneven. The film is nothing spectacular in terms of a Thriller, but it has many good things going for it that will surely entertain the viewer. The General's Daughter is an average Thriller with above average acting, it has the potential to be a great Thriller, but it doesn't quit get there. However the film is bound to give you a few thrills as you follow Paul Brenner uncover the truth of the murder in the film. An entertain film that could have been better.

This film condemns the U.S. army's stance of superiority, Independence, secrecy and the overall idea that they are above the law, and in some respects films that support that notion and fly under the notion of patriotism - so it's quite confusing that visually, it's got all the same styling and same tricks as those films, but I digress. The story is compelling to a point but it soon delivers the disturbing message that basically, every man is a potential rapist/murder and all round asshole - It's not exactly respectful to women either, even though it's supposed to be supportive. Insulting to say the least!

A film that warmed up nicely into an ok military Thriller. Particularly liked James Woods in this, who does occasionally show a glimpse of brilliance.

Although a very different storyline, there were, I felt, reminders of ?A few good Men? in the theme.

An interesting film that?s worthy of a watch and one of Travolta?s better films.

A thriller that achieves what it sets out to do. The cast are all very strong, and add a bit of credence to a fairly overblown plot. Woods and Travolta have some excellent dialogues together, and even the forced flirtation between Stowe and Travolta has the lines delivered well between scenes of a rape investigation. It's another military themed film that attacks the military for it's "all for one" attitude, and also addresses issues of women in the military. West is a master of thrills, and this sits up there with Con Air for pure Hollywood escapism.

Question: What do you do when you have an average storyline with too many sub-plots and clichéd twists? Answer: Get an A-list ensemble cast to take the focus away from the actual story.

First, I'd like to say that the movie is worth watching, especially if you're flicking through the channels on TV and it happens to be playing. It tackles the issues of female abuse in the military, corruptness of military officials, and ultimately betrayal between father and daughter. Unfortunately these themes have been explored to death in many other films, and this film does little to improve on the subject matter.

John Travolta, a cocky but smart military cop with an extreme dislike for authoritative figures, leads an investigation into the death of a female military officer. As events unfold, he finds out that things aren't what they seem (what a surprise!) and that a massive cover-up has been put in place by the woman's father, a general in army, about the fact that she was gang-raped 7 years ago.

The rape scene is brutal and powerful and you will land up hating all military people, which is exactly the reason why her father tried to cover up her rape. It is completely implausible that a father would cover up his own daughters brutal rape to avoid, what is ultimately, bad press.

Travolta is favorite of mine but he plays his character too tongue-in-cheek, considering the subject matter. Although he is extremely entertaining, I get the feeling that he plays it lightly because he's not able to play the roles seriously. He's just not a dramatic actor and I kept waiting for him to say stuff like "cool baby".

James Woods, a powerhouse actor if given the right opportunity, is unfortunately given a small role, although crucial to the plot. The witty remarks between him and Travolta are really what make this film worth watching.

The ultimate baddie in this film is the general, played by the same actor that played the corrupt police captain in L.A Confidential. They're basically the same type of characters...corrupt and powerful. For me this was a give-away as soon as I saw him because he always plays the bad guy. Is there a more type-casted actor? He's also not particularly a powerful actor, nor was his character interesting. They could have made him a lot more intimidating...like Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men. At the end you're just not sure if he was a good father who made a bad decision or a corrupt general who made a good decision.

There are many characters and scenes in this move that have no real purpose. The fight scene in the beginning of the movie when Travolta is attacked by some guy that he's been investigating is not necessary. Travolta just laughs at the situation, makes a few witty remarks and leaves. The general's loyal assistant who helps him cover up the rape. has no input to the movie or storyline. The ultimate no-needer is Madeleine Stowe's character. She seems to exist just to give male viewers something to look at other than guys in army uniforms. Her character has no depth nor enough lines in the movie. Everything she uncovers could have been done by Travolta's character.

The film is engaging although disappointing in the end. In the last few minutes, Travolta's character threatens to court-martial the general and following a few witty remarks, the general leaves. I can't help thinking that the movie should have centred around the court-martial instead of the actual crimes. It would have made a much bigger impact as a court-room drama then as a second-rate criminal investigation. It just feels like another episode of CSI: Miami.

It's watchable only because of the A-list cast, also including Madeleine Stowe and Timothy Hutton. Ultimately the movie hinges on John Travolta's charm, not his acting, to pull it off. I

Meh. But you'll watch anything when you're jet lagged. Is it just me, or does anyone else have trouble believing James Cromwell is on the up and up since LA Confidential?

i thnk this is a brilliant film really good with twists and turns that are easy to folow and enjoy

A dull thriller, given an undeservedly classy sheen by its attractive cinematography. Travolta and Stowe's romantic flirtation sits uneasily with the nastiness of the crime they are investigating, there are not enough credible suspects for the murder, and you'd have to be pretty dozy not to spot the real culprit early on. Could it possibly be the guy who let that other suspect out of jail, conveniently to commit 'suicide'??? A good cast, but this is a little lame.

John has to solve a murder. Good plot.

Loved the book -- don't like John Revolting

Not three bad

Good suspense with the investigate of the murder of a beautiful female officer.

Good film.

John Travolta portrays a captain in the army special investigations unit assigned to find the murderer of the titled general's daughter. The corpse was found naked with signs of rape, torture and died from being strangled while spread-eagled. Madeleine Stowe plays the military detective asking questions to the key suspects who knew her, and her secret dominatrix lifestyle. She hopes to uncover the reasons for the crime and find its perpetrator. Of course, as is common in stories like this, there are those who don't want the truth to be told. Excellent support is given by James Woods as the murdered woman's colleague and military psychologist, James Cromwell as the general, and Timothy Hutton as a colonel acting as liaison to Travolta in the investigation.
Warning: Contains an extremely graphic rape scene!

a little dissapointed with this

Too predictable, too clichéd. The plot has a lot of potential which is unfortunately not used at all.

I've seen this one a few times. Suspenseful and shocking!

Enjoyed this movie wasnt expecting, surprize and intrigue, but it captured my intrest from the start

Interesting movie, good acting, but the story develops slowly and is a bit hard to believe. Apparently it is based off of a true story? But I don't know how much of the real story they actually knew.