“Basic” is the new military drama by director John McTiernan that follows a military investigator (Connie Nielsen) who is forced to team with a DEA agent (John Travolta) to look into the mysterious disappearance of an Army Ranger Military Instructor (Samuel L. Jackson) and his cadets during a military exercise in Panama. The plot thickens into a web of deceit and lies as they filter through the conflicting stories being told by two of the rescued cadets. The first impression that I had of “Basic” was that had all the trappings of a movie that shouldn’t have been good. As it began, the first thing I noticed was that almost all of the performances appeared to be lessons in indulgence, with all the characters being extreme stereotypes. Samuel L. Jackson played Sgt. West as a tyrannical and sadistic drill instructor, reminiscent of R. Lee Ermey. John Travolta’s DEA Agent Tom Hardy was as smarmy as he was smart. It was almost too much.

Then I had a problem with the way some of the scenes were played. Some of the situations were too unbelievable in terms of reality. One good example of this is in a scene where Hardy stops a military escort of one of the survivors (who is being blamed for the death of the missing soldiers) as they are loading him onto a plane. He pushes past them, pulls a gun and pulls the cadet over the stairs onto the ground to question him further. Now, I don’t know about you, but I believe any one of the members of that escort would have shot him in an instant for pulling such a stunt. Instead, they all stood idly by as he went about his business. On and on throughout “Basic”, there were little ‘Hollywood’ scenes like this.

Now, the big surprise you are about to get out of this review is the comment from me that despite these faults, I enjoyed the heck out of it. Once I recognized the style of the movie, which was that it should not to be taken too seriously, I found myself completely caught up in the various plot twists. I started paying attention to all the different versions of the story surrounding the disappearance of the soldiers and took a stab at trying to figure it out before the movie ended. Much to the writer’s credit, it had me guessing all the way to the end. There were enough plot twists all the way through to the film’s final moments that every time I thought I had it figured out I ended up being wrong.

One of the other things that actually impressed me about the DVD release was the superb transfer. There are a lot of scenes that take place in the jungle… at night… during a hurricane, and through all of them, the picture remained sharp and clear, and I never had any problems making out what or whom I was watching. Even more amazing was the sound separation. This was one of the best sounding DVDs I’ve heard in a while. The aforementioned hurricane filled the room, and I kept thinking it was really raining outside (and oddly enough, at one time it was for about five minutes).

The extras on the disc are pretty good if you end up liking the movie as much as I did, with the exception of the commentary. McTiernan does a pretty good job filling you in on some of the back-story of making film, but his delivery is a bit dry and there are a lot of quiet places. One of the documentaries is interesting as it delivers contradictory viewpoints much like the film itself, as various members of the cast are interviewed and offer their thoughts on the film. The other documentary featurette allows screenwriter James Vanderbilt an opportunity to discuss the how the screenplay came about and changes they made along the way during filming.

“Basic” is one of those movies that you have to ‘check your brain’ to watch, which is in no way meant to be an insult. Once you get past some of those Hollywood trappings I mentioned before, you’ll find a smartly written thriller that’ll keep you guessing all the way to the ‘wink and a nod’ ending.

Directed by: John McTiernan
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Connie Nielsen, Giovanni Ribisi, Brian Van Holt, Taye Diggs, Cristian De La Fuente, Dash Mihok, Tim Daly, Roselyn Sanchez, Harry Connick Jr.
Extras: Director’s Commentary, Filmographies, Theatrical Trailers, Featurettes – Basic: A Director’s Design, Basic Ingredients: a Writer’s Perspective
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 7/8/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Violence and Language)
Website

We'll give Basic a C+.