Basic |  | Director: John McTiernan
Actors: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Connie Nielsen, Tim Daly, Giovanni Ribisi
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $0.05
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Rating:  142 reviews
Sales Rank: 4258
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: 043396097452
ISBN: 1404902686
UPC: 043396097452
EAN: 9781404902688
ASIN: B00009L1TA
Theatrical Release Date: March 28, 2003
Release Date: July 8, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
If you thought The Recruit was full of surprises, Basic will spin your head around. Assuming that cleverness is its own reward, this military mystery shares many of The Recruit's strengths and weaknesses, offering multi-layered deception as its dramatic raison d'etre. Copping plenty of machismo attitude befitting a semi-effective thriller from Die Hard director John McTiernan, John Travolta stars as an ex-Army Ranger-turned-DEA agent, recruited by an Army investigator (Connie Nielsen) to solve the fratricide of a reviled Sergeant (Samuel L. Jackson) who was allegedly killed while commanding a Special Forces training mission in the hurricane-swept rainforests of Panama. Two survivors (Giovanni Ribisi in a showboat role, and Brian Van Holt) recall the ill-fated mission as the truth unfolds, Rashomon-style, in a series of repetitive flashbacks. Tricky enough to hold one's attention as it grows increasingly irrelevant, Basic is so enamored of its bogus ingenuity that its ultimate twist is a letdown. A second viewing might prove rewarding, if only to confirm that it all holds together. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
An ex-Army ranger and DEA agent is brought in to investigate the disappearance of an Army Ranger Drill Instructor and a group of cadets.
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: R
Street Date: 02/03/04
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 142
 Basic January 6, 2010
Arnita D. Brown (USA)
Tom Hardy, an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West, as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees on what appears, at first, to have been a routine training exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama. Only two survivors are found, Dunbar, and a badly wounded Kendall, the son of a high-profile Joint Chiefs of Staff official. This movie has a very good story, but be ready for a lot of twists and a suprise ending.
Multiple Plot Twists - Thriller December 14, 2009
Willy D. Reviewer (San Francisco,CA)
You cannot guess the ending.
Well worth the price of the DVD.
If you want a guarantee, buy used. You cannot go wrong.
One Of My Most Favorite Movies.... November 11, 2009
C. Weaver (Rusk, Texas United States)
This movie isn't one of my favorites because of John Travolta or Samuel L. Jackson, but because of the female lead, Connie Nielsen. She hits just the right tone as the Provo Marshall who has her territory invaded by an outsider stealing her case! Great! The interplay between Travolta and Nielsen is great while they try to find out what happened in the jungle and the ending was just what the doctor ordered!
 Neat Military Puzzler November 6, 2009
drkhimxz (Freehold, NJ, USA)
Can't say that any of the actors in this were allowed to do their best; but, despite this, the film was entertaining, if not first rate. Travolta often seemed to be acting at acting in the role of a Department of Drug Enforcement agent called in to try to untangle a messed up Ranger exercise in which a number of recruits and their training sergeant had been killed. The objective was interrogation of the two survivors. Jackson is the over the top brutal training sergeant who is seen in flashbacks as the questioning elicited conflicting stories of his death. He played the part to the hilt. Nielsen as the official interrogator is pretty convincing. There are times when the film seems to lose momentum but soon gets back on track with some bit of action. All-in-all, the 100 minutes will pass quickly and leave a good taste behind.
 Made-for-tv movie on the big screen August 18, 2009
Plutonis
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Travolta's films can be categorized into two categories: Pulp Fiction and Everything Else. Basic, of course, belongs to the latter. This movie is like watching an episode of Law & Order with a bigger budget. It is so formulaic, using the "twists 'n turns" strategy of past films to create a senseless story whose ending negates the need for its making in the first place.
Top Ten Sign of Cliches include but are not limited to:
1. Sexual tension between Travolta and the female lead
2. The whodunnit flashbacks that are told differently each time by each person involved
3. The drug smuggling plot carried out by the law abiding, upright guy you'd never think was the crook
4. The "usual suspects" type ending where pieces of the puzzle all fall into place at the final moments
5. The main character who has a drinking problem (just for the sake of flavor)
6. Fights and shouting scenes you can seeing coming a mile away
7. Constant backtracking by the main characters and the need to confront potential suspects again, each time with angrier words and fist throwing
8. The mimicking environment rain storm that underscores the tension, and when Big Revelations are discovered, "Crack!" goes the lightning
9. The military's knee-jerk response to everything: shut out outsiders and hope the problem goes away
10.Opening narrative that tries to create a theme for the whole picture, but fails (maybe you can figure it out)
See if you can find anymore and make your own list!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 142
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