G.I. Jane (1997)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA):

Danielle Alexandra (story)
David Twohy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Failure is not an option.

Plot:

A female Senator succeeds in enrolling a woman into Navy SEALS training where everyone expects her to fail.

Plot Keywords:

Navy | Navy Seal | Commando | Training | Military

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Demi Moore	...	Jordan O'Neill
Viggo Mortensen	...	Master Chief John James Urgayle
Anne Bancroft	...	Lillian DeHaven
Jason Beghe	...	Royce
Daniel von Bargen	...	Theodore Hayes (as Daniel Von Bargen)
John Michael Higgins	...	Chief of Staff
Kevin Gage	...	Instructor Pyro
David Warshofsky	...	Instructor Johns
David Vadim	...	Cortez
Morris Chestnut	...	McCool
Josh Hopkins	...	Flea
James Caviezel	...	Slovnik
Boyd Kestner	...	Wickwire
Angel David	...	Newberry
Stephen Ramsey	...	Stamm

Also Known As:

A Matter of Honor (USA) (working title)
In Pursuit of Honor (USA) (working title)
Navy Cross (USA) (working title)
Pursuit of Honor (USA) (working title)
Undisclosed (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and combat violence.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | USA:R (certificate #35019) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Brazil:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Beaufort, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Trivia:

According to Ridley Scott (while discussing the filming of Matchstick Men (2003)), Sam Rockwell was originally cast in one of the roles and had completed some rehearsals before he became ill/injured and was replaced.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When O'Neil exits the Hummer upon arriving at base, she closes the door behind her but the door does not latch shut. You can see it swinging back open just as the vehicle is leaving the cameras view.

Quotes:

Master Chief John Urgayle: When I want your opinion, I'll give it to ya.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Ellen: G.I. Ellen (#5.6)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

The Future Is a War

A cutesy name for an abrasive and confronting film about prejudice.

Demi Moore is one female Seal out of water.

In most cases of discrimination, the minority party is a small percentage of the total population. They have friends, you might say. Here its one against the world. The odds aren't hardly fair. The environment of prejudice here is completely believable. We don't need much convincing that Navy Seals training is a hardcore testosterone-fueled boys club. And its a scary place to be. I'd liken it to a girl put into an all-boys public high-school. She's eaten alive at every turn. The viewer is put in the position of such vulnerability, because we are aligned with the one woman in a world full of bitter, threatened soldiers, constantly passing sexist comments and threatening to take advantage of the female Seal.

There are moments that border on exploitation: Demi Moore's implants are put to good use in a sequence doing pushups in a short cut-off shirt, set to Three Dog Night's Mama Told Me (Not to Come). There is a speech intended for dafter viewers by an African-American character sympathising with Moore by likening her to his grandfather who was refused navy service on the grounds that African-Americans can't see at night (A surreal anecdote, but believable.) On the whole, however, the film is well made in Ridley's late style, which is to say, less style than his earlier pictures. It has several glimpses of the striking lighting which characterised his earlier pictures. My recommendations are as follows: 1) If you're looking for a silly movie, this is not one. Its dark.

2) If you're looking for a dark war training picture, or a good drama, then I recommend it.

3) If you're going through all Ridley Scott's movies as I am, this is a good three-star picture, but probably won't be one of your favourites by the end, which for me so far are Alien, Legend and Blade Runner.