Basic (2003)

Director:

John McTiernan

Writer (WGA):

James Vanderbilt (written by)

Release Date:

28 March 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Deception is their most dangerous weapon.

Plot:

A DEA agent investigates the disappearance of a legendary Army ranger drill sergeant and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry.

Plot Keywords:

Army | Panama | Contradictory Accounts | Multiple Perspectives | Racial Slur

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Travolta	...	Hardy
Connie Nielsen	...	Osborne
Samuel L. Jackson	...	West
Tim Daly	...	Styles
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Kendall
Brian Van Holt	...	Dunbar
Taye Diggs	...	Pike
Dash Mihok	...	Mueller
Cristián de la Fuente	...	Castro
Roselyn Sanchez	...	Nunez
Harry Connick Jr.	...	Vilmer
Georgia Hausserman	...	Pilot
Margaret Travolta	...	Nurse #1
Dena Johnston	...	Nurse #2
Nick Loren	...	Helicopter Pilot
Cliff Fleming	...	Helicopter Pilot
Steven Maye	...	CID Officer
Jonathan Rau	...	G.I. on the Tarmac
Tait Ruppert	...	Jeep Driver (as Tait Rupert)
Timothy S. Wester	...	Doctor
Chris Byrne	...	MP
Curtis Ricks	...	MP
Charles L. Fails	...	MP

Directed by
John McTiernan

Writing credits (WGA)
James Vanderbilt		(written by)

Produced by
Moritz Borman	....	executive producer
Anson Downes	....	associate producer
Linda Favila	....	associate producer
Brad Fischer	....	co-executive producer (as Bradley J. Fischer)
Andy Given	....	co-producer (as Andrew D. Given)
Basil Iwanyk	....	executive producer
Jonathan D. Krane	....	executive producer
Mike Medavoy	....	producer
Arnold Messer	....	producer (as Arnie Messer)
Lee Nelson	....	co-producer
Louis Phillips	....	co-producer
Nigel Sinclair	....	executive producer
Dror Soref	....	co-producer
Michael Tadross	....	producer
James Vanderbilt	....	producer

Original Music by
Klaus Badelt

Cinematography by
Steve Mason

Film Editing by
George Folsey Jr.

Casting by
Pat McCorkle

Production Design by
Dennis Bradford

Art Direction by
Gary Kosko

Set Decoration by
Vera Mills

Costume Design by
Kate Harrington

Makeup Department
Allan A. Apone	....	makeup artist: Mr. Jackson
Adam Brandy	....	key second unit makeup artist
Michelle Bühler	....	makeup artist: Mr. Travolta (as Michelle Buhler)
Lee Grimes	....	makeup artist: additional photography
Lisa Miller	....	makeup artist
Peggy Nicholson	....	key hair stylist
Robert L. Stevenson	....	hair stylist: Mr. Jackson
Yolanda Toussieng	....	hair stylist: Mr. Travolta
Brian Wade	....	special makeup effects crew (uncredited)

Production Management
Terra Abroms	....	post-production supervisor
Mauri Freed	....	unit manager
Borjan Jovanovich	....	assistant production manager (as Boki Jovanovich)
Justin Moritt	....	unit production manager
Julian Valdes	....	unit manager: Panama unit
Sandy Watterson	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Capra III	....	first assistant director: additional photography
Mischa Hausserman	....	second unit director
Anel E. Moreno	....	assistant director
Jesse Nye	....	second second assistant director
Douglas Plasse	....	second assistant director (as Douglas T. Plasse)
Michael Tadross Jr.	....	second second assistant director
Julian Wall	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jason Arteaga	....	scenic foreman
Bruce Bisbey	....	art department coordinator
Amanda S. Burns	....	construction production assistant
Rex Christensen	....	on-set dresser
Peter Damien	....	propmaker foreman
Michael J. Flynn	....	greensman
Kate Forry Guanci	....	carpenter (as Kate D. Forry)
Douglas Fox	....	property master
Geoffrey S. Grimsman	....	set designer
James Hayward	....	set dresser
Michael Hendrick	....	set dresser
Jude Kahle	....	scenic artist
Paul D. Kelly	....	assistant art director
Richard A. McCarthy	....	plaster department head
Jeff 'J.Mac' McDonald	....	greensman
Herman McEachin	....	scenic charge
Jody McFarland	....	scenic artist
William D. McLane	....	greensman
Arturo Mendez	....	signs painter
Deborah Palmer	....	assistant art director
Dan Pemberton	....	construction coordinator: additional photography
Jeremy Alan Read	....	greensman
Julia Starr Sanford	....	set designer (as Julie Sanford)
Christopher Scheetz	....	construction coordinator: Panama
Jeffrey Schlatter	....	construction coordinator
Roger Sherman	....	scenic artist
Tim Steinouer	....	props
Joseph E. Stone	....	art supplier
Johnny Thombleson	....	scenic artist
Gary Tuers	....	assistant property master
Alan S. Reynolds	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
David E. Campbell	....	sound re-recording mixer (as David Campbell)
Michael C. Casper	....	additional sound re-recording mixer (as Michael Casper)
Mike Chock	....	sound effects editor (as Michael Chock)
Harry Cohen	....	sound effects editor
Patrick Cusack	....	assistant sound editor
Andrew DeCristofaro	....	supervising sound editor
Marc Deschaine	....	adr assistant
Joe Dorn	....	adr supervisor
David Esparza	....	sound effects editor
Ken Fischer	....	sound effects editor (as Ken Fisher)
Angela Hackner	....	sound recordist
Denise Horta	....	adr editor
Eileen Horta	....	adr editor
Mark Johnston	....	sound recordist
Nicholas Vincent Korda	....	adr editor (as Nicholas Korda)
Sean Landeros	....	sound recordist
Daniel J. Leahy	....	additional sound re-recording mixer (as Daniel Leahy)
Jason Miller	....	sound utility
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Tom Nelson	....	production sound mixer
Nancy Nugent	....	dialogue editor (as Nancy Kyong Nugent)
Michael Payne	....	supervising sound editor
John T. Reitz	....	sound re-recording mixer (as John Reitz)
Stephen P. Robinson	....	sound effects editor (as Steve Robinson)
Gregg Rudloff	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mike Schmidt	....	utility sound
Ann Scibelli	....	sound designer
Ann Scibelli	....	sound editor
Kim Secrist	....	sound effects editor
Gregg Silk	....	second engineer
John C. Stuver	....	supervising dialogue editor
Becky Sullivan	....	supervising adr editor
Shawn Sykora	....	foley supervisor
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer
Tim Walston	....	sound effects editor
James Ashwill	....	foley mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Conrad V. Brink Jr.	....	special effects coordinator (as Conrad V. Brink)
Ken Gorrell	....	special effects technician
Thomas Kittle	....	special effects technician
Richard Scioli	....	special effects technician
Patrick Tantalo	....	special effects technician
Kathleen Tonkin	....	special effects technician
Tim Tonkin	....	special effects technician
Robert Vazquez	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Joseph Bailey	....	digital compositor: big red pixel
Jeremy Bloch	....	digital artist: big red pixel
Clay Dale	....	CG animator: Pixel Magic
Steven Fagerquist	....	visual effects compositing artist
Patrick Flanagan	....	digital compositor: Pixel Magic
Tarn Fox	....	digital compositor: big red pixel
Jim Gorman	....	digital compositor
M.K. Gururaj	....	visual effects producer: DAMFX
Nate Haggard	....	digital compositor: Pixel Magic
Mike Hardison	....	CG supervisor: Pixel Magic
James David Hattin	....	digital compositor: OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic
Bonnie Kanner	....	visual effects executive producer: Pixel Magic
John G. Kirby	....	digital artist: big red pixel (as John Kirby)
Marc Kolbe	....	visual effects supervisor: DAMFX
Jonah Loop	....	visual effects producer: big red pixel
George Macri	....	visual effects producer: Pixel Magic
Ray McIntyre Jr.	....	visual effects supervisor: Pixel Magic
David B. Moulder	....	visual effects coordinator (as Dave Moulder)
Brad Moylan	....	digital compositor: Pixel Magic
Craig A. Mumma	....	visual effects supervisor: DAMFX (as Craig Mumma)
Heather Neuberger	....	visual effects post assistant
Robert Rossello	....	visual effects supervisor: big red pixel
Ray Scalice	....	general manager: Pixel Magic
John E. Sullivan	....	visual effects consultant (as John Sullivan)
Kondareddy Suresh	....	rotoscope artist
Devin Uzan	....	digital compositor: Pixel Magic

Stunts
Hank Amos	....	stunts (as Henry Amos)
Kevin Ball	....	stunts
Daniel W. Barringer	....	stunts
Nick Brandon	....	stunts (as Nicholas Brandon)
Chris Byrne	....	stunts (as Christopher Byrne)
Wally Crowder	....	stunts (as Wallace Dwight Crowder)
Gary Davis	....	stunt coordinator
Cheryl Wheeler Duncan	....	stunts (as Cheryl Wheeler)
Kiante Elam	....	stunts
Jason Gray	....	stunts
Thirl Haston	....	stunts (as Thirl R. Haston)
Mike Justus	....	stunts
Robert Lennon	....	stunts
Douglas Neithercut	....	stunts
J.J. Perry	....	stunts (as Jordan Perry)
Steven Ritzi	....	stunt coordinator (as Steven T. Ritzi)
Dennis Scott	....	stunts (as Dennis R. Scott)
Doug Snively	....	stunts (as Douglas Snively)
Todd Rogers Terry	....	stunts
Dirk Vahle	....	stunts
Chris Byrne	....	stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric Amundsen	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Miles Anderson	....	gaffer: Los Angeles
Kurt Beckler	....	grip
Travis Burdick	....	camera production assistant
Shiloh Eck	....	grip
Morris Flam	....	gaffer
Ryan French	....	electrician
Joe Humphreys	....	electrician
Kevin Jackson	....	rigging best boy electric
Nils Johnson	....	key video assist operator
Clay Liversidge	....	rigging gaffer
Jim McConkey	....	Steadicam operator
Jim McConkey	....	camera operator
Larry McConkey	....	camera operator
Larry McConkey	....	steadicam operator
James McMillan	....	key grip
Jack Nealy	....	electrician
Gene Page	....	still photographer
George Patsos	....	key grip
Scott Rathner	....	assistant camera: "a" camera
Louis Smith	....	additional second assistant camera
Michael J. Walsh	....	balloon lighting supervisor
Marc Wostak	....	electrician
John Wruck	....	best boy

Casting Department
Brenda Egedy Kolb	....	extras casting (as Brenda Egedy)
Ed Lewis	....	casting associate
Dani Super	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
James P. Cullen	....	costumer: Mr. Travolta (as Jimmy Cullen)
Suzy Freeman	....	assistant costume designer
Askia Won-Ling Jacob	....	costumer: Mr. Jackson
Kate Sawyer	....	seamstress
Emae Villalobos	....	costumer
Megan Walker	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Steve Calalang	....	dailies colorist
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Michael Ilasi	....	post-production assistant
James Nichols Jr.	....	assistant editor
Robert Raring	....	color timer (as Bob Raring)
Mark Scovil	....	assistant editor
Brad E. Wilhite	....	associate editor

Music Department
Christopher Brooks	....	supervising music editor (as Christopher S. Brooks)
Ramin Djawadi	....	composer: additional music
Ramin Djawadi	....	music arranger
Jay Duerr	....	music editor: temp score
Marylou Eales	....	music coordinator
Ian Honeyman	....	technical score assistant
Stephen Krause	....	score mixer
Jill Meyers	....	music clearances
Craig Pilo	....	musician
Joel Sill	....	executive music producer

Transportation Department
Danny Mortenson	....	transportation coordinator
Timothy Stephens	....	driver
Tim Whisenant	....	transportation: John Travolta

Other crew
Maricarmen Arauz	....	production assistant: Panama
Tobin Armbrust	....	production executive
Dilvio Bonilla	....	location assistant
Karen Bosma	....	assistant production coordinator (as Karen L. Bosma)
Josef Brandmaier	....	banker
Patrick Curd	....	production assistant
Raisa De Alba	....	production assistant: Panama
Rob Dickerson Jr.	....	production assistant
Tom Fallon	....	location manager
Alicen Fonseca	....	production assistant
Rebecca Garrison	....	assistant: Mr. McTiernan
Mitch Harbeson	....	location manager
Barbara Harris	....	looping group
Michael Ilasi	....	intern
Terry Ladin	....	production coordinator (as Terry Ellen Ladin)
Rob McEntegart	....	executive vice president, business affairs: Intermedia Films
Mark Moran	....	assistant: John McTiernan
Kory O'Donnell	....	assistant: Mr. Tadross (as Kory A. O'Donnell)
Ilene Pickus	....	script supervisor
Oak Porcelli	....	assistant: Mr. McTiernan
Patricia Story	....	unit publicist (as N. Patricia Story)
Susan Such	....	executive assistant: Mr. Travolta
Leonard L. Thomas	....	assistant: Mr. Jackson (as Leonard Thomas)
Trish Vengoechea	....	assistant accountant (as Patricia Vengoechea)
Dixie D. Walker	....	production accountant
John H. Whisenant	....	assistant: Mr. Travolta
Rebecca White	....	assistant accountant
Rob Williams	....	synthesizer programmer
Robert Milo Williams	....	synthesizer programmer
Jeff George	....	assistant to producers (uncredited)
Michael J. Harker	....	completion bond company representative (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Phoenix Pictures
• Intermedia Films

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Constantin Film (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2003) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Moonlight Films (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Pyramid (2003) (Russia) (theatrical)
• SND (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Star Entertainment (2004) (India) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Paradise Group (2003) (Russia) (all media)

Special Effects

• Pixel Magic (visual effects)
• Big Red Pixel (visual effects)
• DAMFX (visual effects)
• Howard Anderson Company, The (visual effects) (as Howard Anderson)
• East Coast Films (uncredited)
• Makeup Effects Laboratories (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints
• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• HypoVereins Bank  banking services
• Lightnin' Production Rentals  transportation equipment
• Movie Movers  cast trailers
• Movie Movers  star trailers
• Movie Movers  transportation
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• Technicolor  color
• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #39367) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:14A (Ontario) (DVD rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | France:U | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Costa Rica

Company:

Phoenix Pictures

Trivia:

Osborne's phone number is 334-5644. No area code is given.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right before Kendall talks about being the victim of a hate-crime during his narration, strobes that generate the lightning flashes can be seen firing above in the trees as Castro is shooting at targets.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Osbourne:[narration] The French tried to build a canal here before the Americans. At the height of their effort, 500 workers were dyin' a week from malaria and yellow fever. They couldn't come up with cemetary space fast enough. Not to mention the morale problem all those crosses would have made...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Basic: A Director's Design (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen

Anything But Basic...

"Basic" takes a lot of plot twists through the steamy jungles of Panama. They are often impossible to follow. No, literally. Impossible. As in they literally do not piece together. You can try to analyze them, but when you do, you find out there is nothing really to be analyzed. But the film, by confusing and tricking the audience, makes it appear as if something is there, which is almost as good as if something really is there. Therefore, the movie, though frustratingly difficult to follow at times, is entertaining. Confused yet? Yeah, that's what the movie will make you feel like.

The film opens up in a rain-drenched Panama jungle at night on an Army training mission headed by Sergeant West (Samuel L. Jackson). Most of the film--ALL of the film, for that matter--takes place at night, during a rainy hurricane, and adds to the nonexistant plot. What is so intriguing is that the plot isn't really there, but the writer tries to manifest one, and we feel as if we are staring at some nonexistant, material wad of words and flashbacks and images thrown together in a blender, the writer hoping for it to come out smelling of roses. But I already went over that, didn't I?

Flash forward to the next day. An Army chopper picks up two men from the training mission, one injured and one very much alive. The injured man, Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi), is sent to a hospital, and the alive man, Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) is sent in for questioning by the very sexy and very Southern Osborne (Connie Nielsen). Dunbar refuses to speak to anyone except a Ranger. So in comes Ranger Tom Hardy (John Travolta) to piece together the events surrounding the death of Sgt. West and his team.

The writer of "Basic," James Vanderbilt, has so many twists and turns that the film is impossible to keep up with. I like movies like these, where you see different characters telling their version of one event, but the mistake Vanderbilt makes is that he overuses the plot flashbacks in the middle of other events. It becomes hard to seperate present from past and what's real from what's not. So many revelations happen that I feel like I'm in the middle of the writer's mind, as he comes up with new ideas and tries to squeeze them in time after time after time. There is a limit to how many times you can use "surprise" revelation endings. Vanderbilt uses three of four in a row, piled on top of each other, time after time after time. Just as we think the plot twists are done, and we start to smile because we think we might finally understand the basis of the plot, something else happens, and we zoom in suspensefully on John Travolta's face as he, along with the audience, realizes something. Which leads me to something else.

The end of the film leaves more open than concluded. So many plot holes are never ironed out. With the ending being the way it is, you can look back at certain events and think, "Why did that surprise (so-and-so)," and "Why did that event happen as it pays no relevancy to the plot?" The answer to all this? Simple: It's called audience manipulation, and James Vanderbilt uses it a lot. He throws the audience a bone to keep them happy, continues with something else, throws another bone, and when it's all done and over, we're choking on all these bones and he doesn't realize it. Interesting how he said he named his character Tom Hardy after the Hardy Boys. If I recall, the Hardy Boy novels, which I was an avid reader of at one time, usually revealed a lot at the end. "Basic" tries to, but does not.

The film has an excellent director at its helm, John McTiernan. A man who chooses his projects carefully and wisely and, unfortunately, sometimes horribly ("Rollerball" was exceptionally bad). But "Die Hard" and "Predator" are two of my all-time favorite action films, "Predator" being my all-time favorite "alien" movie. Who wants McTiernan to return to his roots and film a "Predator 3"? It would be good, but don't count on it. Like I said, he chooses wisely, and if I assume correctly, he's the kind of director who doesn't like to return to old projects.

"Basic" confused me, but after the film was over and my mind was in a knot trying to figure out all the different plot twists, I realized how much fun I had being duped by this film. I laughed to myself as I came to realize that this movie has a paper-thin plot, and the filmmakers all tricked us by taking so many twists and turns and throwing so many confusion bones at the audience and making us believe that the underlying plot of the film was something deep. I really enjoyed this movie, even if I still don't really understand it fully. Then again, I don't think you're really supposed to.

3.5/5 stars -