The Base (1999)

In a U.S. army base, a senior army officer leads a group of young men into drug trafficking.

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writers:

Jeff Albert (screenplay), Craig J. Nevius (story)

Stars:

Mark Dacascos, Tim Abell, Paula Trickey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Dacascos	...	Maj. John Murphy / Cpl. John Dalton
Tim Abell	...	Sgt. Michael S. Gammon
Paula Trickey	...	Lt. Kelly Andrews
Noah Blake	...	Cpl. Nicholas Castellano
Darcas Macopson	...	Cpl. Theodore Knox (as Dwayne Macopson)
Christian Bocher	...	Cpl. Richard P. Henderson
Madison Mason	...	Gen. Leo Oxenberg
Frederick Coffin	...	Brig. Gen. Albert Becker
Marco Rodríguez	...	Rosato
Joe Renteria	...	Ray
Louis Perez	...	Santos (as Louis Anthony Perez)
Josh Cruze	...	Pablo (as Josh Cruz)
Alex Carl	...	Lt. Stephen Doyle
Tom Schultz	...	Commando 1
Brian Hite	...	Commando 2

Storyline

Major Murphy, a US Army Investigator, has received a new assignment. Sgt. Gammon is suspected of dealing cocaine from his base, and Murphy must gather enough evidence to shut down Gammon and his entire operation. Along with his partner, Lt. Andrews, the Major goes undercover to infiltrate the gang and find out just how far up the chain of command these activities are going.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. army | undercover | bare breasts | strip club | greco roman wrestling | 

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Taglines:

One Man. The Strength Of An Army

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong and brutal violence, language and some nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

The entire movie, with the exception of the scenes in Los Angeles, was shot at former Victorville Air Force Base.

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Goofs

When Cpl. John Dalton is drinking champagne with Sgt. Gammon, his glass is always half full from the side view and empty from the front view.

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Quotes

Sergeant Gammon: Let's lock, cock, and rock.

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

User Reviews

Better Than I Expected

A squad of soldiers start up their own enterprise by starting up a drug smuggling business and it`s up to an undercover soldier to bring the criminals to justice

The above premise is another reworking of a film noir plot about a cop infiltrating a criminal gang ala WHITE HEAT . There is a major mistake in having the story set against a military background and many other reviewers have noticed it - How can soldiers spend so much time unsupervised by higher command be able to run a successful drugs op ? Is this credible ? What isn`t credible is the fact the bad guys can use their army weapons to blow away their rivals . I`d have thought that they`d have to sign out for their weapons and account for every round of ammo used ? Is Col David Hackworth correct with his criticisms at how the American military is run ?

Still THE BASE isn`t as nearly as bad as I expected for a made for video release ( The TV page of the newspaper gave it one star out of four which is the lowest possible rating ) , it`s by no means a great thriller but considering the cast are composed of people I`ve never heard of they do a fairly good job and the screenplay could have been a whole lot worse despite moments of dumbness . Compare THE BASE to other made for video releases like RANGERS and you`ll realise it`s not all that bad

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Base

Filming Locations:

Francis Scott Key Bridge, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American World Pictures (AWP), Lions Gate Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1