Basic (2003)

A D.E.A. Agent investigates the disappearance of a legendary Army Ranger Drill Sergeant and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writer:

James Vanderbilt

Stars:

John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Connie Nielsen

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

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. Neither is willing to cooperate with Capt. Julia Osborne's investigation. So base commander Col. Bill Styles calls in ex-Ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator. Osborne disapproves of Hardy who is on leave from the D.E.A. after having come under suspicion of accepting bribes from local drug traffickers. She is also uneasy when she learns that Hardy once trained under West and hates him almost as passionately as his current recruits. With time running out, Hardy and Osborne call a temporary, if uneasy, truce. Hardy ...

---

Plot Keywords:

twist at the end | flashback | multiple perspectives | covert operation | twist ending | 

---

Taglines:

In a Secret War Truth is the Enemy.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

AA

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the U.S. Army base, situated near the Panama Canal, was Fort Clayton.

---

Goofs

The bullet holes in the roof of the hut are as big as quarters, and so are possibly too large for the rifles' caliber of 5.56mm Nato.

---

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. So they bought shiploads of vinegar in Cuba, and in each barrel, they sealed one corpse, and then they sold them as medical cadavers all over Europe. And for a while, that was their principal source...

---

Connections

References The General's Daughter (1999)

---

Soundtracks

Bolero
Written by Maurice Ravel
Performed by Hungarian State Orchestra
Conducted by Ádám Fischer
Courtesy of LaserLight Digital
By Arrangement with Source/Q

User Reviews

Full of Twists - And yes they work pretty well too!

Basic engages your attention pretty early on and keeps you guessing throughout with the twists and turns in the storyline and its refreshingly unexpected ending.

As you would expect Travolta and Jackson are both superb, as is Connie Neilson. The characters build well, the writing is very solid, and the story is quite original.

All in all 'Basic' is a good thriller that is a little complex and confusing for the casual movie fan.

Definitely worth watching, but not a classic

7/10

Details

Official Sites:

Production Notes Sony Pictures

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2003 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Formation extrême

Filming Locations:

Costa Rica

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,511,960, 30 March 2003

Gross USA:

$26,793,311

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$42,792,561

Company Credits

Production Co:

Phoenix Pictures, Intermedia Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1