Basic DVD Review

"BASIC" reviews

DVD

BASIC

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-26 11:18:14

Provider

DVD Review

Basic, the film that reunited John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson for the first time since Pulp Fiction finally comes to the digital format.

The military thriller, directed by Die Hard's John McTiernan, finds Travolta playing Tom Hardy, a former US Ranger and now DEA Agent, who is called in to investigate a botched exercise in the Panamanian jungle. Teamed up with Lt. Julia Osbourne (Connie Nielsen), Hardy has just a few hours to find out who's dead, who's alive and just what the hell happened on a routine training exercise that only saw two of the seven officers deployed return.

There are few films in which you'll see more rain than David Fincher's Se7en but Basic is one. Does the sun never shine in Panama? Maybe the weather is meant to be reflective of the film's mood 'cos by the end it certainly we're as bogged down in false leads, plot twists and dummy endings as the characters are in mud.

That said Basic is a competent enough thriller - it's just a shame that Travolta and Jackson only share the screen for about five minutes.