Basic(film)

Basicis a 2003crime-actionthriller filmdirected byJohn McTiernan,written byJames Vanderbilt,and starringJohn Travolta,Connie NielsenandSamuel L. Jackson.It is the second film starring Travolta and Jackson afterPulp Fiction.The story follows a DEA agent solving the mystery of a bungled training exercise that leads to the deaths of multiple Army Ranger trainees and their instructor.Basicreceived negative reviews from critics regarding its overall plot and numerous twist endings. It was abox-office bomb,grossing only $42.8 million worldwide against a $50 million budget. As of 2024, it is McTiernan's most recent film given his subsequentcriminal charges and eventual incarceration related to wiretapping.

Basic
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John McTiernan
Written by	James Vanderbilt
Produced by	Mike Medavoy Arnie Messer James Vanderbilt Michael Tadross
Starring	John Travolta Connie Nielsen Samuel L. Jackson Giovanni Ribisi Brian Van Holt Taye Diggs Cristián de la Fuente Dash Mihok Tim Daly Roselyn Sánchez Harry Connick Jr.
Cinematography	Steve Mason
Edited by	George Folsey Jr.
Music by	Klaus Badelt
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Intermedia Films Phoenix Pictures
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing(North America/Japan) Constantin Film(Germany)
Release date	March 28, 2003(2003-03-28)(United States)
Running time	98 minutes
Countries	United States Germany
Language	English
Budget	$50 million
Box office	$42.8 million

Plot

During alive fire exercisein the jungles ofPanama,a team ofArmy Rangerstrainees is led by instructor andMaster SergeantNathan West.SergeantRay Dunbar emerges from the jungle carrying woundedSecond LieutenantLevi Kendall. The two men are pursued by Sergeant Mueller, whom Dunbar kills inself-defense.Although no other bodies are found, West's team is presumed dead.

Dunbar refuses to talk toMilitary PoliceinvestigatorCaptainJulia Osborne and insists on speaking to a fellow Ranger from outside the base, drawing an '8' on a piece of paper. Thepost commander,ColonelBill Styles, calls in his friend: interrogator, ex-Ranger and nowDEAagent Tom Hardy, and assigns him to aid Osborne.

Interrogating the survivors, they learn that West was infamous for being an abusive sergeant. Trainee Jay Pike earned West's wrath for not following orders, and may have staged the murder. Kendall, thehomosexualson of aJoint Chiefs of Staffgeneral, claims that West hated him and may have ordered a "training accident" on him. He claims that West died when hit in the back with aphosphorus grenade.When Pike confessed to the crime, Dunbar wanted to turn him in; a firefight ensued and most of the trainees were killed.

Dunbar claims that Kendall is lying, that Mueller and his fellow trainee Castro were illegally selling prescription drugs and that West became aware of their operation. Mueller used Pike's grenade to kill West and tried to frame Pike. A firefight ensues and several trainees were killed. Dr. Peter Vilmer supplied the drugs and falsified tests so that soldiers came out clean. After confessing, Vilmer is placed under arrest.

Styles orders Osborne and Hardy not to talk to Kendall again. They disobey and interrogate Kendall, who begins vomiting blood. Before dying, he draws an '8' with his own blood on Osborne's hand. Hardy explains a rumor about "Section 8",a group of ex-Rangers in Panama. They apparently trained under West, turned rogue and became drug dealers.

Furious, Styles relieves Osborne of duty and tells Hardy to leave. He considers the investigation closed and aCIDtransport from Washington arrives to take Vilmer and Dunbar away.

Vilmer accidentally reveals that 'Dunbar' is actually Pike, and Hardy removes Pike from the plane just before takeoff. Pike explains that West learned about the actual operation going on at the base: cocaine smuggling. He confronted the Rangers and threatened to turn them in to authorities. After a firefight, West and the other trainees were killed. Pike took Dunbar'sdog tagsand carried Kendall to theextractionpoint. He gives Hardy, Osborne, and Styles the number of a crate where Vilmer had stowed cocaine.

Hardy confronts Styles, determining that he was behind the drug-dealing operation. West reported the operation to Styles, who then ordered Mueller and Kendall to kill him in the jungle, and poisoned Kendall to silence him. After failing to bribe Hardy, Styles attempts to shoot him, but is killed by Osborne, who was eavesdropping on their talk.

As the investigation concludes, Osborne suspects that Hardy is somehow involved in the incident; this is confirmed when she watches Pike sneak into Hardy's car. She follows them into Panama City, where they enter a building with aneight-ballhanging above. Inside, she is greeted by West and the missing members of the team – Castro, Dunbar, and Nuñez, who Hardy reveals as his 'colleagues'.

Section 8 is actually a covertblack-opsanti-drug unit; the "going rogue" story is a cover to spook the cartels. The agents infiltrated the base undercover to investigate cocaine trafficking and discovered that Mueller, Kendall and Vilmer were responsible. West, not realizing that Styles was also involved, informed him of the drug dealing. The training mission became a covert Section 8 operation to circumvent Mueller and Kendall and fake West's death to extract West from leadership and transfer him to Section 8. Hardy was called in to confirm Styles' and Vilmer's involvement. Impressed by her work, Hardy offers Osborne a job in the unit, along with the revelation that his position as a DEA agent are a cover; he actually remains in the Army as Section 8's Colonel.

Cast

• John Travoltaas DEA Agent Tom Hardy
• Connie Nielsenas Captain Julia Osborne
• Samuel L. Jacksonas Master Sergeant Nathan West
• Tim Dalyas Colonel Bill Styles
• Giovanni Ribisias Second Lieutenant Levi Kendall
• Brian Van Holtas Sergeant Ray Dunbar
• Taye Diggsas Jay Pike
• Dash Mihokas Sergeant Mueller
• Cristián de la Fuenteas Castro
• Roselyn Sánchezas Nuñez
• Harry Connick Jr.as Dr. Peter Vilmer

Production

In May 2000, it was announcedPhoenix Pictureshad acquiredJames Vanderbilt's thriller scriptBasicfor $400,000 against $700,000 following a heated bidding war with several other studios.In August of that year, it was announcedLee Tamahorihad entered negotiations to direct the film.In October,Benicio del ToroandCatherine Keenerwere announced to be in final negotiations to play the leads.In July 2001, it was announcedJohn McTiernanwould be stepping in as director after Tamahori dropped out during realignment with Intermedia.

After development of the project stumbled, the project was realigned whenIntermediacame on board as a financier with del Toro and Keener having since dropped out.In September of that year, it was announcedJohn TravoltaandSamuel L. Jacksonwould star in the film.

In an interview withEmpirein June 2014 McTiernan said of the production: "It was an absolute fucking nightmare. The week before shooting, I was told I was going to have to shoot the original draft of the screenplay, which didn't work. Furthermore, I was sent a lawyer's letter saying I couldn't tell this to the studio and would be sued if I tried to communicate it to them. I was able to squirrel away half-a-million dollars to do re-shoots, but the story still makes no sense. No sense at all."

Reception

Box office

Basicearned $11.5 million in its opening weekend, ranking behindHead of State,Bringing Down the House,andThe Core.It grossed $26,793,311 in the US by the end of its theatrical run.

Critical response

Basicgarnered negative reviews from critics. On thereview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,it has a 21% approval rating based on 143 reviews, with an average score of 4.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Basicgets so needlessly convoluted in its plot twists that the viewer eventually loses interest. "OnMetacritic,the film has a score of 34 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebertwrote that it was "not a film that could be understood", and that "It is all smoke and no mirrors. If I were to see it again and again, I might be able to extract an underlying logic from it, but the problem is, when a movie's not worth seeing twice, it had better get the job done the first time through."

Marjorie Baumgarten ofThe Austin Chroniclecommended Travolta and Jackson for delivering "a couple of fun, over-the-top moments" and Ribisi for scenery chewing "like nobody's business", but felt the film comes across as a "preposterous" mess, saying, "It begins in a muddle and ends in confusion. In between,Basictakes more silly twists than any that might be on display at aChubby Checkerlook-alike contest. "

Chuck Randolph ofSlant Magazinewas mixed on the overall cast's performances, commended McTiernan's "efficient technical direction", and criticized the multiple twist endings for putting the film's "straightforward" action thriller story into "kindergarten territory", saying that "Basicis actually boiled down to the most uncomplicated of summations: it makes absolutely no sense. "

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guidegave it two stars out of four and wrote that the film "keeps adding layers of confusion so that it becomes less interesting as it goes along! The final" twist "seems to negate the entire story, like a badshaggy-dog joke."

External links

• Official site
• BasicatIMDb
• BasicatBox Office Mojo
• BasicatRotten Tomatoes