DVD - Basic (Original)

This is an original zone 2 DVD

If you thought The Recruit was full of surprises, Basic will spin your head around. Assuming that cleverness is its own reward, this military mystery shares many of The Recruit's strengths and weaknesses, offering multi-layered deception as its dramatic raison d'etre. Copping plenty of machismo attitude befitting a semi-effective thriller from Die Hard director John McTiernan, John Travolta stars as an ex-Army Ranger-turned-DEA agent, recruited by an Army investigator (Connie Nielsen) to solve the fratricide of a reviled Sergeant (Samuel L. Jackson) who was allegedly killed while commanding a Special Forces training mission in the hurricane-swept rainforests of Panama. Two survivors (Giovanni Ribisi in a showboat role, and Brian Van Holt) recall the ill-fated mission as the truth unfolds, Rashomon-style, in a series of repetitive flashbacks. Tricky enough to hold one's attention as it grows increasingly irrelevant, Basic is so enamored of its bogus ingenuity that its ultimate twist is a letdown. A second viewing might prove rewarding, if only to confirm that it all holds together. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
Academy Award® nominees John Travolta (Best Actor in a Leading Role Pulp Fiction 1994) and Samuel L. Jackson (Best Actor in a Supporting Role Pulp Fiction 1994) team up with action director John McTiernan (Die Hard The Hunt for Red October Predator) in a white-knuckle "thrill ride with a twist you won't believe!" (MairiAnna Bachynsky ATV/CTV ENTERTAINMENT) Also starring Connie Nielsen (The Hunted Gladiator) Giovanni Ribisi (Gone in Sixty Seconds) Brian Van Holt (Black Hawk Down) Taye Diggs (Chicago) and Roselyn Sanchez (Rush Hour 2). A DEA officer (Travolta) is recruited to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a famed U.S. Army drill instructor (Jackson) and a group of cadets on a routine military exercise in the jungles of Panama. But the journey to uncover the truth leads to some dangerous and unexpected places when two rescued survivors tell dramatically different versions of what transpired. "Totally mesmerizing."