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03/28/03
Basic (2003)
21
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:29
Rotten:109
Average Rating:4.5/10
Consensus: Basic gets so needlessly convoluted in its plot twists that the viewer eventually loses interest.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson team up in BASIC, an action-packed military thriller from director John McTiernan (DIE HARD). Jackson plays Sergeant Nathan West, propagator of a harsh military... [More]
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Harry Connick, Taye Diggs
Director: John McTiernan
Reviews for Basic
Top CriticThere's no denying the film has a tendency to trip over its own ungainly strides, but it has enough firepower to entertain action fans -- as long as they don't look too closely.
03/28/03
Entertainment more suitable for the living room than the movie theater.
03/28/03
Chases its tail for so long, it morphs from a whodunit into a who-cares.
03/28/03
This is one of those plot-heavy flicks that topples under its own engorged bulk, leaving logic to suffocate and common sense to go begging.
03/28/03
By the end, you'll probably realize that the movie isn't about much of anything, except maybe the games it attempts to play with our heads.
03/28/03
McTiernan, still trying to wash the stink of Rollerball out of his clothes, tumbles further into the Abyss of Lost Filmmakers.
03/28/03
By the end, I wanted to do cruel and vicious things to the screenplay.
03/28/03
Top CriticThe latest example of a thriller in which the beginning and the end make at least a tiny bit of sense, but the connecting stuff in between is just an inscrutable muddle of dumb twists, red herrings and ho-hum shockeroos.
03/28/03
A 50-car pileup of twists and red herrings, few of which make any sense whatsoever.
03/28/03
Military mystery has the swagger of Travolta and Jackson when it moves, but there's nothing behind the curtain.
03/28/03
Basically, this thriller has one plot twist too many - the last is like a sucker punch from left field. Up until the final zinger, it's compelling, non-stop action and the performances are terrific.
03/28/03
A neat parlor trick of a movie, fast and exciting while it plays, funny and frivolous when it's over.
03/27/03
Even if you comprehend it, you probably won't care.
03/27/03
A coherent plot might've helped or an investment in the characters, but Basic lacks those particular basics.
03/27/03
Someone decided to put Rashomon in a Cuisinart along with A Few Good Men, The Usual Suspects and A Soldier's Story, and hit the pulverize button while forgetting to replace the top.
03/27/03
Top CriticThe tepid result is like Courage Under Fire without the compelling Meg Ryan angle, or Travolta's 1999 The General's Daughter without the sexual squalor.
03/27/03
As the mismatched interrogators, Travolta and Nielson seem to be in two different and incompatible movies.
03/27/03
Insipid, overcooked and dull.
03/27/03
So unashamedly confusing, so intent on piling twist upon twist upon twist, it makes your head hurt just trying to figure out what's happened.
03/27/03
Top CriticLatest News for Basic
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June 09, 2005:
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