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Basic

Deception is their most dangerous weapon.

2003 · 1h 38m · R Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by John McTiernan

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Overview

When a hurricane hits a US Army base on the edge of the Panama Canal, an elite covert operations team of US Army Rangers recruits are on a routine jungle training exercise that goes horribly awry. Only two recruits are rescued, one of which is badly injured, but both have different accounts regarding the fate of their leader, legendary and ruthless Army Ranger Drill Sergeant Nathan West, and the rest of their platoon. Tom Hardy, an ex-army Ranger turned maverick DEA agent is brought in to solve the mystery and uncover what really happened out there.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
21%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Director John McTiernan does a swell job with James Vanderbilt's sneaky script in keeping us guessing.

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Rotten

You can fall asleep in the first reel, wake up at the end, and know as much as anyone else.

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Rotten

Made up of remnants from other, better films.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Rotten

Nothing is as it appears, except the fact that nothing is as it appears.

Ed Park, Village Voice
Fresh

[Basic] had a great sense of itself and it had a lot of fun taking us from one corner to the next and then spinning us around until we got dizzy and didn't know where we were. I like that.

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

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