There’s a huge twist at the end of Basic, which is a tale set on a military base starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. The high production values are well-represented on the DVD, especially the sound. (I’ve noticed that thunder and rain seems to have become the way to demonstrate the rear channels in DD5.1. It used to be helicopters, and Basic hedges its bets by having both at the same time)

Anyway, the movie is told mostly in flashback form, which is always a bit of a cause for credibility concern, and the best scenes are stolen from the other similar Travolta vehicle The General’s Daughter and of course from Rashomon. When the big twist arrives, it feels a bit arbitrary, as there’s no way the audience could have been expected to guess it. So I went away annoyed rather than impressed.

Mild Peril Rating:

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