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A DVD Review of...
  
Images (C) Columbia, 2003 |
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Cast: John Travolta Connie Nielsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Brian Van Holt, Tim Daly, Giovanni Ribisi, Taye Diggs
Synopsis: When a legendary commander (Jackson) and several of his men turn up missing, the last thing the government wants is a rogue DEA agent (Travolta) investigating the disappearance. As the investigation unfolds, the agent is placed in direct conflict with the Army's official investigating officer (Nielsen) and nothing is as it seems..
Film Review: At first appearance many people already compared this to "The General's Daughter" in which a close cropped t-shirt casual Travolta investigated a military-related murder with the help of a female assistant. Is it fair? Not really. On the one hand 'General' had an interesting mystery, complex script with good twists, and great performances from its various supporting cast - 'Basic' does not. However going for it "Basic" does have a far more interesting setting (the windswept and drenched Panamanian jungle) and a better director at the helm in the form of John McTiernan. That's still not enough to cover the absolute mess of a project filled with twist upon twist upon twist to the point that contradictions begin long before the 'final revelation' - its the kind of film that makes "Wild Things" seem linear (and at least that film was great fun).
If it weren't for McT's sure hands, its interesting to wonder how far off the rails it could have gone because even he has trouble working within both the premise and James Vanderbilt's mess of a script which cares more about trying to fool the audience than actually coming up with an engaging mystery. The cast manage to hold their own though, both Travolta and Connie Nielsen making likable leads - the former especially thanks to a somewhat darker and more arrogant edge than his 'General' character. Giovanni Ribisi, Roselyn Sanchez, Taye Diggs, etc. all have solid cameos though Harry Connick Jr, Brian Van Holt and Tim Daly fail to leave impressions.
Even though action is confined mostly too an interrogation room and a bunker in the jungle, the visual look is quite luxurious and filled with a dynamic landscape of noise and look - production values are far better than the material deserves, which gives the all too convoluted material a small sense of atmosphere. The big question is why in the world are there so many red herrings and so much muddled 'points of view' style confusion in this? If it was to hide an intelligent or well-crafted central mystery that's all fine and good but the thing is it doesn't. When the big reveal comes around, the audience can't help but feel cheated as ultimately the entire movie is a waste. 'Basic' is anything but simple, however that doesn't prove better in this case. - Garth Franklin
"Basic: Special Edition"
DVD Details In Brief (Region 1)
Rating: R
Runtime: 99mins
Versions: 16:9 Enhanced Widescreen, 4:3 Letterboxed
Aspect Ratio: 2.40: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Language & Sub-Titles: English
Audio: Commentary by Director John McTiernan
Documentaries: Two Featurettes
Other: Filmmographies, Trailers
Region 1 vs. Region 4: No R4 Available |
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DVD Review: Afer a quiet release earlier this year, the John McTiernan/Travolta film comes quickly to
disc in a small set. Columbia has done an excellent job on the transfer - the colour level
is excellent, grain and noise are practically non-existant and contrast problems which the stills and even
the theatrical movie had seem to have cleared up. Black levels are surprisingly rich, so in the many dark
and wet jungle scenes you can make out what's going on quite easily. The audio is equally impressive -
the surround track makes good use of all its directions, the rain effects and even the score really help
add another level of atmosphere even as dialogue remains nice and clear. There's a commentary track by Director John "McT" McTiernan, the man has become used to doing these sort of things so is quite relaxed about it to the point
he's almost too comfortable with the material. He explains away the story and filming the project, but even in
the near two hour runtime he never clears up some of the story's jumbled subplots which went nowhere.
There's two featurettes around 20 minutes each which talks with many of the major cast, McT, Producer Mike Medavoy
& Writer James Vanderbilt. "Basic: A Director's Design" covers various things such as how Travolta's dancing experience helped his fights, how Connie Nielsen and McT had some heated arguments over her boots, the various casting choices, and some great on-set video (the jungle scenes look quite different without the film's cinematography). "Basic Ingredients: A Writer's Perspective" heads more towards Vanderbilt's job (the writer reading outloud from his own script) and covers the many twists, aims he had for the characters, stuff he made up, and so forth (hidden in here is some interesting deleted scenes). Neither of these or the commentary however fully explain what in the hell happens in the movie so those hoping to find some solutions amongst this behind-the-scenes material, you won't find any (even though there are plenty of spoilers). Capping off the set are trailers for various Columbia action movies, and seven filmmographies. A good-looking but jumbled mystery movie, the disc is pretty good but doesn't really add or fix up any of the problems in the feature. - Garth Franklin
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