"John Travolta's latest descent into mediocrity..." Whoa, stop there! Is that the best we can say about the chunky one's latest army thriller? Apparently so, but there is a twist ending for you to try and figure out if you're game, and judging by readers' votes for the film, a good few of you thought this a movie worth seeing. In that case the DVD really pleases in terms of picture and sound presentation, but the extra features are rather more variable in quality.

Confusion?

If Basic left the critics confused, then it also seemed to baffle all those involved in making it. In any cast and crew interviews on the DVD, opinions vary wildly between describing the film as anything from an action movie to a military thriller, to John McTiernan's assertion that it is in fact a romantic movie...

Roadmap

If one person has prepared for the confusion to come, it's writer James Vanderbilt. In the featurette A Writer's Perspective, he talks about how he created a roadmap for the film so everyone making it would understand what was going on. Perhaps James should have included this map on the DVD. Instead, what we get are some deleted scenes explained by James, which help shed a little (as in tiny) light on plot matters.

"I'm Going To Be Useless"

John McTiernan might as well have uttered the above for his audio commentary. He certainly admits that he will struggle to make some useful comments and sticks to his word! Between the long silences, he finds time to praise the actors and let slip the odd detail, but best leave him to it, opt for the cracking 5.1 sound mix instead, and try figure out the movie.

EXTRA FEATURES

This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-N5 DVD player.