a5c7b9f00b An Army sergeant takes six of his special troops on a training mission into the rain-soaked Colombian jungles and only two come out alive. When the rescue mission arrives, they see one soldier killing another and carrying a wounded comrade. As the interrogation begins, the soldier refuses to talk to anyone other than another Ranger. The investigating officer protests, but her commanding officer nonetheless brings in a former Ranger and current DEA agent to help. The agent is currently on suspension from DEA for allegedly accepting a bribe. From this point on, the plot continues to twist and turn and offers numerous surprises that keeps the story interesting. Tom Hardy, an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West, as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees on what appears, at first, to have been a routine training exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama. Only two survivors are found, Dunbar, and a badly wounded Kendall, the son of a high-profile Joint Chiefs of Staff official. Neither is willing to cooperate with Capt. Julia Osborne's investigation. So base commander Col. Bill Styles calls in ex-Ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator. Osborne disapproves of Hardy who is on leave from the D.E.A. after having come under suspicion of accepting bribes from local drug traffickers. She is also uneasy when she learns that Hardy once trained under West and hates him almost as passionately as his current recruits. With time running out, Hardy and Osborne call a temporary, if uneasy, truce. Hardy cajoles a confession out of Dunbar, who claims that Sgt. West and the missing Rangers have been murdered and their bodies blown away by the hurricane. When they later interview Kendall, he confirms that the other Rangers and West are dead. But, in almost every other way, his story contradicts Dunbar's. What happened to West and his Ranger team? And what were they really doing out there in the jungle? As each layer reveals more lies and greater deceptions, Hardy and Osborne inch towards the horrible truth about the fate of the missing Rangers. Semi-Spoiler<br/><br/>This is one of those movies that think it's really cleaver, when in actuality it is as dumb as dirt. The movie tosses out plot twist after plot twist, each dumber then the one before it.<br/><br/>The movie opens up with a Ranger training mission in Panama going horrible wrong. A firefight breaks out among the group, leaving only two survivors. Among the dead is the much-hated Sgt. West (Jackson). One of the survivors is unwilling to talk to anyone other then a fellow Ranger, so the Base Commander (Daly) calls in his former Ranger buddy and DEA agent Tom Hardy (Travolta). Now in Panama, Hardy and Lt. Osborne (Neilsen), have to find the truth before the transport plane arrives.<br/><br/>I won't give the ending away, but I will say that it doesn't make any sense. The `plan' was needlessly complicated and relied heavily on dumb luck. If the slightest thing didn't go right, they were screwed. In addition, films like this rely on how snappy the dialog is. When the dialog is sharp and witty, the movie will work (even if the plot is a bit silly). Unfortunately, the dialog in this film is very flat. It's the TV movie level. Basic fails and fails badly.<br/><br/>Travolta and Jackson are fine actors and are among my personal favorites. They always bring certain coolness to their roles. However, both could use some help picking out scripts. Travolta seems to have a nose for crap, he makes just enough good films to keep himself afloat. He needs to find someone who can give him good advice and guide him away from the trash. Jackson seems to take everything he's offered. He's quickly becoming Michael Cain. I would like to see him be a little more selective. (It should be noted that Jackson does not make as bad of films as Travolta). This movie is for people who enjoy mystery, intrigue & thinking. If your goal is just to see a shoot-em up action movie don't go. If you pay attention & go with your intuitive feelings and actually listen to the dialogue spoken you will figure it out. All the clues are there, there just isn't somebody pointing at them for you. John Travolta is just fantastic. Samuel Jackson wonderful. Connie Nielsen is building herself a great resume of great movies. Giovanni Ribisi has seemed to have found a perfect persona for himself (think a young Kevin Spacey). The 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. It all feels a little moldy. In order to understand the drug operation in this movie, we must first take a look at the people involved:<br/><br/><ul><li>Vilmer: Supplied the drugs, named "Combat Cocktails", to soldiers such as Mueller and Kendall. He was also running an operation with a partner, probably Colonel Styles, to smuggle cocaine in military shipments into the United States.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>Kendall: Distributed drugs for Vilmer, and was supposedly hired by Col. Styles to kill Sgt. West.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>Mueller: Distributed drugs for Vilmer, and was supposedly hired by Col. Styles to kill Sgt. West.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>West: Found out about the drug operation 1 week prior to the events in the movie, and went to inform Col. Styles about the discovery. Because of Col. Styles' inaction and potential threat to his safety, Sgt. West arranged the training mission in order to preemptively eliminate Kendall and Mueller.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>Col. Styles: Covered Vilmer's drug operation in order to make millions of dollars from the drug operation.</li></ul><br/><br/>Sgt. West found out that Vilmer was running a drug trafficking operation out of the hospital, and he also found out that Kendall and Mueller were involved in the operation. Not knowing that Col. Styles was involved in the operation, Sgt. West approached him to reveal the drug operation. After some time, the inaction of Col. Styles arose suspicion . Sgt West also suspected that Mueller and Kendall would be ordered to kill him. <br/><br/>Sgt. West then arranges the training exercise in order to confront or eliminate Mueller and Kendall. There is no definitive answer to this question, however there are several possibilities:<br/><br/>1. The Section 8 team needed conclusive proof that Col. Styles was behind the drug operation. So far, Sgt. West and Hardy probably only had suspicions.<br/><br/>2. Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) might have been sent back to base in order to create a cover story for the disappearance of the other team members.
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