THE STORY:  I kind of wanted to see this movie. I kept seeing it on the shelf and thinking "I need to try this movie out." Now that its over with I wish I had my 2 bucks back. It started out okay, for that matter the overall idea wasn't bad. Its just the way it was executed. There were too many things that didn't seem right to me. You won't need any military experience to spot some of them.

Mark Dascascus is Major John Murphy, an Investigator for the US Army. I'm not sure if he's a CID (Criminal Investigation Division) Agent or what, his job is basically to bust people. The movie starts off with John and a squad of of soldiers driving past the US- Mexico border to get a drug  dealer named Santos. Santos has been arrested by the Mexican authorities and being extradited to the US. I'm not sure if US armed forces are the ones that do that. Wouldn't federal marshals or DEA agents be better for this little mission? And if the army was going to send John and some guys down there to get Santos wouldn't they have sent more men with an escort vehicle of some kind? It turns out that they should have, since Santos' men show up guns blazing. Though John and his men try to stop them they are soon on the run. Only John escapes with his life. John witnesses Santos' second in command, Emilio Rosato, shooting Santos. I guess so he can be the big boss...but if Santos was going to jail in the US, why go through all that trouble? Isn't that kind of like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly?

Sometime later, John is talking to General Oxenberg in the Pentagon. John's next mission is to go to Camp Tillman and investigate a squad of soldiers led by SGT Mike Gammon. Gammon is a decorated soldier, but he's had some kind of breakdown in the past. The brass wants John to gather proof that Gammon and his men are selling cocaine.They also want the commander of Camp Tillman, General Becker...it said that he's in cahoots with Gammon. Now hears what bugs me about that scene...Why is a four star general briefing and his staff briefing John on this? Wouldn't on of the general's subordinates be doing that? Well, maybe not. It seems awkward, but I don't know how CID works.

Hey, I'll live with that...but the way things are worded I got the impression that the brass knew Gammon and Becker were up to no good. But surely if they knew they'd have already busted them. It just doesn't sit right but I'll let that roll, too. John goes to the base under the assumed identity of Corporal John Dalton, and assigned to Gammon's squad. LT. Andrews goes with there too and functions as his contact to the outside world.

Oookay...he'll surely need backup...and I'd think it would be more than one lone woman in a hotel room, who really doesn't DO anything. The only reason LT. Andrews is a woman is so there can be a sex scene and she can get captured at the end. Other than that she could have been played by a man. I wonder though...why doesn't someone alert the Provost Marshall on the base? I kind of thought that was their job at the Provost Marshall's office, y'know, investigating crimes and all.

After the initial meet-greet-and-kick-someone's-ass scenes are over, John is slowly initiated into Gammon's squad. John learns that Gammon is selling cocaine. His squad patrols the border between the US and Mexico. They've formed a relationship of sorts with the drug dealers that cross it. But Gammon wants more and the squad starts killing rival drug dealers in LA (I guess where the fictional Camp Tillman is supposed to be....I have no idea how close LA is to the border of Mexico, having never been there) John of course has to go along with these murders or blow his cover. He even witnesses Gammon killing one of his own soldiers, Henderson, for backstabbing him. John contacts LT. Andrews who poses as his girlfriend (and I guess she is since they do the deed) and tells her there's enough evidence to bust Gammon and his men...but Andrews insists that he keeps it up for awhile longer in order to prove that General Becker is involved. I don't know how they'd handle this in real life, but right at that point John has witnessed the squad kill about 20 people, one of them a soldier, and has proof that they're selling cocaine and weapons from the base, etc. Isn't it worth busting them now before they kill more people?

I guess not. John stays on the case until the end when Gammon inevitably finds out that he's not really who he says he is. Then the usual antics ensue. Gammon captures LT. Andrews, and in order to save her John pretty much kills the other members of the squad and General Becker (He does find proof in the end about Becker being in on it.) This scene goes over the top with crazy stunts. A tank chase through the base, the MP's looking for John who's running around with a loaded M16 on post, etc. That part was really nuts...I mean, aren't there any MP's on Camp Tillman except for the gate? John's running around blowing dudes away and no one but Gammon and his last soldier are chasing him! The tank chase was silly, but even sillier is as the credits roll you see John and LT. Andrews driving off as soldiers mill around looking at burning wreckage. So there's no fire department on Tillman either? Why are these soldiers just walking around like they're lost? Why am I asking?

While this movie didn't actually suck it had so many pieces in it that didn't make sense to me I can't really recommend it. The biggest thing is Gammon. How the hell could he have possible gotten away with any of this stuff in the first place. The fact that Becker was in on it doesn't wash. In the real world, as the base Commander, Becker wouldn't even KNOW Gammon. Gammon has one squad, which in reality would be part of a platoon, which would be part of a company, which would be part of a battalion...etc. There's too many layers of command to go through for that much secrecy. Besides how could Gammon have enough free time to do all his shenanigans? Did he have every other day off or something?

Best Lines: There were actually no lines that stuck out to me. At least not any worth remembering.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:

1.) When John first reports to the base he reports to General Becker. Right. A fucking corporal? I've had at least five assignments and you know how many times I've been in the Commanding General's office of those bases? ZERO!!! A general has a lot more to do than greet every swinging dick (sorry ladies, its a military term) that shows up at the base! Dalton would have met only his immediate chain of command, like his platoon sergeant, platoon leader and the company commander at best.

2.) I'm sure it sounds utterly feasible in the context of this movie, but how could SGT Gammon and his squad possibly pull off this drug dealing? And sell munitions to the drug dealers? Right. That would take a lot more than the evil intentions of one army NCO. Weapons are kept under heavy guard in the military, my droogies. When I was at Ft. Campbell many many moons ago someone stole a pistol...a single pistol...from the arms room of a company right across the parade field of my barracks. Every single soldier in that company was recalled (even those that lived off post or on leave at the time) and kept in the barracks like prisoners. The MP's put barbed wire all around the building so it looked like a concentration camp. They all had to march to chow together and back until that weapon was found. Naturally, every branch of the army's investigative resources went on the alert...they found the weapon a few days later. Some knucklehead that worked in the arms room stole it and buried it in his back yard. Now, that was just one weapon stolen by an idiot. What do you think would happen if more than one weapon went missing, like if Gammon was selling the stuff? They'd lock down the entire post! ...and someone has to be accountable to when the munitions arrive, where they're stored and that they're safe. There's a lot of people in on that chain, and it only takes one person to notice that something isn't right to blow the whistle.

3.) Just to harp on the weapons a little more...when Gammon and his crew blow away some Mexican drug dealers and steal their cocaine, what did they tell the armorer when they turned the weapons in? He's going to notice the weapons have been fired and that the rounds are missing from the magazine!

4.) Gammon's training is pretty rough. When Dalton arrives in his squad the first thing he does is let Dalton and the other soldiers get into a brawl during their combat training. Y'know, the training probably isn't going to help these soldiers if you let them break bones and such. I thought the overall use for training was to make a better soldier not a crippled individual.

5.) I can't believe the tank driver just handed a loaded tank over to Gammon and Constellano when they're chasing John. After all, didn't he sign that tank out? You just don't hand over a huge, expensive, deadly weapon to anyone on the street. Plus, I thought there were at least three or four soldiers in a tank crew.

NUDITY AND SEX:  John and LT. Andrews have sex but you don't see Andrews in the buff. The soldiers go to a titty bar and various boobs are seen.

HUH?:  I usually go nuts over uniform violations in military movies, but I only have 2 for this flick...and one isn't exactly a uniform violation. When John rides on post on his motorcycle he doesn't wear a helmet. On any military post I've ever been to the MP's will pull you over for that. More so than in the civilian world, helmets are mandatory on post. Also, when we see John in the pentagon talking to his superior he's wearing a beret as he walks down the hall. INSIDE? That's a no-no. You only wear a hat indoors if you are under arms...meaning you're carrying a weapon. John was unarmed.

Man, I thought tanks didn't carry ammo all the time while moving across a post! But when Costellano and Gammon chase John through the base they commandeer a tank that's going down the street....and fire at him! Good thing it was loaded! I was also amazed that Costellano knew how to drive a tank. Its not like it has a steering wheel and a windshield! Its a tank for God's sake!

At the beginning of the movie when John's squad is gunned down I couldn't help but wonder why the hell they didn't have flak vests on and an escort.

It seems that when Dalton wants LT. Andrews to call the Pentagon he's begging her to do it...as if she's in charge. Dalton may be posing as a corporal on the base, but he's a major! He doesn't have to ASK LT. Andrews to do anything! He should be saying "I said MAKE THE CALL, soldier! It isn't a request!".

THE TALLY: If you rent this movie and you don't know anything about the military find a friend who does. Watch it together and let your friend write down things that just don't make sense. Bet you'll have a list longer than mine! But it is a movie, and deserves some leeway...not a lot, but some. Action fans will get a kick out of it, but I don't recommend it for those of you that like a little reality in your movies.