ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Photoscots1 . When this film came out I ignored it and finally got around to seeing some of it on You Tube recently. I watched about half an hour although I did anticipate watching the whole movie. Alas I was just so bored with it by the 30 minute mark I had to withdraw from the battlefield.And it was obviously going to be a real battle against boredom to survive the whole 2 hours of this travesty of a film. Clichéd dialogue from the start, exaggerated acting, the whole thing is a cartoon of reality. Of course the main premise is nonsense, a female navy seal is out to show the patriarchy that women can do the job just as well but that isn't what seals the fate of this trash.No, what seals the fate of this trash is the superficial photography and fast editing that makes the film look like a TV commercial, which isn't surprising when you consider that's what Ridley Scott is, a TV commercial director.I like Blade Runner, Alien, The Duelists, but post Blade Runner I think Ridley, like his brother Tony now deceased, has taken the lazy route of film direction and relying mostly on visuals at the expense of depth and substance.Not much more to say other than avoid this turkey. Doing 100 press ups is much more fun than watching this but I'm sure there will be a few monkey brains who will like this.

LydiaOLydia I finally got around to seeing GI Jane. Quite a good movie - the brutality of the training bits really puts into context what women might face in combat and the "real", not theoretical brutality they face.Unfortunately, an otherwise excellent movie loses out due to a tacked-on and militarily nonsensical battle scene which occupies the last 25 minutes. The movie should have ended after Demi gave the Senator an ultimatum and she is seen, in the distance, rejoining her unit in training. By that point, all of the major hurdles and challenges will have been overcome, and we would know that the future would be there as she was to make it. It would have been a fitting ending. The dumb battle scene in the end was just awful on many levels.

Uriah43 This movie is proof that in Hollywood all things are possible. I say this because it was quite obvious that whoever wrote this film obviously had one goal in mind and that was to present a political opinion that pandered to a certain audience without regard to actual reality. But bending reality completely out of shape has been a trend for a long time in Hollywood and since it sells tickets I imagine it will continue for some time to come. That said, I suppose I shouldn't argue with success regardless of how silly the story gets. At any rate, Demi Moore plays "Navy Lieutenant Jordan O'Neill" who has applied for SEAL training but has been turned down. She laments that because some of her male counterparts have succeeded that they are being promoted ahead of her. Apparently there are no other tough courses in the entire Navy for her to excel. Fortunately, as luck would have it "Senator Lillian DeHaven" (Anne Bancroft) also laments the fact that women aren't given equal opportunities in the Navy and so Lt. Jordan O'Neill suddenly has her big chance. Quite naturally, she not only survives the course (which has many men falling by the wayside due to the physical and mental strain) but she also becomes the leader of her squad due solely to her will to succeed. Not only that, but she is so extraordinary that we see her helping men through the obstacle course along with rejecting all "gender norms" as well. Naturally, towards the end of the film she even manages to save her instructor "Master Chief John James Urgayle" (Viggo Mortensen) while on assignment in Libya. Again, only in Hollywood. Now, normally I would rate a film as ridiculous as this the worst possible score. But it does have some good action scenes and I like Demi Moore. But even so, unless you really need some laughs, totally enjoy feminist propaganda or are completely naive, I wouldn't bother with this one.

India M. G.I.Jane has some obvious flaws. Not the least of which is when Demi Moore walks into the mess with obviously no bra on under her white tee shirt. No self respecting female trying to get into the world of a macho, hyper-testosterone fueled job would do anything to accentuate her femininity. No makeup,no feminine underwear,nothing that makes her different than a male recruit. A fact shown to good example when Moore shaves all her hair off during a break and I give her credit for actually doing it and not faking it by wearing a wig. That takes guts. As someone who has been through something similar,I can tell you that not being wanted in a group of men elicits a type of behavior in a group mentality that would never happen if the man was alone. I really enjoyed this film despite some of its problems at suspending disbelief. For example, when the master chief is looking at the exercise where the recruits are in the rain, climbing forward on their bellies under barbed wire, he's "seeing" the action that wouldn't be possible through a scope or binoculars. Another is when each team in is the water and picked up "on the go" as the inflatable rafts rush by. Each male is given help by someone inside the raft and hoisted up inside. Yet when Moore's character turn comes, there is no help and she slips back into the water. She's unable to do it but is later criticized by the Master Chief for not being able to lift her "own body weight." Well, we don't know if that's so or not, as all the males were helped getting inside. There are other instances of such examples but the thing that makes this film work for me is I know how it feels to be unwanted and be considered incapable of doing what's considered typically a "man's job." The politics and technical mistakes aside, the real essence of the film is if a woman wants to fight for her country she should be able to.