User reviews

This movie received lot's of hate and to be honest I can only assume it was due to bad publicity.

It has a great cast who all play their parts well. Demi Moore got a razzie for this which is totally unjustified as she plays her part really well. It has great music and is definitely in the list of good Ridley Scott movies.

I'd put it up with "Jarhead", "Tigerland" or "Heartbreak Ridge" any day of the week.

Recommended.

Senator DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) pressures the Navy to be gender blind. They accept as long as a woman test case can measure up to the men's standards. They figure on the U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team which has a 60% wash out rate. DeHaven picks Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore) out of the approved candidates for her looks. Command Master Chief John James Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen) is their trainer. She has to overcome expectations, sexism, politics and the pressure of the program to succeed.

There is nothing surprising or original in this movie. It's got all the training and director Ridley Scott is an expert at jazzing up those 'action' scenes. The most compelling originality comes from Demi Moore shaving her hair. I do have to say that she looks fierce with the bald head. She looks fierce generally and Scott has her exercising up a storm. The movie probably needs some of the other characters to step up but nobody can ever be on the same level as Demi.

I was really looking forward to G.I. Jane, because I always tried to think of it when I was renting movies, but it always slipped my mind, then I just saw I love the 90's on VH1 and was reminded one more time, so I just stuck it in my head and finally watched it tonite. I have to say that actually I enjoyed G.I. Jane, I think that the rating on IMDb is a little unfair, but I can let it go. My problem with the film was the way it ended, it just turned into those big twist stories that wasn't really needed, because you are just rooting for Demi to make it throughout training and there is always some kind of block to make the audience "interested".

Jorden O'Neil has been given a very special assignment, the army does not feel the need for equal opportunity for women when it comes to their jobs. But Sen. Lillian DeHaven wishes for them to give one woman a chance to prove herself that she can do a man's job, she gives this assignment to Jorden, Jorden isn't just given any average boot camp, but the SEALS, which is the toughest boot camp around. Of course no one will accept her into their teams, but she pulls her way through to prove that no one will hold her down.

I loved how hard Jorden kept pushing herself, Demi did a great job in showing the hardships of what it is still like to be the outsider in a man's world. Like I said, the only main problem was that it just didn't need a little twist, you'll see what I mean, it just could have been cut like 30 minutes shorter. But I would still recommend this movie, it was a good one to watch.

7/10

G.I.Jane was better than I was expecting. Demi Moore plays a female officer who is trying to become a Navy SEAL and has to battle against the odds against tha sexism, politics amd physical toughness to make the grade. Although totaly predictable in every way I quite enjoyed it.

This film's basic premise is a political cartoon. I suppose for those who know nothing about the realities of the military this is probably a "feel-good" film on gender equality. Indeed a recent commentator stated: "it lets women know that they can do anything they want to do." What claptrap! No one, man or woman can do anything they want to do, and unfortunately Demi Moore "buffing" up for SEAL Hell Week in the early 27 week BUD/S program by a few sessions at the local gym and her desire alone to be a SEAL is simply not going to make it so. There is approximately an 80% dropout rate in what is arguably THE roughest military training program - those are the ones who voluntarily drop out, can't compete on a physical level, suffer frequent physical injury during the training or can't handle the psychological harassment. I never got beyond the shallowness of the contrived, purported message of this film. In the real world, Demi wouldn't last the first 24 hours in this harsh and sustained physical training. Wishing alone won't do it. Skip this film as wishful thinking, and better spend your time reading "The Warrior Elite" by Dick Couch (Crown, New York 2001)for the best description as to what really goes on in this training. Ring the bell, Demi!

Demi Moore's character in the movie was selected for the SEALs because of her looks. That was a bad start and the movie went down from there. The plot was totally unbelievable. The will to make it in a tough military unit is not enough. This movie did not convince me of a woman's physical ability to perform the types of tasks required.

Trying to pretend that women and men are basically the same is an insult to everyone's intelligence. The differences between the sexes are what makes life interesting.

This movie was really great. I loved every bit of it. The cinematic shots were insane. The protagonist was so bold and strong.

GI Jane 2, can't wait to see!!!

A self serving female Senator, played by Anne Bancroft, gets a female placed in the Navy Seals. Demi Moore puts some added muscle to her great looking frame. Ms. Moore is Lt. Jordan O'Neil and she is put in the dubious position of proving that women can keep up with their male counterparts during the rigors of military training. Director Ridley Scott keeps the pace steady enough that you don't want to turn your head. Many situations are convoluted, but make for an interesting movie. This is a serious action/drama that shouldn't be taken too seriously. Other cast members of note are Viggo Mortensen, Kevin Gage, Morris Chestnut and David Vadim. Worth watching more than once.

This movie was good as far as accuracy to the military as a whole. The one real problem I had with it was the fact that Demi Moore did extra physical training while she was supposed to be in her rack. I'm sorry I don't care what kind of metabolism you have, or even if you have extra respiratory organs, you can't do more training than what they already do in the SEAL program and cut-out sleep and expect to get stronger that way. If anything you'd eventually tire yourself into a chronic state of fatigue and get yourself disqualified.

This is how I love my protagonist. Badass, hardass, and above all, struggling. Throughout the film, our protagonist struggled- Against her own biology, against her social status and even against politics! The struggles, her outstanding evolution throughout the film, the support cast, it's all very well executed.

Usually, female protagonist will always fall for a man throughout the movie and it will usually have a major part in the plot. Well not here! Her connection to her lover did not change almost anything (in regarding the general plot), which is great. No "lovey dovey mushy tushy" sh*t! It's all her. No "power of love", one of the worst tropes in movies.

Still, it's not a 10/10 movie. Everything was intense, but at a certain point nothing is intense. It reached it's peak and stayed there- No cool down or another, higher peak.

Cons: At a certain point it's not exciting as it first was. The finale wasn't that exciting either. Plot feels too simple at times.

Pros: Great acting Best feminist propaganda I've seen in years Funny, wholesome and badass moments. many of them (and maybe too many)

Lt. Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore) is selected to be the first female to enter the rigorous Navy S.E.A.L.S. training program, that has a 80% drop out rate.

Although the story is difficult to take too seriously, it is done with plenty of believable looking scenes, good direction and a feel good, well dramatised screenplay. G.I. Jane is pretty enjoyable and can be entertaining for everyone not just feminists, as the theme of the movie would suggest.

Watchable and fun, but it just has too many flaws to ever be anything more.

6/10

This one was bound to raise many Red Flags in a lot of Quarters. It is a Movie with a target on its back daring you to shoot. Taking a "Women in Combat" controversy, although it seems less so Today", and shoving it in your Face like a Drill Sergeant daring you to speak out.

This Movie is a Noble effort, but it may have aimed a bit too high. The concept here, (just give us an equal chance to be equal) would have been more realistic if Ridley Scott and Writer David Twohy had not chosen the prestigious Navy Seals with its famous dropout rate, and the Elite of the Elite status, as a Battleground for Politics.

That takes it to a level of arguable absurdity. It would have been more believable and may have quieted the Nay-Sayers somewhat, if it was simply the U.S. Marines or any other simply difficult and grueling group of the Military's Might.

But given that Melodramatic Fiction (see below), this can be inspirational and Entertaining in a Hollywood Underdog Story that it does so well. It is one of Demi Moore's best efforts.

THIS IS FROM NAVY.COM......by law there are two communities that women are not allowed to join: the Navy SEAL and Navy SWCC communities.

It's disconcerting to see Demi Moore in such a different role in her career. You can't imagine the main actress from Ghost as an elite military corps member until you see her. But the fact is that she does it, and I must say I don't dislike her work at all. Of course, this isn't a film for every taste (it's not a pacifist movie...), but you'll enjoy it if you like the films in the line of First Blood or The Dirty Dozen. At this point I can even say that this film is better to me than First Blood in some sense (for example, its perspective isn't so epic, and the characters are more human). The only things I don't like are the continuous zoom effects in the last part of the film. I still don't know what they are supposed to be... But there's good acting, good tempo, appropriate music, and, why not, another good production from Ridley Scott with which you don't have time to get bored. I also must say that after having watched the film I don't feel like joining the elite forces at all :-), but anyway my rating is 7 out of 10.

This deals with the idea of both sexes having the same opportunities, using the idea of a female in the military, as a soldier. A Navy SEAL, no less. There's no doubt that Moore is by far one of the best choices for the role. She's one of those women who can pull off being tough without ceasing to be attractive, and who, without coming off as masculine, does not really exude a vast level of girliness, or at least not often(in her roles, I know nothing about her outside of that). It starts out very promising, confronting the stereotypes, the prejudice and the special treatment. The acting is great, Moore, Mortensen and Bancroft are all spot-on. I guess the reason Caviezel was given nothing to do was that he hadn't been discovered yet. The cinematography and editing are quite good. However, then this changes, turning itself into a blind and exaggerated battle cry(it doesn't help that the last bit is filmed in an overly shaky manner, trying to increase the intensity in a fake way) for the gender, claiming it to be superior. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the goal of feminism equality? Is it not only the extremists who wish to reach outright dominance? I am not in any way downplaying the plight that they have suffered throughout history. With that said, isn't it smarter to go for a fair situation, instead of shifting the balance all the way? There is a lot of Hollywood in this, that prevents you from taking all of it at face value. The DVD comes with a four and a half minute featurette, B-roll footage, interviews(with Demi, Viggo and Ridley), trailers(domestic and foreign), TV spots and a music video. I recommend this to those who are interested in the conflict that it explores. There aren't enough films about it, and I hope that there either already is, or at least will be, one that is better than this one. 6/10

This is easily the worst Ridley Scott film. Ridley Scott is a wonderful director. But this film is a black mark on his career. Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen, both totally miscast in an overaggressive film about a girl going to the army. Very stupid. And there is never one scene that is convincing in any way. It is really not difficult to make a film such as this. Everything the crew makes could have been an idea of just anybody. The writers didn't have much inspiration either; many foolish dialogs that made no sense at all; and some brainless action. I strongly recommend to stay away from this rubbish. I hope that the many talented persons involved in this project realize this type of film does not deserve their attention, and that in the future they will work on more honorable and more intelligent movies than this useless mess.

OK this is going to be a bit long... but it will be good food for discussions.

Yes, this movie is "Hollywood". The Plot line is predictable, but it is the concepts that the director explores along the way that make it interesting an thought-provoking, assuming you pay attention and didn't just rent it for the bang-bang, or a chance to see Demi in a wet T-shirt. Ridley make some mistakes, but he does some really good things too. Let me comment on what some other people have said, and talk about what I think Ridley does well with this film.

I think Mr. Scott gets a really excellent performance from Demi. I feel this is her best film, but I haven't seen to many, because she usually gets on my nerves. However, she is believable in the role of a woman who just wants to prove to herself that she can do this. I believe her when she says she doesn't want to be a poster child for women's rights... and the Commander is right in telling her that she's gonna have to wear that hat anyway.

Viggo is great too. I don't think too many people knew who he was when this movie came out, but he was even billed above Anne Bancroft. Someone said he looks embarrassed in every scene... hogwash. He looks like a very tough character in a very difficult situation. He knows that the issue is not whether a woman can make it, many can. This isn't about women's rights... this is about how men, mainly YOUNG men, relate to women in stressful situations. If all soldiers were in their late thirties, emotionally and psychologically, then the issue would be much smaller. Most of these guys are young, dumb and full of... you know the rhyme. I was there too, once upon a time. Viggo is excellent, he reacts the way many military instructors would... trying to stop the inevitable, fighting against politicians way over his head who have never been in the crap, but think they know better. Pay attention, you can just see that he respects LT O'Neil. But he believes he has to make an example out of her. Ms. Bancroft is excellent as well, some people say over the top, they obviously haven't had to deal with high level politics before. Perhaps she is a bit rough for reality, but remember, it is a movie, making a point, and being entertaining, things have to be gritty... and Senate will always be more vicious than any military training. I find her performance fun and a joy to watch.

I don't know if Mr. Scott has any military training, but he does a better job of conveying the realities of it to the screen than most. Yes, the SERE segment goes farther than real SERE training would go... but not by much. Talk to someone who's been through it. It would not have been the same group of instructors... it's a very specialized field and the instructors have extensive psychological screening and training. However, I'll give that one to Ridley, he's trying not to complicate the plot, and he needs the scene with Master Chief Urgayle. BTW Women do go through SERE sometimes... and the instructors do use them against the men's emotions.

As for other Militray stuff, much of the language, feelings about chain of command, frustration with training constraints and political a**-covering was /On The Spot/. I speak from 6 years of experience as an Army officer (some of the stuff you see on active duty is amazing, but in the end it all balances out and the US Armed Forces are still the best in the world). Even the way Ridley has to frig with the plot to put the trainees in a an actual firefight was plausible... not possible, but plausible. Remember, it is a movie, he's got to have a real combat situation to entertain the dumber audience who just came to see the boom. But Ridley even goes far enough to give the Master Chief a chance to back out. It is a group of Navy SEAL trainees, deep into their training cycle, with a buttload of prior experience (IF you pay attention you will note that one of the trainees is a US Army Ranger, one a Marine, probably from RECON, these are guys who know the job already, and this is true to reality). You are also talking about a straight forward mission facilitating extraction of US Army Rangers from the deep inland mission. Ridley even has that right, this would be a Ranger mission, and the Spec-ops community may do a joint op where the SEALS secure the sea-side extraction point.

Quite frankly... the movie is better than most people could have done. Matter of fact, I think it was a tough challenge for Mr. Scott and don't think anyone could have done much better. One bad point I agree with is that artistically, the movie is shot entirely too dark.. that's about the worst thing I can say about it though. As for plot predictability... how often do you REALLY see an original plotline?

One last comment. I was at the Army Officer's Advance Course when this movie came out. There was a group of Officer's that were gong to see this movie, ostensibly to have a good laugh. These were Ranger-qualified Infantry guys, a Marine officer from RECON, a couple guys going to or coming from SF training... all Type A's. The next day they weren't laughing... they just said "you know what, that wasn't half bad." That don't sound like much, but it's high praise from that group.

Probably why this has such a poor rating is because it isn't Hollywood enough for the lowest-common-denominator crowd.

Enjoy the film.

The Whole Concept Addressed: This movie must have been put out by some feminist organization trying to promote women in the military into more combat positions. Personally, I don't mind women in the military, but I am against women directly in combat. It's nasty business and no woman should be slinging a gun, going toe and fist; knife in hand on a combat field only to get captured, raped, and tortured by the enemy. What woman in her right mind would want to do this anyway? As for the plot; it was so glamorized by Hollywood & unrealistic, I laughed. Real SEAL CRT Training has little resemblance to the way it is portrayed in this movie. However, the movie keeps you entertained, esp with HOTTIE, Demi Moore. I would say it is worth seeing.

A Better alternative to this movie: Act of Valor is about real Navy SEALS in action. Now that is a good movie!