Six US Rangers, under the command of Sergeant West (Samuel L. Jackson) begin a training mission in the Panama jungles.  Seventeen hours later, the mission appears to have gone horribly wrong — West, who was pretty much universally hated by the Rangers, has been killed, and so have four of the Rangers themselves.  Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) and Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi) are the survivors, who are brought back to base.  Having suffered severe wounds, Kendall is hospitalised, and Dunbar is taken in for questioning at the base.

Dunbar is interrogated by Captain Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen), but he refuses to divulge any information to her, instead indicating that he would talk only to a fellow Ranger.  Col. Styles (Tim Daly) therefore brings in seasoned ex-Ranger Tom Hardy (John Travolta).  Hardy is with the DEA but currently under suspicion of bribery.

Hardy and Osborne interrogate Dunbar and Kendall, and each time, get a different version of the events that happened.  It's up to them to unravel the different "degrees of truth" and get to the bottom of things.

This is an interesting military thriller that offers plenty of twists in the plot before its conclusion.  This makes the movie somewhat overly convoluted though, and the first time I watched it, I wasn't sure everything connected back well in retrospect!  However, on a second viewing, it's easier to take.  Anyway, the film is efficiently directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard, Predator), who keeps things moving at a quick pace, makes good use of the actors and characters, and utilises the "stormy weather" setting to add style to the film.  Travolta seems to be enjoying himself, and in the few scenes that he appears (mostly flashbacks), Samuel L. Jackson definitely makes an impression as the merciless Sergeant.  This is a well done movie, definitely worth a watch.

Travolta's character has a line in this film, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke" — which was also used in his 1996 film Broken Arrow.

Running Time: 98 minutes | Country: US | Genre: Mystery/Military/Thriller