G.I. Jane (1997) or, The Amazing Seal Woman!

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Razor-shaved sex symbol star Demi Moore is a fierce eye-catcher on this poster for Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane

An ambitious female politician pushes the US military towards full integration of genders and gets the opportunity of putting the first woman to date through the army's toughest education: The Navy Seals.

G.I. Jane is written by David Twohy (Critters 2 (1988)) and Danielle Alexandra (My Two Dads (1987-90)) and directed by British master filmmaker Ridley Scott (The Duellists (1977)), whose 10th feature it is.

Anne Bancroft (Fatso (1980)) is silly and flat as the senator in question, who begins the story, and the same unfortunately goes for the film's star Demi Moore (The Juror (1996)), although she does work like a devil for this movie and certainly gives it her all.

If one is not immediately struck by the injustice of women not being 100 % equal to men in the military, (which I wasn't), then it has to be a more personal story that engages in G.I. Jane, - but it just isn't there. Moore's character remains a cipher, whom we essentially know nothing about; she simply is the woman with something to prove (about women.)

Viggo Mortensen (The Crew (1994)) sleep-walks uninspired through the film. Scott experiments with shaking and zoom camera effects towards the film's ending to highly disrupting effect. G.I. Jane is a thrill-less stinker and among Scott's worst.

 

Related posts:

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Prometheus (2012) or, Even Then, Space Eggs Were Bad News
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Robin Hood (2010) - R. Scott's grand film of the English legend 

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Body of Lies (2008) - R. Scott's terror actioner is a fatiguing turkey 

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American Gangster (2007) - Great American - now black - gangster picture
A Good Year (2006) - Ridley Scott likes Provence

Matchstick Men (2003) - Great Cage job highlights entertaining Scott crime dramedy 

Hannibal (2001) - Grisly highlights in low-yielding Scott sequel 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Gladiator (2000) - Experience the grandeur of the Roman Empire in Scott's dramatic masterpiece

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Blade Runner (1982) director's cut - Visual extravaganza, great SF 
Alien (1979) or, Space Eggs Are Bad News

 

Moore guested David Letterman and promoted the film; watch a 7-minute video of the event here  

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 48.1 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain, but likely a big flop (returned 0.96 times its cost domestically)

[G.I. Jane was released 22 August (USA, Lebanon) and runs 124 minutes. The story is entirely fictional. Shooting took place from April - August 1996 in England, California, including Los Angeles, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington DC. The film opened #1 to an 11 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it kept the #1 position for another 2 weekends and spent another 2 in the top 5 (#2-#2), grossing 48.1 mil. $. Regrettably the film's foreign numbers are not reported online. If it ended up with a realistic 75 mil. $ total gross, the film would rank as a big flop. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film reportedly earned further 22.1 mil. $ on home video rentals in North America. Scott returned with Gladiator (2000). Moore returned in Deconstructing Harry (1997). G.I. Jane is rotten at 51 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of G.I. Jane?

The Fugitive (1993) - Ford runs fast in Davis' overrated action thriller

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+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Harrison Ford is running next to a train in motion on this effective poster, which screams high-octane thrills, for Andrew Davis' The Fugitive

Dr. Richard Kimble is wrongfully convicted the death penalty for the murder of his wife, - but then he escapes!

The Fugitive is written by Jeb Stuart (Lock Up (1989)) and David Twohy (Waterworld (1995)), based on the same-titled 1963-67 TV-series by Roy Huggins, and directed by Andrew Davis (Under Siege (1992)).
The film has an enviably simple narrative thrust to begin with, which I feel is later dissolved by the simplistic cat-and-mouse story that follows, which also gets thick several times; SPOILER as when Kimble's death row bus crashes onto train tracks and is immediately in collision with a train.
Jeroen Krabbé (Sahara Sandwich (1991)) is good as Kimble's deceitful doctor friend, SPOILER but why he and the one-armed man Sykes killed our hero's doctor never becomes clear to me. The smartly handled action pace and James Newton Howard's (Nightcrawler (2014)) great score does a good job of overshadowing the weak points in this massive hit.

Related posts:

Andrew Davis: Collateral Damage (2002) - Good anti-terrorist Arnold vehicle derailed due to 9/11

1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 44 mil. $
Box office: 368.8 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 8.38 times its cost)
[The Fugitive premiered 29 July (California) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place in North Carolina and in Chicago, Illinois from February - May 1993. The train crash used a real train in a single take and cost 1 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 23.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it held the #1 spot in the subsequent 5 weeks, then spending another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3), ending up grossing 183.8 mil. $ (49.8 % of the total gross) from a reported 44 mil. tickets sold domestically, where it was the 3rd highest-grossing film of the year. It was the first major US film to screen in China in decades, but regrettably its international gross numbers are not made public. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning for Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones (Cobb (1994))). It lost Best Cinematography (Michael Chapman (Gotham (1988, TV movie))) to Janusz Kaminski for Schinder's List, Sound Effects to Jurassic Park, Film Editing to Schindler's List, Score to John Williams also for Schindler's List, Picture to Schindler's List and Sound to Jurassic Park. It also won 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, 1/4 BAFTA noms and other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this one. Davis returned with Steal Big Steal Little (1995). Ford returned with an uncredited cameo in Jimmy Hollywood (1994) and as a leading man in Clear and Present Danger (1994). Jones returned in the flop sequel U.S. Marshals (1998), which is actually a bit better than the original film.The film was remade in India as Nir Nayam (1995). Leslie Nielsen starred in the parody Wrongfully Accused (1998). The Fugitive is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.94/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fugitive?