The amiable and athletic Mark Dacascos here plays an Army officer named John Murphy. After the attempted extradition of a notorious Mexican drug lord, Murphy is informed as to which crooked members of the military would benefit most. The man identified is a screw-loose sergeant named Michael Gammon (Tim Abell), who's itching to make a name for himself in the drug business. Murphy goes undercover to infiltrate Gammons' tight-knit unit, including Henderson (Christian Bocher), Knox (Darcas Macopson), and Castellano (Noah Blake).
At the very least, this capably paced and directed action-thriller showed that industry veteran Mark L. Lester ("Class of 1984", "Firestarter", "Commando") still had what it takes to deliver undemanding thrills. And make no mistake: the script is quite routine and predictable. (Gee, do you think the bad guy will kidnap our hero's girl (Paula Trickey) at one point?) But don't watch this one for the story. Watch it for the generous amount of gunfire and explosions, which should maintain interest for genre fans who aren't too hard to entertain.
The acting is better than what you might ordinarily see in such a B flick. You have some familiar character actors (Madison Mason, Frederick Coffin, Marco Rodriguez) in supporting roles, and Macascos and Trickey are certainly attractive. (Naturally, there's a brief sex scene in the latter half of the picture.) The main performer to watch is Abell, who's actually quite solid as a greedy and conniving character. You may not like the character at all, but the man does have a commanding presence.
While HARDLY a realistic movie, "The Base" pulls out all the stops for a hilarious, over the top chase finale with the baddies pursuing Murphy in a tank!
Six out of 10.
At the very least, this capably paced and directed action-thriller showed that industry veteran Mark L. Lester ("Class of 1984", "Firestarter", "Commando") still had what it takes to deliver undemanding thrills. And make no mistake: the script is quite routine and predictable. (Gee, do you think the bad guy will kidnap our hero's girl (Paula Trickey) at one point?) But don't watch this one for the story. Watch it for the generous amount of gunfire and explosions, which should maintain interest for genre fans who aren't too hard to entertain.
The acting is better than what you might ordinarily see in such a B flick. You have some familiar character actors (Madison Mason, Frederick Coffin, Marco Rodriguez) in supporting roles, and Macascos and Trickey are certainly attractive. (Naturally, there's a brief sex scene in the latter half of the picture.) The main performer to watch is Abell, who's actually quite solid as a greedy and conniving character. You may not like the character at all, but the man does have a commanding presence.
While HARDLY a realistic movie, "The Base" pulls out all the stops for a hilarious, over the top chase finale with the baddies pursuing Murphy in a tank!
Six out of 10.