a5c7b9f00b A DEA agent investigates the disappearance of a legendary Army ranger drill sergeant and several of his cadets during a training exercise gone severely awry. An Army sergeant takes six of his special troops on a training mission into the rain-soaked Colombian jungles and only two come out alive. When the rescue mission arrives, they see one soldier killing another and carrying a wounded comrade. As the interrogation begins, the soldier refuses to talk to anyone other than another Ranger. The investigating officer protests, but her commanding officer nonetheless brings in a former Ranger and current DEA agent to help. The agent is currently on suspension from DEA for allegedly accepting a bribe. From this point on, the plot continues to twist and turn and offers numerous surprises that keeps the story interesting. The old carny game, Three Card Monty, is the best way to describe<br/><br/>this movie. When you think you've figured out where the queen is,<br/><br/>her location changes. The movie keeps you thinking and wonder<br/><br/>just what exactly happened in the woods. Basic is a series of recollections of a Ranger practice gone wrong.<br/><br/>WHen six Rangers and their superior go into the Panamanian<br/><br/>jungle, only two come back alive. This film is the typical "all is not what is seems" movie. However,<br/><br/>you are left guessing what is happening right up to the end credits. This movie is for people who enjoy mystery, intrigue & thinking. If your goal is just to see a shoot-em up action movie don't go. If you pay attention & go with your intuitive feelings and actually listen to the dialogue spoken you will figure it out. All the clues are there, there just isn't somebody pointing at them for you. John Travolta is just fantastic. Samuel Jackson wonderful. Connie Nielsen is building herself a great resume of great movies. Giovanni Ribisi has seemed to have found a perfect persona for himself (think a young Kevin Spacey). With style and energy from the actors, with every sign of self-confidence from the director, with pictures that were in focus and dialogue that you could hear, the movie descended into a morass of narrative quicksand. By the end, I wanted to do cruel and vicious things to the screenplay. In order to understand the drug operation in this movie, we must first take a look at the people involved:<br/><br/><ul><li>Vilmer: Supplied the drugs, named "Combat Cocktails", to soldiers such as Mueller and Kendall. He was also running an operation with a partner, probably Colonel Styles, to smuggle cocaine in military shipments into the United States.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>Kendall: Distributed drugs for Vilmer, and was supposedly hired by Col. Styles to kill Sgt. West.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>Mueller: Distributed drugs for Vilmer, and was supposedly hired by Col. Styles to kill Sgt. West.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>West: Found out about the drug operation 1 week prior to the events in the movie, and went to inform Col. Styles about the discovery. Because of Col. Styles' inaction and potential threat to his safety, Sgt. West arranged the training mission in order to preemptively eliminate Kendall and Mueller.</li></ul><br/><br/><ul><li>Col. Styles: Covered Vilmer's drug operation in order to make millions of dollars from the drug operation.</li></ul><br/><br/>Sgt. West found out that Vilmer was running a drug trafficking operation out of the hospital, and he also found out that Kendall and Mueller were involved in the operation. Not knowing that Col. Styles was involved in the operation, Sgt. West approached him to reveal the drug operation. After some time, the inaction of Col. Styles arose suspicion . Sgt West also suspected that Mueller and Kendall would be ordered to kill him. <br/><br/>Sgt. West then arranges the training exercise in order to confront or eliminate Mueller and Kendall. There is no definitive answer to this question, however there are several possibilities:<br/><br/>1. The Section 8 team needed conclusive proof that Col. Styles was behind the drug operation. So far, Sgt. West and Hardy probably only had suspicions.<br/><br/>2. Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) might have been sent back to base in order to create a cover story for the disappearance of the other team members.