(1986) Opposing Force
PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR DRAMA
This is yet, another one of those movies where the idea or theme should be appreciated than the execution. It has Lt. Casey Catherine (Lisa Eichhorn) agreeing to participate in a dangerous POW training exercise set up by General MacDonald (John Considine). What is usual about this exercise, is that it has always been participated only by men, and apparently Casey happens to be the very first woman to agreeing to the exercise. And by the time 10 men and 1 woman dropped to the secluded forest area. For some strange reason, Casey and major William J. Logan ended up being paired up with one another, and became the first people who ended up in the "safe zone". Only they were then dragged out of their anyway, and placed into the caged fortress along with the captured others. And then for the next 40 odd minutes or so... they are then subjected to humiliation and rigorous exercises, all are ordered to strip down (with nothing more except the shoes on their feet) and wear orange moo moos, instructed by the commander, Stafford (Richard Roundtree) and a Vietnamese named Tuan (George Kee Cheung) taking orders from a wannabe tyrant, Becker (Anthony Zerbe). As a result of Becker letting his authority go to his head, as it is supposed to be a training exercise, he then takes the liberty of having Casey let out of her isolation box, only for her to be escorted to his chambers, so that he can physically assault her. At this point the supposed stool pigeon, Botts (Robert Wightman) of the group sitting on the steps takes the liberty to peek through Becker's wooden cabin. He witnesses Casey getting assaulted, at which point he then goes back to the caged compound to inform Logan about it. Logan becomes hysterical, and demands to confront Becker about it. Becker becomes afraid, as he does not want his superiors to know about this, and attempts at a cover up by trying to get Logan killed by Tuan and make it look like an accident. He does this by letting Logan run loose into the forest, only for him to outwit Tuan easily by using his orange moo moo as a ruse, accidentally killing him. And as soon as Becker discovers Tuan's lifeless body, it is during then he again tries to manipulate the situation. As he manages to free Casey and the rest of his men in captivity, except that none of his men believes him, leaving Logan with Casey and Botts to fend for themselves. Becker then shoots and kills commander Stafford while he was tied to a chair in cold blood, for the intention was to ramp up his soldiers to go after them.
As a I mentioned, the movie was involving up until Logan freed the rest of his eight recruits. Like, none of them wouldn't even consider to grab a weapon to arm themselves, as viewers are left to presume that all eight of them were shot dead, as Becker did give orders to kill Logan, Casey and Botts on sight. Making the point toward the end that not all training exercises should not be acted out at all.
This is yet, another one of those movies where the idea or theme should be appreciated than the execution. It has Lt. Casey Catherine (Lisa Eichhorn) agreeing to participate in a dangerous POW training exercise set up by General MacDonald (John Considine). What is usual about this exercise, is that it has always been participated only by men, and apparently Casey happens to be the very first woman to agreeing to the exercise. And by the time 10 men and 1 woman dropped to the secluded forest area. For some strange reason, Casey and major William J. Logan ended up being paired up with one another, and became the first people who ended up in the "safe zone". Only they were then dragged out of their anyway, and placed into the caged fortress along with the captured others. And then for the next 40 odd minutes or so... they are then subjected to humiliation and rigorous exercises, all are ordered to strip down (with nothing more except the shoes on their feet) and wear orange moo moos, instructed by the commander, Stafford (Richard Roundtree) and a Vietnamese named Tuan (George Kee Cheung) taking orders from a wannabe tyrant, Becker (Anthony Zerbe). As a result of Becker letting his authority go to his head, as it is supposed to be a training exercise, he then takes the liberty of having Casey let out of her isolation box, only for her to be escorted to his chambers, so that he can physically assault her. At this point the supposed stool pigeon, Botts (Robert Wightman) of the group sitting on the steps takes the liberty to peek through Becker's wooden cabin. He witnesses Casey getting assaulted, at which point he then goes back to the caged compound to inform Logan about it. Logan becomes hysterical, and demands to confront Becker about it. Becker becomes afraid, as he does not want his superiors to know about this, and attempts at a cover up by trying to get Logan killed by Tuan and make it look like an accident. He does this by letting Logan run loose into the forest, only for him to outwit Tuan easily by using his orange moo moo as a ruse, accidentally killing him. And as soon as Becker discovers Tuan's lifeless body, it is during then he again tries to manipulate the situation. As he manages to free Casey and the rest of his men in captivity, except that none of his men believes him, leaving Logan with Casey and Botts to fend for themselves. Becker then shoots and kills commander Stafford while he was tied to a chair in cold blood, for the intention was to ramp up his soldiers to go after them.
As a I mentioned, the movie was involving up until Logan freed the rest of his eight recruits. Like, none of them wouldn't even consider to grab a weapon to arm themselves, as viewers are left to presume that all eight of them were shot dead, as Becker did give orders to kill Logan, Casey and Botts on sight. Making the point toward the end that not all training exercises should not be acted out at all.