Rules Of Engagement [2000] [DVD]

Rules of Engagement opens strongly with a Vietnam battle sequence that sets the stage for the rest of the story. But then director William Friedkin knows a thing or two about staging harrowing action sequences, and if you don't believe that, you've never seen The French Connectionor To Live and Die in LA. Unfortunately, Friedkin can't do much about the implausible plot that follows, in which the Marine commander, played by the always-terrific Samuel L Jackson, is accused of slaughtering innocent civilians (who actually were shooting at him and his men). He must rely on an old Marine buddy--a lawyer played by Tommy Lee Jones--to get him through the jury-rigged court martial. But the central premise--that an evil presidential aide would perjure himself and destroy evidence simply to maintain good relations with US allies in the Middle East, rather than defending a highly decorated Marine colonel who risked his life--is inevitably hard to swallow. And the ending is even flimsier. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

DVD Special Features:

Featurette
"A Look Inside" Cast and Crew Interviews
Commentary by William Friedkin
Language Choice: English, French
Subtitles: English, English for the hearing impaired, French.

Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson deliver electrifying performances in this "tense, superbly-directed and top drawer drama" (Jeffrey Lyons, NBC-TV) about what happens when the rules that command a soldier become the rules that condemn him.

Colonel Terry Childers (Jackson) is a patriot and war hero. But when a peacekeeping mission he leads in Yemen goes terribly wrong, he finds himself facing a court martial. Accused of breaking the rules of engagement by killing unarmed civilians, Childers' only hope of vindication rests with comrade-in-arms Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), a military lawyer of questionnable abilities. Together, they face the battle of their lives.

Directed by Oscar -winning director William Friedkin and co-starring Guy Pearce, Bruce Greenwood, Anne Archer and Academy Award -winner Ben Kingsley, Rules of Engagement is "a magnificent movie you must see" (Larry King, USA Today).