View All Critic Reviews (31) Audience Reviews for G.I. Jane Failure is not an option. Good Movie! Demi Moore gave a good performance to a role that suited her really well. Viggo Mortensen was excellent as Master Chief. I found myself still liking his character after he beat the crap out of Demi Moore's in a training game gone wrong. That scene was brutal but very necessary. In this case, the social message was that equality in the military does not just mean that men and women get an equal share of the pie but also that they both get an equal share of the pain. This movie makes you think, but in a way where you don't even realize it. So many movies now shout their message loud and clear, but this one is more subtle about it, and you can watch as just another action movie about becoming a soldier, but you'll come out wiser or at least more prone to looking at sexism and feminism in a new way. When a crusading chairperson of the military budget committee pressures the would be Navy secretary to begin full gender integration of the service, he offers the chance for a test case for a female trainee in the US Navy's elite SEAL/C.R.T. selection program. LT.

Jordan O'Neill is given the assignment, but no one expects her to succeed in an inhumanly punishing regime that has a standard 60% dropout rate for men. However, O'Neill is determined to prove everyone wrong. Manu Gino Super Reviewer Ridley Scott does a pretty good job at combining a women's lib tale about a woman breaking into the uber-male ranks of Navy Seals with a little soft porn (can you do that??? He did it already) as Demi Moore"s nipples star as a important supporting cast members, and are given lotsa screen time. Viggo Mortensen and Anne Bancroft also do well bringing this orchestrated serio-carnival to a nigh opus crescendo, but its still only a circus. Weeeee! Kevin M. Williams Super Reviewer G.I Jane is an pretty interesting film to watch. Directed by Ridley Scott, G.I Jane tells the fictional story of the recruitment and training of the first woman Navy Seals. I don't understand why this film has gotten so many bad reviews. Granted it's not the best Ridley Scott film, but it's as hell ain't his worst. People seem to hate this film because it's a different type of film for Scott.

Obviously the big thing surrounding the film is the fact that Demi Moore had to shave her head for the part. Though not a perfect film, this is still a pretty good one. Viggo Mortensen is obviously the best actor here. G.I. Jane is a very interesting look at the Navy Seals, though flawed due to Hollywood dramatization. The film does give you an idea of the hard as hell training of the elite Navy Seals. G.I. Jane is a very entertaining film with political overtones due to the fact that the story revolves around a senator trying to further her career by having Demi Moore fail the Seals selection course. Not perfect in any way, G.I Jane however is very entertaining and has some cool scenes of boot camp training. Obviously cliched, the Seals are portrayed as dumb Jarjheads, which is an aspect of the film that doesn't work, because most people in the military are very intelligent and are University graduates. Unfortunately with yet another film like this, the soldiers are seen as dumb sexists, which for the most part isn't true in the military. That would be my only beef with the film.

Other than that, G.I Jane is a good film, though not excellent by any means, and definitely isn't Ridley Scott's best. However it's far from his worst. Expect from G.I. Jane an innacurrate but entertaining look at the Seals program, and you may not be disappointed. And as far as I'm concerned, after her dreadful film, Striptease, this is a far better film for Demi Moore, and actually this is her only good performance. Alex roy G.I. Jane (1997) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error A female Senator succeeds in enrolling a woman into Combined Reconnaissance Team training where everyone expects her to fail. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON TV 2017 Golden Globes Embraces New Faces Find out which newcomers will make a splash at the 2017 Golden Globes and which of your favorites didn't make the cut.

Don't miss our live coverage of the Golden Globes beginning at 4 p.m. PST on Jan. 8 in our Golden Globes section. a list of 45 titles created 07 May 2011 a list of 22 titles created 27 May 2012 a list of 31 titles created 20 Jul 2013 a list of 32 titles created 18 Aug 2014 a list of 24 titles created 17 Apr 2015 Search for " G.I. Jane " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 2 wins & 3 nominations. See more awards » Videos Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage. Director: Ridley Scott Two NYC cops arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he's extradited to Japan. Director: Ridley Scott Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas and the effect this has on the indigenous people.

Director: Ridley Scott A stripper and single mother gets dragged into a dangerous situation after a congressman takes a fancy to her. Director: Andrew Bergman An Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a '66 Thunderbird. Director: Ridley Scott A married New York cop falls for the socialite murder witness he's been assigned to protect. Director: Ridley Scott A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly. Director: Ridley Scott Living in exile, Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced FBI agent Clarice Starling and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim. Director: Ridley Scott A lawyer finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking. Director: Ridley Scott 160 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis. Director: Ridley Scott A millionaire offers $1,000,000 to a young married couple for a night with the wife.

Director: Adrian Lyne Edit Storyline When a crusading chairperson of the military budget committee pressures the would be Navy secretary to begin full gender integration of the service, he offers the chance for a test case for a female trainee in the US Navy's elite SEAL/C.R.T. selection program. LT. Jordan O'Neill is given the assignment, but no one expects her to succeed in an inhumanly punishing regime that has a standard 60% dropout rate for men. However, O'Neill is determined to prove everyone wrong. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com> Failure is not an option. See more » Genres: Rated R for language and combat violence | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 22 August 1997 (USA) See more » Also Known As: A Matter of Honor See more » Filming Locations: $11,094,241 (USA) (22 August 1997) Gross: Primary filmed on Camp Blanding (Florida National Guard) training base, near Jacksonville, FL. See more » Goofs In Urgayle's first scene, he gets in the face of the man who laughs.

From one camera angle, the bill of Urgayle's hat is above the man's, and from the other it is below. See more » Quotes Master Chief John Urgayle : Pain is your friend, your ally, it will tell you when you are seriously injured, it will keep you awake and angry, and remind you to finish the job and get the hell home. But you know the best thing about pain? Courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd./ Warner Bros. Records Inc. (Canada) – See all my reviews "G.I. Jane" is the story of Lieutenant Jordan O'Neill, a Naval Intelligence officer who gets chosen by a senator to be the test dummy for woman's acceptance into Military Combat. She gets put into training for the Navy SEALS, the most elite and toughest training. Now, O'Neill must prove she has what it takes to be among the best of the boys. Directed by Ridley Scott and co-written by the creator of the "Chronicles of Riddick" series, I wasn't sure what to expect. Ridley Scott is an amazing director but I didn't like "Pitch Black" that much, so I didn't know if I ended up liking this movie. But you know what?

I highly enjoyed it. Demi Moore plays Lieutenant O'Neill, a tough, no-nonsense girl who just wants to get in on the action. Out of all the roles I've seen Demi Moore in, this is my favourite one yet. She's strong-willed, determined, and as the film goes on, she becomes a giant badass. If there was ever a woman's version of "The Expendables", Demi Moore would definitely be in it. She's a great character and you really want to see her succeed and kick all the guy's asses. She also gets into the best shape of her life. Even when she shaves her head, forms abs and gets totally ripped, she is still incredibly hot. Viggo Mortensen plays John, the Master Chief. No, not the one from Halo. The moment he steps on screen, you know this guy is hardcore. He's brutal, mean, and is really a dick towards O'Neill. Of course towards the end they become allies but the stuff he does to O'Neill is just terrible. You do not like this guy at all, but that just shows that Viggo Mortensen did a good job as Master Chief.

Only way he could be any more badass is with an energy sword. The atmosphere in this movie is awesome. You're watching all these guys and O'Neill go through boot camp and you're just sitting there going "Yeah, I couldn't do that. That's just gross". Like there's one part where they have five minutes to eat dinner and do they get fresh food? No. They get the scraps from their lunch. So their eating like half eaten corn and weird goop that been sitting there for half a day. I have to be honest, I wouldn't survive 1 day at that place. The last 20 minutes are my least favourite part of the film. It's kind of like "Full Metal Jacket" in the way that once they leave bootcamp, the movie goes downhill. But unlike "Full Metal Jacket", the movie only goes downhill a bit. It was kind of just an excuse to make stuff blow up and have a gunfight but I'm not complaining. Got to say, Demi Moore grenading Iraqis and Aragorn sniping people is pretty cool. Overall, I highly enjoyed "G.I. Jane". I thought it was a great entertainment and Demi Moore was excellent.

It's a badass military film that shows that girls really can kick ass, and I would watch this any day. Definitely a buy on Blu-Ray. 3 of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Demi Moore in GI Jane Moore shaved her head on set in Ridley Scott's 1997 film. She said that it had a beguiling effect: "I had more people want to touch me. The funniest responses came from my children, who would say to friends, 'Hey, do you want to come look at my mom's head?' as if I were a show-and-tell item." Nearly two decades later, Moore's daughter followed in her mother's footsteps. Talullah Willis told Nylon magazine last year: "I actually watched G.I. Jane two days before I shaved my head. I don’t think I was 100 percent inspired by it, but I think it may have manifested the idea in my mind." | Cut!

Harry Styles & 16 more film stars who've had drastic haircuts for roles - Film Harry Styles and 16 other film stars who have undergone drastic haircuts for roles Harry Styles - Dunkirk One Direction fans the world over went into meltdown after discovering that singer/heartthrob Harry Styles had – horror of horror – had a haircut. The star ditched his famous curly locks in favour of a short, military style for his role in Christopher Nolan ’s wartime drama , which is currently filming in Northern France. But that’s not the only sacrifice Harry has made for the role: early reports suggested he was also forced to attend a tough maritime “bootcamp”, where food was limited – and mobile phones banned. Christian Bale – American Hustle Christian Bale’s turn as a conman in American Hustle could easily be mistaken for a Donald Trump comb-over tutorial. Apparently creating this balding look was problematic because Bale had so much hair. In the end the style was put together with the help of a tiny hair piece. Bale’s 7-year-old daughter apparently shaved his long hair off when filming had wrapped. Credit: REX Features Demi Moore in GI Jane Moore shaved her head on set in Ridley Scott's 1997 film.

She said that it had a beguiling effect: "I had more people want to touch me. The funniest responses came from my children, who would say to friends, 'Hey, do you want to come look at my mom's head?' as if I were a show-and-tell item." Nearly two decades later, Moore's daughter followed in her mother's footsteps. Talullah Willis told Nylon magazine last year: "I actually watched G.I. Jane two days before I shaved my head. I don’t think I was 100 percent inspired by it, but I think it may have manifested the idea in my mind." Karen Gillan - Guardians of the Galaxy The Scottish actress shaved her head to play cyborg space pirate Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, and filmed the moment she lost her famous red locks on her phone. The sequel to the Marvel assemble movie will be out in 2017 - it's yet to be confirmed if Gillan will be getting the clippers out again.

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables In the 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables, Anne Hathaway fully committed to the role of tragic Fantine by shaving her head and losing a dramatic amount of weight. In the film, set in 19th-century France, Fantine is left destitute and forced into a life of prostitution, before being selling her hair and teeth in desperation. At the New York screening of the movie, Hathaway said of her drastic haircut: “I just thought I looked like my gay brother”. Rooney Mara - The Girl with A Dragon Tattoo Mara donned the metalwear and fake tattoo for the US remake of the Swedish adaptation of Stieg Larsson's bestseller. But it was perhaps her punky hairstyle which stayed with the actress longest after filming wrapped. Life imitated art for Mara, who, like her character Lisbeth Salander, dyed her hair black. Lisbeth, however, was a natural redhead according to Larsson's book, which meant that Mara had to adopt a suitably coloured merkin for the nude scenes.

Tom Hanks – Castaway By the end of Castaway, Tom Hanks’s bedraggled FedEx salesman cultivated an impressive mane of head and facial hair. The film was shot in two parts over 16 months, with a year-long hiatus that gave Hanks the chance to grow his hair and lose 50 pounds to achieve a suitable shipwrecked look. Credit: REUTERS/REX Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth When Cate Blanchett took on the role of iconic British monarch Elizabeth, she realised she was going to need to adapt her look to fit in with Elizabethan beauty standards – one of which decreed that women should have unnaturally high foreheads (weird, yes – but arguably no less weird than surgically enhanced lips or breasts). “I shaved my hairline, so my hair was a complete mess,” she later revealed. “And the front portion was bleached white. I had these really short tufts that used to stick out, so I had to pin them back.

It wasn’t a good look.” Woody Harrelson - Kingpin Woody Harrelson gamely decided a wig wasn’t enough: he’d need a real comb over to play former bowling star turned coach Roy Munson in the 1996 Farrelly brothers comedy KIngpin. He promptly shaved his head, grew a select portion back – and, er, combed it over. One thing Harrelson wasn’t prepared to do for the part, however, was to gain weight: instead he wore a prosthetic fat suit throughout. Bill Murray - Kingpin Harrelsen wasn't the only Kingpin actor to silly-up his hair: his co-star Bill Murray, who stars as villainous professional bowler Ernie McCracken, sports some spectacularly horrible locks in the film. Think a halo of long wispy strands, flaring out from a big, bald sun. Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men Bardem made an undisputedly terrifying villain as Anton Chigurh in The Coen Brothers' 2007 frontier film, but his bizarre haircut helped the actor seem especially unnerving.

Bardem, a man who has worn shoulder-length curls and a caramel combover on screen, called it "It's the worst haircut I've ever had". And it was fear-inducing in real life, too: "I had to live with that! It wasn't a wig. It was my hair! It's bad. It's really bad. You go to the market to buy your milk and people get weird, like really scared." Jared Leto - Suicide Squad Comic Book fans will have to wait until this summer to see Leto's acting chops as The Joker, but his dramatic transformation into the villain has been well-previewed when images were released last July. Leto, who had sported long hair as both the frontman of rock band 30 Seconds to Mars and as a trans woman in Dallas Buyers Club (for which he won an Oscar), had not only cut off his locks, but dyed them bright green.

Natalie Dormer - Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts I and II Natalie Dormer swapped the flowing tresses of her Game of Thrones character Margaery Tyrell for a punkish, semi-shaved style when she took on the role of Capitol resident turned rebel Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts I and II. But the actress, whose scalp and neck were adorned with a striking (fake) vine tattoo in the film, was willing to go even further if needed. "When they offered me the role, they asked me if I would consider shaving my entire head," she told Glamour Magazine. "Ultimately, the director Francis Lewis and I decided she [Cressida] would look funkier and more Capitol if she rocked the half-shaved head look instead". Brad Pitt – The Big Short When the trailer for The Big Short, a film about the 2007 financial crash, came out, people were more interested in the horrendous haircuts than the movie itself. While the rest of his fellow cast members donned dodgy wig, Brad Pitt went all-out and grew a seriously bad haircut for his role as retired investment banker Ben Rickert.

The stylist who delivered the dubious trim said that she didn’t use a comb, just her fingers to chop Pitt’s locks. Credit: REX Features Sigourney Weaver - Alien 3 The Alien actress shaved her head to mark her intergalactic transition in the third Alien film. The actress was actually quite fond of the style, she said at the time, as she found it liberating. A shaved head, however, did require maintenance: "it took a lot of up-keep. We had to shave it every two days, because even then two days’ growth looked shaggy." Credit: REUTERS Natalie Portman - V for Vendetta Portman inspired thousands of women to take the chop after growing an elegant pixie crop out of the violent head-shaving scene in 2005's V for Vendetta. She wasn't the first to take the plunge on set, however - several volunteers from the crew stepped forward to rehearse with cameramen to get the perfect shot.

As Portman said at the time: "We only had one shot to do it because you can't go back and re-shave the head." Taylor Lautner - The Twilight Saga: New Moon And now, dear readers, here's a haircut that never really happened. Team Jacob adherents everywhere mourned the lustrous locks of Twilight star Taylor Lautner when he shed them for the second film in the franchise (FYI: werewolves apparently can't have long hair without suffering from awkwardly long fur when in wolf form). But turns out we'd all been conned; Lautner was in fact sporting a wig throughout the first Twilight movie. More galleries from Telegraph online: Movies: Stars shaving their heads for roles Movies: Stars shaving their heads for roles 19 November 2012 5:51 PM Shares Anne Hathaway Anne Hathaway Anne Hathaway admitted she wept when she had her long locks cut off for her upcoming role in Les Misérables. 01 Of 16 Anne Hathaway Anne Hathaway 1 Of 16 Anne Hathaway Anne Hathaway admitted she wept when she had her long locks cut off for her upcoming role in Les Misérables.

2 Of 16 Anne Hathaway Anne Hathaway admitted she wept when she had her long locks cut off for her upcoming role in Les Misérables. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Natalie Portman shaved her head for 2005's V for Vendetta. 4 Of 16 Natalie Portman shaved her head for 2005's V for Vendetta. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 5 Of 16 Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Nixon shaved her head to appear in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit, in which she plays a celebrated poetry professor battling terminal cancer. © WENN 6 Of 16 Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Nixon shaved her head to appear in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit, in which she plays a celebrated poetry professor battling terminal cancer. © WENN Sigourney Weaver shaved her head for her role as Ellen Ripley in Alien 3. 8 Of 16 Sigourney Weaver shaved her head for her role as Ellen Ripley in Alien 3. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Demi Moore shaved her head for Ridley Scott's G.I Jane back in 1997. 10 Of 16 19 January 2017 5:00 PM And not a superhero among them.

19 January 2017 3:19 PM When life imitates terrifying art. 19 January 2017 2:32 PM James Mangold takes us through scene by scene. 19 January 2017 2:02 PM Wolverine Jr kicks some cyborg butt. 19 January 2017 2:00 PM Plus, Darren Day doing his best Russian accent. 19 January 2017 1:59 PM Great news. It feels REALLY Alien. 19 January 2017 1:15 PM Roll out! 19 January 2017 1:04 PM It's Morphin Time! 19 January 2017 11:26 AM Well, slightly disappoint you at any rate. 19 January 2017 10:54 AM And the acting veteran replied: "I'm Batman." G.I.

Jane – EW.com Drama, ActionAdventure We gave it a B- Grabbing an electric barbershop razor, Jordan O’Neil (Demi Moore), the first woman in history allowed to train with the elite Navy SEALs, casts a doleful look forward. As Chrissie Hynde wails in rapture on the soundtrack, Jordan puts razor to head and begins to shave, her dark locks cascading to the floor, her skull gleaming under a layer of microstubble. She emerges, reborn, as…what? Joan of Arc? Sinead O’Connor? Call her Saint Jordan of Basic Training. Jordan, the iron-willed heroine of G.I. Jane (Hollywood), must prove she’s worthy of being a Navy SEAL if others are to tread in her path. The future of women in the military is riding on her shoulders. Her commanding officers have insisted on giving her special treatment, placing her, in small ways, on a pedestal (which is really a way of putting her down). For Jordan, shaving off her hair is a way of demanding to be treated as a soldier, not a woman.

Yet the buzz cut carries another, unmistakable layer of symbolism: It’s Demi Moore shearing herself of vanity. In recent years, we’ve seen her stripped, buffed, martyred by a scarlet letter and a fickle, derisive public. In G.I. Jane, Moore seems to be saying: You want me without frills? Without protection? Well, here I am. Of course, she still has plenty of protection. G.I. Jane, directed by Ridley Scott, is a grimly inspirational basic-training epic that glorifies the new power of women. Recruited as a high-profile test case by a feisty U.S. senator (Anne Bancroft), Jordan undergoes the grueling rituals of the Navy SEALs, a torturous regimen that, if the film is to be believed, makes the infamous basic training of the Marines look like a round of patty-cake. Along with the male recruits, Jordan does push-ups in the ice-cold surf, crawls through torrents of mud, eats food out of the garbage, gets punched, kicked, and shot at, and then, when she’s past the point of exhaustion, is put through a dozen new varieties of torture.

She also, naturally, engages in a mind war with her drill sergeant, the command master chief (Viggo Mortensen), who, for some reason, looks like a disco lizard from 1979. Living through this sadomasochistic endurance test, the audience may well wonder not just if a woman could take all this but why, exactly, she’d want to. With its vicarious revel in no-pain-no-gain feminist machismo, G.I. Jane makes heroism look — literally — like hell. Yet that, in a way, is its message. The film says that if women and men are to be truly equal, they must embrace the outer limits of physical will in the exact same way. G.I. Jane has a timely topic, which it treats with more than a touch of wish fulfillment. Then again, so has every male basic-training movie ever made. Were women put on earth to be warriors? Demi Moore certainly was. She’ll never be a great actress, or even a great presence, but the role of Jordan O’Neil fits her as snugly as a new layer of muscle. G.I.

Jane could almost be a paradigm of modern movie stardom: Moore, as Jordan, doesn’t have much of a character to play, but oh, does she strive for success! We’re right in there with Demi, in the mud and the rain (since this is a Ridley Scott picture, there’s lots of rain), watching her grow strong. I wish G.I. Jane were more fun. The movie is as dogged as its heroine, and the conspiratorial threats to Jordan’s victory — she is ridiculed, sabotaged, framed as a ”lesbian” by mysterious higher-ups — come across as standard-issue dramatic booby traps. At the end, Scott stages a ludicrous (and chaotically edited) military skirmish in Libya, the sole purpose of which is to prove that women can — and should — go into combat. It’s pure propaganda. And yet there’s no denying that G.I. Jane pumps up a powerful new myth of Olympian feminine resilience. Let’s hope that women don’t start killing themselves to live up to it. B- Show Full Article Ridley Scott's G.I.

JANE - FuriousCinema.com · Updated March 11, 2016 Demi Moore is one furious female in G.I. Jane! After making his ‘women fighting back’ film Thelma and Louise, Ridley Scott decided to tell the story of another rebellious gal and it ended up being one of my personal favorite films from his entire filmography. Lt. Jordan O’ Neill (Demi Moore), a Navy intel specialist is chosen to be the first female to try out for the secret ops Navy SEAL program. Her CO is Command Master Chief John James Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen) who let’s O’Neill and her fellow officers know right off they have just entered the ninth gate of hell and he plans to give them a guided tour. Urgayle is a supreme bad-ass but his assistant instructors are even more brutal than he is and show no mercy. Time to get mean. One aspect about the film that’s especially interesting is you get an inside look at what it’s like to go through SEAL training, (it’s most likely even worse in real life). The torturous methods the SEALs implement to weed out the weak recruits creates the heightened drama and action in the film.

In a classic bit of method acting, Demi Moore actually shaved her head on camera to the sound of The Pretenders song “The Homecoming” which really accentuates her character’s determination. With her new buzz cut, Jordan proves she’s not only tough enough to make it into the SEALs but that she’s one of the best soldiers they have. On her tough as nails journey, she’s got to contend with the issue of sexism coming from her superiors and fellow officers, like the cigar chomping Captain Salem (Scott Wilson) and a jarheaded goon named Slovnik (Jim Caviezel). Viggo Mortensen’s Master Chief Urgayle showcases another great chameleon like performance. His character is both an old school alpha male but behind the scenes has an honest compassion for Lt. O’Neill’s plight. While Jordan overcomes the brutal probationary period of the SEALs and succeeds at her goal, Senator DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) who gave her the opportunity to be in the SEALs in the first place tries to undermine her efforts by bringing in trumped up charges that she’s a lesbian so she’ll be forced to resign.

Jordan then fights against her and proves that she’s no quitter or patsy. For me this is one of Demi Moore’s best performances/films of her career. It’s a highly charged action film meets female empowerment tale that also turns out to ultimately be a ‘feel good’ movie! G. I. Jane (Film) - TV Tropes G. I. Jane You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share G. I. Jane is a 1997 action film directed by Ridley Scott , starring Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen . Senator Lillian DeHaven of Texas ( Anne Bancroft ) publicly criticizes the United States Navy for its failure to integrate both male and female recruits to all its services. She strikes a deal, arranging for a series of test cases. A single woman will join each branch currently fully-staffed by males service and try to perform as well as her male colleagues. The first test case has Lieutenant Jordan O' Neil (Moore) joining the U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team.

The Lieutenant has to contend with the brutal training regime of Command Master Chief John James Urgayle (Mortensen), trumped up charges of being a lesbian (violating the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy), attempts to relegate her to desk jobs, and double-crossing allies. Her graduation test involves an actual operation in the Libyan Desert. Not to confuse with G.I. Joe . The film features examples of: Abuse Mistake : Jordan and her crew are out celebrating at a bar when she goes to use the restroom. As she washes her hands, another female customer pauses as she passes by and, spotting Jordan's badly bruised face, remarks "Ain't really none of my business, but I say 'leave the bastard'." before exiting, which causes Jordan to laugh. (The abuse really happened, but it was part of her special forces training.) Artistic License ï¿½ Military : The all-black office uniform with black slacks and long-sleeved shirts worn by Lt. O'Neil and the Captain when she arrives at the training center, while technically a proper uniform for the time period, is extremely rare in everyday use. Most officers would use a khaki version of that uniform with short sleeves.

When standing at attention just before training begins, all the trainees stand in ranks with their palms flat at their sides and arms fully extended in the European style. All American military branches stand at attention with their hands in fists and arms slightly bent so their hands sit at their hips. Time-sensitive special teams training may put somewhat severe limits on the time allowed for food, but certainly not enough to compel trainees to shove each other through the galley just to down a few mouthfulls. On the contrary, such trainees are normally encouraged to eat heartily, as the consistent training requires an increased calorie input to keep up. And, for health reasons if nothing else, they certainly aren't forced to eat out of garbage cans. The command master chiefs of any given command rarely involves himself with direct work in the same way Urgayle does with his instructors. The command master chief's job is to be the liason to the commanding officer in regards to matters and concerns involving enlisted personnel at the command. In a training command, he would have a say regarding the training cirriculum and preparation and in the guidelines as to how the instructors go about fulfilling such, but he personally would not be involved in the training evaluations himself.

Artistic License ï¿½ Statistics : Having 100% of a test set of 1 woman undergoing SEAL training pass or fail wouldn't prove anything. Especially since most men who apply for said training also fail. Justified in that setting her up to fail was the explicit goal of putting her in the SEAL program, and someone who is actively seeking confirmation bias isn't going to be much interested in what the statistic would or wouldn't actually indicate. Badass Boast : After one of the new recruits idiotically decides to laugh during Command Master Chief Urgayle's opening speech, the latter walks up to the recruit and responds with a boast where he basically compares himself to God. Urgayle: The ebb and flow of the Atlantic tides, the drift of the continents, the very position of the sun along its ecliptic. THESE are just a FEW of the things I control in my world! Is that clear? Bald of Awesome : Jordan's shaved head is spotlighted as essential to her training. Bald Women : Jordan. Beauty Is Never Tarnished : Averted. Jordan gets beaten all to hell during SERE training and has large grazes and scabs on her face for several scenes following.

Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough : Command Master Chief John James Urgayle is Captain Smooth (only once does he ever bark at a trainee), while his two subordinate instructors jointly fill the Sergeant Rough position. Chekhov's Skill : The fact that Jordan used to be a Navy intelligence officer. Corrupt Politician : Senator DeHaven to the point where she frames Jordan for being a lesbian in order to avoid military bases closing in her home state of Texas. Double Standard : Jordan receives preferential treatment in her training at first such as being allowed an additional thirty seconds to finish a training course and being given an aid step for an obstacle, until she goes to her CO and points out that this is only making her male comrades resent her and defeats the purpose of the argument that women are equal, and demands it stop. When Lt. Blondell, Jordan's physician, asks her why she's going through the training, Jordan asks if Blondell asks the men the same thing. Subverted ; Blondell replies that she does ask the men the same question.

During the POW training the interrogation instructor doesn't want to harm Jordan , but Urgayle, understanding the necessity, has no such reservations and proceeds to beat her mercilessly, and even asks her while he has a headlock on her if he thinks they should treat the women differently to which Jordan screams, "Never!" Drill Sergeant Nasty : Command Master Chief John James "Jack" Urgayle is a more sedate, erudite version, but no less nasty. He also personally conducts torture on Jordan for SERE training. He is however one of the few characters that displays no sexism, treating Jordan just like any of the other recruits, and doesn't seem to tolerate it either. The Dulcinea Effect : Not stated outright but the Real Life equivalent of women in the military is used by Urgayle when he brutally beats Jordan in front of the male trainees during POW training in order to get information from them, and it proves more effective than interrogating the male trainees themselves, as they are clearly about to crack. Forbidden Fruit : Jordan tells her boyfriend that the more she is tried to be forced out of the program, the more she wants to complete it.

Forced to Watch : As part of their POW training, Urgayle brutally beats Jordan and pretends that he's about to rape her in front of the male trainees in order to get them to give up information. Gender Is No Object : The film's aesop is that militaries should be this way. The main character runs into the gender barrier when she joins up for the grueling SEAL training program (even receiving preferential treatment at first that defeats the whole purpose of integration) not simply because she's a woman, but because Men Are the Expendable Gender . Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee : Jordan uses the threat of this to get Senator DeHaven to drop the trumped-up charges against her. Jordan: If I have to ask anyone again, Senator, I'll be asking on C-SPAN. Important Haircut : Jordan shaves her head during her special operations training. Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique : Used on the trainees during their POW training, most notably by Urgayle on Jordan. Jackie Robinson Story : Pretty much the entire plot. Kill Sat : The operation at the end of the movie is to recover one of these.

Men Are the Expendable Gender : Jordan discusses this with Senator DeHaven after DeHaven reveals she had never intended for Jordan to succeed in the program, and it was all just a ruse to score political points. DeHaven: The truth is, the choice isn't yours, and it isn't mine. American families are just not prepared to have their daughters and young mothers in harm's way. Jordan: You don't know that. DeHaven: Yes, I do. Roper, Paris, Gallup, all the polls, they all come back the same way. Jordan: What are you saying? That a woman's life is more valuable than a man's? That a woman's death is more hurtful than a man's? DeHaven: No politician can afford to let women come home in body bags, especially me. Metaphorically True : Jordan cannot pick up Urgayle by herself, but her heroism inspires her squaddies to help get him to safety.

This is enough for Urgayle to give her his Navy Cross, which had been awarded to him "for pulling a 240-pound man out of a burning tank."note To her credit, she did drag him far enough out of the kill zone for the team to execute their ambush, which is the only reason they got Jordan and Urgayle out alive. Multi-Take Cut : Used in the scene in which Jordan shaves her head. No Periods, Period : Averted. When Jordan moves into the male barracks, Slovnik is disgusted when he finds a box of tampons. Punctuated! For! Emphasis! : "SUCK... MY... DICK!" Made into a Moment of Awesome by the fact that a shorn-haired and yet STILL uber-beddable Demi Moore (yes, a woman) is shouting it — and into the face of a Super Soldier of a NAVY SEAL who's acting as the mentor and had spent the last few minutes kicking the crap out of her .

Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil : During the POW training, when Urgayle is brutally beating Jordan in front of the male trainees, he starts to cut off her pants as if he's about to rape her, simulating what would most likely happen if they were captured for real. "The Reason You Suck" Speech : C.O. Salem gives one to Lt. O'Neil when he talks about the concessions he's had to make to accommodate her: Salem: Most of all what I resent is your perfume, however subtle, interfering with the scent of my fine three dollar and seventy-nine cent cigar, which I will put out this instant if the phallic nature of it happens to offend your goddamn fragile sensibilities! Sensitivity Training : Before the title character starts SEAL training, all of the instructors have to receive sensitivity training so they know not to sexually harass her. Shower Scene : Jordan showers while Urgayle talks to her. Directed by Ridley Scott Hollywood Pictures Well before Southern Baptists alerted us to the scene in which a bald, filthy, bleeding Demi Moore roughs up a man and tells him to "suck my dick," there was reason to fear that G.I. Jane might be a trip to the trash can.

There was the name, which sounded like it was dreamed up by a marketing expert in the hope that the film would spawn a lucrative line of toys. There was the lead actress. Of late, playing the frequently naked Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, and the even more frequently naked working mom in Striptease, Moore has not shone like a star for the ages. Indeed, earlier this year Disney postponed the release of G.I. Jane after test audiences revealed that while they liked the movie all right, they were surprised they liked anything with Demi Moore in it. Advertisement Yet people who dismiss Moore and G.I. Jane out of hand are wrong, because she makes a memorably tough heroine and the movie is solid fun, even, in places, quite intelligent. Moore plays Jordan O'Neil, who, when the film opens, is working as a topographical analyst in Navy intelligence. She's smart and driven, with the kind of tactless self-assurance that alienates her colleagues; also, well after the fact, she's still angry that she was turned down for service in the Gulf War. Meanwhile, the Senate is preparing to swear in a new secretary of defense, and Sen.

Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) decides to sponsor the first woman through the infamously hellish training of the elite Navy SEALs. It turns out to be a cynical political maneuver. DeHaven wants it to look like she's promoting women in the military, but she's really counting on the lone woman to fail. In fact, she has cut a deal with the new secretary: The Navy SEALs will stay all-male, in return for which the Navy won't close any bases in the senator's home district. O'Neil, the fall girl, shows up at boot camp raring to go, and her struggle to get through training is the heart of the film. It's the old underdog-in-the-military story, and it's been told so many times we ought to weep from boredom. But simply changing the hero's sex makes every tried-and-true plot point eerily unfamiliar. The SEALs' head instructor, Command Master Chief John Urgayle (a charismatic, skeletally thin Viggo Mortensen), is a total sadist but also secretly wise, even somewhat mystical. (In his spare time, he reads D.H.

Lawrence.) If O'Neil were a man, she would fight with Urgayle like a son with his father. But Urgayle isn't guiding O'Neil down a known path of hurdles into manhood. He just doesn't want her around. And so it goes with her fellow trainees. When a Richard Gere or a Tom Cruise shows up for military training, he bonds with certain guys and gets into macho contests with others. O'Neil can do neither. In a strong early scene, she enters the cafeteria and the men whistle, then they titter among themselves. No one approaches to befriend her, so she sits by herself, vulnerable, gritting her teeth. It's a brief and quiet moment, but Moore's teary eyes haven't been this effective since Ghost. Ridley Scott might seem like an odd choice to direct this film. He's still best known for the much more elaborate, atmospheric Blade Runner, in which the only woman was a noir-style femme fatale who turned out to be a robot. But improbably, Scott has become a leading director of films about women in the world of men.

First he made Alien, which introduced the giantess Sigourney Weaver in the kind of grim, lonely warrior role that used to go to a man. Later, he made Thelma & Louise. Get Slate in your inbox. In terms of sexual politics, G.I. Jane may actually be the most urgent of the three, because its subject, the integration of the military, raises questions of pressing interest to us. Where should soldiers of different sexes sleep? Should a woman be handicapped on an obstacle course? Should she be subjected to corporal punishment? G.I. Jane ends up arguing that women should get exactly the same opportunities as men, and that they should be held to the same brutal standards. Thankfully, Scott gets this message across without too much high-flown rhetoric. He doesn't celebrate male bonding, but neither is he out to get the military. His style here is neutral, detached--even strangely androgynous. When O'Neil takes some trainees out on a trial mission, Scott has the camera follow the action from a respectful distance, like an anthropologist who's stumbled on a new tribe. Advertisement For entertainment's sake, there's a punchy script by Danielle Alexandra and David Twohy.

(Ironically, the film's publicity kit announces that he handled the battle scenes, while she tackled human interest.) There's not a lot of talking, but when the characters do talk, the dialogue is funnier than the dialogue in most action movies. Bancroft's sneaky senator combines Geraldine Ferraro's smooth silver hairdo with Ann Richards' folksy truck-driver wit; she reels off a number of good lines, rejecting one beefy female candidate for SEALs' training because "you'd have to check for chromosomes." As for "suck my dick," it may be vulgar, and not as catchy as one-liners like "read my lips" and "I'll be back," but it's in character, and a lot wittier than this summer's main competition: the moment in Air Force One when Harrison Ford solemnly tells the terrorist to "get off my plane." B ut G.I. Jane rides on Moore's performance. Few actresses could shave their heads and look this beautiful, and even fewer could do sit-ups while hanging upside down. Actually, the film could use fewer sit-ups; these and all the one-armed push-ups do sometimes give the film the feel of a vanity project.

But I doubt any other actress could have played this role better. Any woman this determined to bulldoze her way through the Navy SEALs must be insanely ambitious, constantly on guard against those who want her to stumble. Any rage she may feel at the sight of less-qualified male colleagues getting promoted she must express not by complaining, but by doing better. If she is inarticulate, too tense to have much of a sense of humor; if she is even, deep down, kind of boring--so much the better. A more gifted actress might have tried to give us a picture of O'Neil's inner life. Moore is O'Neil. Her identification with the character is what gives the film its odd power. Yet when I saw Moore promoting G.I. Jane on a talk show the other day, she'd done a 180-degree turn. Her face was scrubbed, almost makeup-free, and her dress was flowery. She'd grown out her buzz cut to Winona Ryder length, and the look was that of an innocent, wistful pixie.

She did not seem to be a person likely to say "suck my dick." It's tempting to conclude from this that she's empty at the core, trying on different personas to hide her lack of a self. But she seemed more like someone who had tried to play herself, met with hostility, and was now at a loss. Moore was recently quoted as saying that Americans want her to fail, and that she and Bruce Willis might pick up and move to Europe. I've never been a fan of hers, but if G.I. Jane fails to score big and if the press then lumps it in with her previous flops, I'd have to say that she's right. Demi Moore is out in front on this one. She's given us a picture of a pioneer. But like women in combat, she's something we're not prepared to accept.

CO Salem (Scott Wilson) thrusts a cigar in O'Neil's face (Moore) (59 seconds): Demi Moore bonds with daughter Tallulah Willis by giving her shaved head a buzz-cut | Daily Mail Online Demi Moore bonds with daughter Tallulah Willis by giving her shaved head a buzz-cut comments Demi Moore bonded with her daughter Tallulah Willis on Sunday by giving her shaved head a buzz-cut at home. The 52-year-old actress famously shaved off her waist-length locks in 1997 to play a Navy SEAL trainee in Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane. And now the former blogger - who turns 21 next month - has parlayed her edgy new look to model leather harnesses for Zana Bayne. Scroll down for video 'Mommy-daughter bonding activities': Demi Moore bonded with her daughter Tallulah Willis on Sunday by giving her shaved head a buzz-cut at home Like mother, like daughter: The 52-year-old actress famously shaved off her waist-length locks in 1997 to play a Navy SEAL trainee in Ridley Scott's G.I.

Jane The two-time Golden Globe nominee is also mother to daughters Rumer, 26, and Scout, 23, with ex-husband Bruce Willis. On Saturday, Tallulah shared a retro snap of the 59-year-old Golden Globe winner on the set of Luc Besson's 1997 sci-fi flick The Fifth Element. Willis currently stars in the sci-fi thriller Vice and has two daughters - Mabel, 2, and Evelyn, 8 months - his second wife Emma Heming.

Nepotism: And now the former blogger - who turns 21 next month - has parlayed her edgy new look to model leather harnesses for Zana Bayne 'Me and KORBEN Dallas': On Saturday, Tallulah shared a retro snap of her father Bruce Willis on the set of Luc Besson's 1997 sci-fi flick The Fifth Element 'Growing up, my parents did a good job of making me aware of how fortunate I was': In the past, Tallulah acted in her parents films' The Whole Ten Yards, Bandits, and The Scarlet Letter (pictured October 23) 'Growing up, my parents did a good job of making me aware of how fortunate I was,' she said in the February edition of Teen Vogue . 'Sometimes I still can't grapple with how culturally impactful my parents are.' In the past, Tallulah acted in her parents films' The Whole Ten Yards, Bandits, and The Scarlet Letter.

Recovering: The wild child - named after Tallulah Bankhead - spent 45 days in inpatient treatment for a drug addiction and eating disorder at The Meadows in Arizona last summer Willis said: 'I'm now 20 years old, and I can say that I'm getting to that place where I'm starting to feel OK with myself, bit by bit' The wild child - named after Tallulah Bankhead - spent 45 days in inpatient treatment for a drug addiction and eating disorder at The Meadows in Arizona last summer. 'I'm now 20 years old, and I can say that I'm getting to that place where I'm starting to feel OK with myself, bit by bit,' she told the mag.

'My story is not just about some wild Los Angeles teen who did drugs or drank too much.' Rocker toyboy: This month, Demi celebrates a year of dating Dead Sara drummer Sean Friday, 28 (L) - whose hipster band just premiered their music video for Mona Lisa Lovely: The evergreen Brat Packer will next play Crystal in the dramedy Wild Oats with Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange, and Judd Hirsch Ensure all eyes are on you in a silver and black dress like Demi Demi's cocoon dress Silver & sparkles She was at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to support a friend, but she outshone everyone when she showed up in this show-stopping gown. Demi seems to be forever defying age and looked younger than ever at the event with friend Jessica Lange, who was being honoured. And now we can't stop ogling that dress. The cocooned design accentuated Demi's tiny waist and gave the dress serious volume, which we applaud. The daring neckline stopped the dress from swaying over from stylish to frumpy and drew attention to Demi's assets.

Demi's gown is definitely one for galas and special events due to its dramatic design and sparkle. But if you look below, we've found some alternative silver and black, sparkly versions for you to snap up, which aren't quite so over the top and are simply perfect for a night out anywhere. * PRICES MAY NOT BE AS ADVERTISED ...NOW GET ONE LIKE IT No 'Gender-Norming' in 'G.I. Jane' - latimes YOU ARE HERE: LAT Home → Collections COUNTERPUNCH No 'Gender-Norming' in 'G.I. Jane' September 15, 1997 |DAVID TWOHY | David Twohy was nominated for best screenplay by the Writers Guild of America in 1994 for co-writing "The Fugitive." He also wrote and directed last year's "The Arrival." As the screenwriter who developed "G.I. Jane" with Demi Moore and director Ridley Scott, let me respond to Jerry O'Brien, who wrote that we "insult all of the men who achieved their SEAL badges when you imply a woman can do it" ("Women in SEALs Training? Get Real," Counterpunch, Sept. 1).

O'Brien goes on to voice his fear that "the training will be lightened" for women because of the film. First, did he see the film? I suspect not. If he had, he would know that it takes the position that women should be competing head-to-head with men without benefit of "gender-norming," without dual standards. That's why you see Jordan O'Neil (played by Moore) shave her head to match the guys. That's why you see her eschew the use of a two-step to get over the obstacle wall. That's why you see her rankle at the 30-second deduction awarded her after running the O-course. All this because she knows she will never be accepted by the men unless she trains and competes with them on equal footing. I know of no one associated with the film who believes standards should be lowered to accommodate women in military training. The bulk of O'Brien's argument seems to be that women don't have the physical strength of men. It's true that most don't. But what about the few who do? Would he disqualify the exceptional ones just because they have breasts? O'Brien notes that the women of his military generation were doing push-ups on their knees.

See the movie, and you'll see Demi Moore knocking out one-armed push-ups--and her knees aren't even close to the floor. And that's just the actress: Tough as she may be, Moore isn't the Olympic-caliber athlete she's portraying. Really, the whole strength argument is a wobbly one. How strong do you have to be to pull a trigger? To push a button that launches a missile? Have you noticed that we don't wage war at battle-ax range anymore? Why not talk about endur ance? Thirty years ago, the first female marathoners lagged behind the best male runners by 90 minutes. Today that gap has narrowed to less than 15 minutes. It doesn't take a visionary to imagine a day of equilibrium. Why not talk about the things women do better than men? Air Force doctors believe that female pilots, because of their smaller frames, may better handle the wrenching G-forces experienced during dogfights. Because of higher body fat, women are less vulnerable to hypothermic water--a real threat to any SEAL, both in training and real-world scenarios. Because of their genetic role as child bearers, women's threshold of pain may surpass that of men's.

In researching "G.I. Jane," I spoke with many special-op personnel, Navy SEALs among them. Invariably, I heard stories about big buffed-out guys who failed to make the program. That's because it's not enough to be physically tough; you need to be mentally tough as well. It was the ability to "gut it out" that got an individual through training--and that ability knows no gender. The personal experience O'Brien cites dates back to 1974, when he tried out for Airborne Ranger School. Clearly, his attitude about women is as dated as his experience. Go out and buy a new calendar, Mr. O'Brien. You'll find they go all the way up to 1997 now. MORE:

Question: In which 1997 Ridley Scott film was Demi Moore forced to shave her head?
Answer: GI JANE