La base - the base

If you like action and don't set your sights too high, you won't mind this one. It's nowhere near a Rambo or Arny flick, but it's way better than "Knock Off" with Van Dumb or "Soldier of Fortune Inc" that came out lately. The plot is adequate, the action moves along ok, there's lots of weapons and hand fighting, even a tank to chase the hero down. And the babe stays out of the way most of the time, and doesn't scream or cry thank gawd. What more can ya ask. -Bob

A futile attempt at making a movie. In other words, the perfect manifestation of how a movie must never EVER be made. EVER.

I've never been a pure action-movie man or a Dacascos fan.. infact, after watching this laborious waste of time & money, I doubt I ever will too!

Take a hint. Let this one go by silently.

Oomph!-meter (from 5): [what?! are you kidding?!]

This is a highly entertaining cat-and-mouse movie between Mark Dacascos and Tim Abell. Dacascos is sent into a military base to do undercover search concerning drug traffic. It seems some soldiers are not playing by the book... Enjoyable performances from both Dacascos and Abell, particularly the latter.

'The Base' is your typical dtv actioner with a familiar face or two, a capable b-movie director and so many moments requiring suspension of disbelief that you could run a train thru it. Smart story this is not. The action sequences however are mildly decent given its budget, but fans of Dacascos want to keep their expectations low.

Major John Murphy (Mark Dacascos) is tasked with retrieving a Mexican cartel boss, but of course the exchange goes south. Given new orders he's now to go undercover infiltrating a local military base as "Cpl. John Dalton" where the Sgt. Gammon (Tim Abell) and his unit are suspected of being dirty mixed up in the dope game.

Liking Dacascos is ultimately why I gave this a chance and he comes off decently getting to shoot his share of guns and showcase his martial arts ability. Tim Abell is the type of character actor who can play male leads in T&A flicks, psychos in thrillers or the bad guy in an action film like here and does so with ease. Although his character is fairly one note. There's an unnecessary female character which cues a predictable romance too.

For 2/3's of its runtime, 'The Base' is serviceable even if the story and execution is weak. There's nary an ounce of believability especially by the point a tank comes into play, but director Mark L. Lester keeps it chugging along. Things fall on a cliff at the end though.

THE BASE is from a period in Mark Dacascos's filmography regularly highlighted by decent stories, good production values, and limited action, and this one exemplifies all of these qualities. It's a mildly exciting action-thriller with some highlights in its script, and it manages to secure a high rating by avoiding many direct-to-video snafus and pitfalls. Nevertheless, it's a little dull and not quite the ideal Dacascos vehicle.

The story: An Army Major (Dacascos) goes undercover to investigate a drug trafficking ring led by a dangerous Sergeant (Tim Abell).

Much of the film's overall quality seems to be attributable to director Mark Lester, who to this day remains on the same downward slide from his heyday of directing COMMANDO but nevertheless injects invaluable energy into the picture - making the most of what would otherwise have been a much more run-of-the-mill outing with a low budget. The script has some basic shortcomings, including the thankless and clichéd role it renders Paula Trickey, but I was pleased with the surprising depth that Tim Abell's character is granted. Abell pulls it off fairly well, doing a good job of playing a manipulator and appearing absolutely authentic as a military man.

Dacascos is on less even ground: he tends to play awkward villains to begin with, and does no better in playing a hero pretending to be a villain. Nevertheless, he's in good form when it comes to the action. I wish that there were more than three fistfights, a handful of shootouts, and a couple explosions, but by and large, this stuff is serviceable. Mark throws a lot of spinning kicks and at times appears to be channeling his rarely-utilized capoeira training. I particularly enjoyed the first brawl, wherein Dacascos takes on Darcas Macopson in a surprisingly dirty kendo duel. The finale between Mark and Tim Abell is yards better than anything they got up to in INSTINCT TO KILL.

If there's one major flaw to the movie, it's that it does not take any chances. The filmmakers may have been trying to replicate the big-budget experience for the small screen, though they would arguably have been much better served producing a movie less homogenized and predictable, as is allowed by the DTV medium. Nevertheless, if you're a viewer who complains about the failings of B-movies, then the solid, conventional route this one takes will probably be considered a plus factor. Dacascos fans are encouraged to check it out.