Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) follows his girlfriend Carmen (Denise Richards) into the military, along with their psychic friend Carl (Neil Patrick Harris) and end up as an infantryman, pilot, and secret service operative, respectively. As they start their new lives, each goes their separate ways. Johnny ends up with Dizzy (Dina Meyer), and old classmate who is in love with him and is at the mercy of Sgt. Zim (Clancy Brown) who drills like no other. Carmen falls in love with flying while working with Johnny's old rival Zander (Patrick Muldoon). Carl disappears into the secrecy of his position. Their paths are sure to cross again. Michael Ironside and Jake Busey also appear.
The special effects are top notch for 1997 and still watchable today. The acting is nothing special by any count. The story is surprisingly bland for everything it has to work with. The thing I found hardest to figure out was what audience this was made for. There are gruesome deaths, explicit nudity, and a bit of language. It apparently only narrowly avoided an NC-17 rating, yet it lacks the gritty realism of an adult action movie. It also doesn't have the humour of a teen flick. It's hard to tell if it is taking itself seriously or not, and how much is supposed to be satire. There are some seemingly obviously satirical parts, such as how their uniforms (especially Harris's) resemble those of German Nazis, but there is never that moment when consequences of this way of life are shown in a way that says, yes, this is satire. There are, in fact, no negative consequences of kill first, never ask questions, other than some friends getting lost along the way, but such is life.
Overall, it is watchable and not disenjoyalble. There are some interesting parts, but is mostly offbeat in a way that it probably should not be.
*** (3/5 stars)
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