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Rules of Engagement | 2000 | R | - 3.9.8

A recently retired military attorney (Tommy Lee Jones) represents a colleague and friend (Samuel L. Jackson) who's charged for murder after ordering his men to open fire on a group of protesters. Also with Ben Kingsley, Blair Underwood, Anne Archer, Amidou, Conrad Bachmann, Gordon Clapp, Dale Dye, Bruce Greenwood, Philip Baker Hall, Nicky Katt, Jihane Kortobi, Roma Maffia, Richard McGonagle, Joshua Nottage and Guy Pearce. [2:07]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - We see a woman breastfeeding a child (part of her breast is visible) and a nude corpse with a garment wrapped around its waist.

VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - An extended scene in which 83 civilians and a few soldiers are shot and killed. We see many close-ups of bloody arms and legs and dead bodies, including a number of disfigured and dismembered bodies (many are women and children) covered in blood. Throughout the film we see several flashbacks, slides and photographs of this massacre (some of them close-ups of the carnage). There's also an extended, graphic combat scene (and flashbacks of the scene) with lots of bombs, grenades and gunfire. A man is shot point-blank in the forehead (we see a close-up of the gun against his head, hear the shot and see the man fall down, but no blood). A man is shot in the chest (blood gushes out). A man is shot and spits up blood. Blood spews out of another's mouth after he is shot. We also see a soldier's face completely covered in blood when he's shot. We see many dead soldiers lying in creeks and on the ground, many of them have blood either on their clothes or on their skin; some are dismembered. We see protesters throwing rocks and torches and shooting guns at an occupied embassy. A car is torched. We see some dried, dark purple blood covering some corpses. We see a couple bloody heads wrapped in bandages. We repeatedly see a girl with an amputated leg. There's a hospital scene in which we see many injured, bloody civilians. A man contemplates suicide. We see a fistfight between two men. A man vomits.

LANGUAGE 8 - About 25 F-words, some scatological references, lots of mild obscenities and several insults.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Vietnam War, military, justice, friendship, lying, perjury, suicide, terrorism, international affairs, the courtroom.

MESSAGE - Stand up for what you believe in because honor and honesty can win over deception and lies -- even in our legal system.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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