@@robinwells5343judge is somehow helping the good guys . “You do not have to answer this questions “ is something to instigate colonel to say the truth
Because he's hollywood and he's damn good at being hollywood, but he always looks like he's acting something - oscar winners don't look like they're acting, they just come across as is... and that's what makes them so believable
But his films are fan favorites and have earned billions over his long career. Hollywood snobbery and jealousy have kept him from holding the gold statue.
You hear the story about this scene. Nicholson did that speech 10 times for different camera angles and lightning. Reiner told Jack he didn't have to, but Jack did that speech 10x in a row perfectly. When the shoot finished, the entire crew gave Jack a 5 minute standing ovation.
Surely the best scene is when the wimpy witness admits that he was not ordered to carry out the code red, and it looks like the defence are screwed. Then Harold tells him to answer the question.
@@SilkyLew Not sure if I agree. Sure he's a scientologist asshole but he is a pretty fine actor. If he was ever due for an academy award it was for this film.
I am not a Tom cruise fan, never have been but this movie and ALL the actors made this a movie that no matter how many years or times you watch it, the brilliance never gets old.
Love how Jesob tries to intimate Tom when he walks by him. Also his hand shaking while drinking the water, but he gets it together and commands that courtroom. It was a masterful performance in questioning a smug reluctant witness 😂. BRILLIANT PREFORMANCE 👏❤.
I must have watched this scene 10 20, 30 times and it still feels as fresh and new as first time I saw it 32 years ago. That’s how good these actors are
Cruise never disappoints. I don’t know how he does it. In Edge of Tomorrow his screams of fear were just absolutely golden. Hilarious and frightening at the same time. Who else? No one.
So many great lines in this scene. I think one of my favorite, which doesn't get the most attention, is "I'm simply implying that, at present, Colonel Markinson is no longer alive." That gets me every time, such perfect snark.
My favorite lines are (1)"Every morning I eat breakfast 300 yards from where there are 4000 Cubans who are traine d to kill me so don't think for one minute you can come down here and flash your badge and make me nervous!!" ,
Kevin Bacon and Jack? Jjkg. I have always been a TC fan. Always. He has a place in heaven for producing TG Maverick the way he did. No woke. No gender swaps, etc etc.
In 1992, I was a US Army "Basic Training" graduate and senior in High School when the great movie "A Few Good Men" came out. This movie motivated me to complete HARD AIT, Senior ROTC Basic Camp, and Advanced Officer Camp. THOSE WERE THE BEST DECISIONS I EVER MADE. I can now see that these movies drove me toward those goals. To become a US Military Officer, you must EARN that SALUTE every day!!! I was so proud when I watched this 1990s movie and realized that the years between 1975-1996 were some of the best military movies that made me finally become a 2nd Lieutenant in 1995 at Army ROTC Georgia Military College!!! After 20+ years of war, I am still shocked at the power of these old movies on this new generation of future leaders!! DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY, AND CHARACTER, ABOVE ALL! HONOR, COURAGE, COMMITMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HONOR, CODE, LOYALTY!!!!!!!!!!! PICK UP A WEAPON, AND STAND TO POST!!! Even as a Christian and Pastor, I still thank God that as a 17-year-old, this movie, as did Glory, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and now our newer Afghan/Iraq war movies, still make me so proud. TEN HUT!!! THERE IS A OFFICER ON DECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1st Lieutenant Henry E. Howey Jr. US. Army (ret)
like as a christian surely you would have the intrinsic thought to analyse your country, it’s motives & it’s decisions in warfare before deciding that joining your military was a good religious move as a human.
I fully agree with you that this is one of the best films ever produced.The courtroom scenes and the evidence of Colonel Jessep is the best court marshall scenes yet to seen in a movie. The dialogues are brilliantly written and the acting of the main characters are excellent. I thought they were not acting but simply living in those roles. A bouquet of flowers and an academy for the director of this movie. Ms.Lalitha Ravindran, thank you and I deeply enjoyed your comment on RU-vid. Bandula Jayawardene
This is the "breakthrough scene" for all the characters in the film. It's powerful, emotional, and electrifying. As a former Marine Officer, it still has me crying with joy and relief every time I experience it.
That he did. I remember seeing this movie for sale on DVD years ago at a Blockbuster store (previously viewed). I never heard of it before and I thought "Well I'll give it a try ....Jack Nicholson... Tom Cruise ....I guess it'll be alright." Had no idea that it would be this good.
@@jake9854 I think the progression in the Navy is: Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Commodore (phased out, I think), then your four grades of admiral. So, yes, Captain in the Navy is equal to Lt. Col. or Colonel in the others. In the others, Captain is O3, just above 2nd Lieutenant and 1st Lieutenant.
As a Woman Marine, I consider this movie as one of the best movies and Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessup nailed it! I met Michael DeLorenzo on one of my flights when we were still Continental Airlines, Houston to Los Angeles. I didn’t recognize him at that time while he was waiting for us (flight attendants) to get to the plane. I walked by him and he gave me a sexy smile and said “Hi”. I told him that I knew him, but couldn’t think of where we met. He just smiled. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t recognize him when NY Undercover was one of my favorite shows. It hit me when we were boarding. I felt so dumb and star struck. The other girls called me up because Michael wanted to talk to me. I was hiding in the back mortified. I went to talk to him and apologized and told him what a fan I was. What a nice man, forgave me and asked me to visit him if I was ever in L.A. Alas, I never did. Darn it!!!
I love when Jessup finished his speech with this statement: “EITHER WAY, I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU THINK YOU’RE ENTITLED TO!” Then when asked if he ordered the code red, he yells “YOU’RE GODDAMNED RIGHT I DID!”
One of the brilliant aspects of this movie, is that for a few seconds anyway, when Jessup does his famous speech, you do see things from his point of view. "Deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall."
His stalling tactic in the beginning is priceless and Jack fell for it hook line and sinker and extended the argument. Kaffee no doubt would’ve milked even further if the witnesses hadn’t arrived right then.
This scene was epic in the theatre. The theatre I saw it in had a special surprise for the audience when this premiered. Right as Jessup begins to make his entrance an usher started walking down one of the aisles dressed in a similar uniform keeping pace with the general. Was a nice touch.
Tom Cruise deserved an Oscar for this movie - alongside Rainman, Born on the Fourth of July, The Last Samurai, Magnolia and Collateral. He was simply brilliant in all those performances, they robbed him of Oscars.
@@roc7880 I would say Tom Cruise's best acting was in Collateral. Tom Cruise was irresistible as Vincent. If there was a prequel made to Collateral as Tom playing Vincent again to tell his back story, I bet the movie would've been a hit. It's because of his performance as a terrifying villain that Jamie Foxx got the award nomination that year for Collateral. Tom was simply terrifying as Vincent in that role, just like Heath Ledger as Joker and Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh. It's his best acting performance till date, followed by his performances in Rainman , Magnolia, Tropic Thunder, A Few Good Men, The Last Samurai, Born on the Fourth of July etc. Tom Cruise exults his acting brilliance in negative characters. Collateral is his best acting followed by Rainman.
he exemplifies the characters that bring a screenplay to life while simultaneously being incredibly overlooked as a competent and relatable foil to Cruise. Sad to say that in 2022 he would likely be an over-the-top characterer of privilege, the "industrial war machine", the patriarchy, or a dozen other stand-ins that would exist as a proxy to institutions of "structural inequity".
I love how Kaffee laid out his subtle trap for Jessup. Especially how he posed the question of why Santiago never called anyone, or packed anything when he was supposedly going to go home for good. He even piqued the judge's curiosity on the issue. That was where Jessup's story began to unravel and his arrogance did the rest from there. Basically, he played right into Kaffee's hands. Brilliant.
Yeah not being packed would probably be easy for the perp to overlook. And it was clever the way they had Lt Kaffee notice this. The whole cause and effect was so believable that it made the final climax even more enjoyable. That small portion of the movie tied the whole thing together.
Great scenes but still, never ask a witness an open ended question like "can you explain that?" You always have to know the answer you're going to get, not let the witness extemporize.
You cannot ask a witness why someone else did or didn’t do something. It’s asking them to speculate or offer their opinion. Good for a movie but not in real life.
6:12 Tom Cruise's delivery of the line "Do you have an answer?" is extremely underrated. The subtle way he expressed sheer panic when he saw Jessup just not falling for it was masterful.
I just realized how Kaffee set Jessep up from beginning to end, subtlety attacking Jessep's one huge weakness,..his massive ego. Jesse could've just played it cool and not allowed himself to be goaded, but mighty Jessep had to flex those muscles One. Last. Time lol. (and I love how Weinberg shakes his head like, "don't do it Bro")
Ok.... You have a Point Ben.....but i mean, come on??.....Who's gonna do it? You?..... You, Lt. Weinberg?..... I have a greater responsibility than you could Possibly Fathom..... You Weep for Kaffee...and you Curse Jessup....You have that luxury.... But deep down inside at places you don't talk about, at parties.... You 'Want me on that Prosecution Team! You "NEED' me on that Prosecution Team!
That's why the writing was kind of bs. Jessup was such a hotshot, was able to doctor both log books but he couldn't check himself this one time? He fell for kafees trick? All he had to do was deny and remain quiet and he would have won. Maybe the two airmen threw him off. Like he was scared that they knew something so he just admitted it
@@bensisko4651 I first heard the point on an episode of married with children. She said they went to see the movie. Jack Nicholson was all tough. And then he just gave up 😆
Best court room scene in a movie. Didn't understand this scene when I saw this with my Dad however as an adult was blown away. The tension in that court room between Tom and Jack was similar to 2 prize fighters at a press conference.
It’s one of the things I actually really like about Kevin Bacon. Not your typical “I NEED TO BE THE STAR” kind of actor. He was willing to take roles where he was a part of a movie where movie stars were allowed to be movie stars.
without a doubt, one of the best films ever made: incredibly acted, brilliantly written, impeccably directed, and beautifully scored...thirty years later (and aged like fine wine)
Tom Cruise so intelligently pissed Col Jessops off and got him high into his arrogance. And then he drove the nail aright. Righ when it was time to hit. Col did not have any idea what trap was set for him.
I have watch Tom Cruise in many movies and one of his BEST scene EVER is without words (6.59 - 7:30). That is not easy to pull off and admire his ability to shift gears of emotions. You can see it in his face, like the whole world has come to a crashing end.
Kaffee's performance in this scene is astoundingly brave! He risks everything, both for the case and his career. Great performance from both Cruise and Kaffee.
The director should have held on a POV shot as though the audience was looking directly at Kaffee from the witness stand. That for an unbroken 30 seconds would have put the scene over the top. In that 30 seconds, the entire film reaches its purpose -- to motivate a brilliant lawyer to showdown instead of selling out to fear or criminal intimidation. The Jessup blowup was a necessary element in the story, but the blowup is the finale. The 30-second moment is the climax.
I just love the brilliant observations and how he lays them out. 'Leaving for the rest of his life and he called nobody and packed nothing,' then provoking Jessup's ego into admitting he ordered them to do it - genius
True, it was also great that they had Jessup see right through it at first with his little smirk “Nice try, son.” and he was able to dismantle his question.
This is such a great scene, performed by great actors. However, the writing by Sorkin is what blows me away most. The nuance, intricacies and creativity of juxtaposing the colonel's brief departure with Santiago was brilliant.
Did anyone notice Kaffees' arm shaking when getting water before he tears into Jessup, it's these little tid bits that sets this court room drama higher than the rest. I did not see this movie in the theater, but, I have seen the watered down version so many times, and a dear friend bought me the un-edited version as a gift. Thank you, Kim!!!! It is a very good movie, had I saw it in the movie theater, I would give it three and a half stars(out of four), and that ain't bad.
I've probably watched this scene at least 10 times over the years. Still engrosses me and raises my pulse. Only one minor complaint that makes it harder to suspend disbelief... all the whispering, mostly by Lt. Caffee. You can't whisper in a courtroom. I'm pretty sure the court stenographer and judge and probably several other people have to hear every word that is being said. Other than that, a total classic.
The Captain's objections gave Colonel Jessup time to formulate a strong response to Kaffee's questions, which were actually good points. Jessup's response was actually very brilliant here, it basically reminded the court that while Santiago not packing anything or calling anyone was somewhat odd, it didn't really prove anything and he gave a feasible explanation for it. It was enough to have Kaffee reeling for a few moments. The fact that he was genuinely reeling for a short time just makes it all the more impressive he recovered to nail the Colonel a few minutes later. This was the football equivalent of having a 4th and 18 and then throwing a hailmary TD a few minutes later. Making the disrespectful comment to the judge didn't help Jessup's cause either, made the judge far more receptive to Kaffee's line of questioning.
I will never give a thumbs down....but the statement 'Cruise' - I quote - "played" a great actor....should be 'tried to play' .... I have seen almost all of his movies....some of them hundreds of times....and the only thing that people like is his - even not natural - attitude to a camera....to me it is kind of funny to see him 'making efforts' to be 'real' but even this is an impossible , 'forced' attitude....always. Compare Al Pacino, Clint , Brando, ...hundreds more...these guys are 'real' ....no 'play'.....
Love how Caffe nailed Lt Kendrick earlier in the film....love how he gets him to "short circuit" there on the stand......especially after the way he greeted them at their arrival to Gitmo..."whenever there's a fight...you boys always give us a ride"....
The beauty of this movie is that it was the ego differentials between Jessup and Caffey that ultimately forced the truth out into the open. Something totally unconventional and outside of the pristine and formal maneuvers of the legal milieu became the cornerstone upon which the whole house of Jessup's cards fell.
The best of moviemaking. Great writing, great acting and memorable scene. Unforgettable.. The best of moviemaking. Great writing, great acting and memorable scene. Unforgettable..
The character arc that Lt. Kaffee is going through in this court drama is nothing short of perfection. He starts off as a juvenile and brilliant yet lackluster and lazy attorney who is not taking any chances by aiming for quick but subpar deals for his defendants. But over the course of the investigation and confrontation with pure injustice - constantly pushed by the excellent portrayal of Cmdr Galloway to pull through - he shakes off the intimidation, the belittlement and threat to his own career and finally overcomes his fear of calling out a powerful adversary.
I agree 100% with the gist I just H8 you're using "Lazy". He was too successful for me to deem it "Lazy". And though Galloway plays a significant role in his "transformation"(?) my family and I give more credit to Dawson (especially) and Downey. But that's what makes the movie epic, so many intertwining factors.
@@markjackson6134 Well, not going in full power to actually defend your clients (instead convincing them to pledge guilty to facilitate a deal with the Navy prosecutor) I do consider a ‘lazy’ attorney 😅
What a fucking great scene. Think about it: if you were on the jury and you heard this exchange, what would you think? It's all circumstantial, but it definitely plants seeds of doubt in their minds, and lets the guy on the stand (Jessup) that you're on to him. What a great piece of lawyering.
Mr. Cruise is a great man of integrity and one of the finest actors of his generation. This phenomenal actor is proof that true acting isn’t just a pretty face and ironically, Mr Cruise isn’t even aware of his looks that makes him an impressionable life force on screen. His acting abilities has drawn some of the finest acting moments from some of the greatest actors of all time. HE IS SIMPLY THE BEST!!!!🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️❤️
@Sal Santiago Neither Dawson nor Downey lied about the Code Red. They called the paramedics. You must mean Jessup and the Lt. they lied about the Code Red - at which time they were not guarding anything but their own a**
