G.I. Jane

Newsweek Jack Kroll

Watching Moore battle the heavy odds may be formulaic fun, but it's genuine fun, and the formula is classic.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A very entertaining get-tough fantasy with political and feminist underpinnings.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The training sequences are as they have to be: incredible rigors, survived by O'Neil. They are good cinema because Ridley Scott, the director, brings a documentary attention to them, and because Demi Moore, having bitten off a great deal here, proves she can chew it.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Down in the mud with the guys, Moore finds the heart of her character and a career beyond vanity and hype. She's never looked better.

Time Richard Schickel

What he (Scott) does superbly is establish a raw, compelling reality that transcends his movie's banal premises and predictable conclusion. That permits Moore to play, and us to feel, authentic pain, isola- tion and courage--shocking stuff to find in an action movie these days. [25 August 1997, p. 72]

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

With a strongly visual director, Ridley Scott ("Blade Runner," "Alien", the film really shows what's involved at this level of combat training.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Director Scott, flashy, fluid and at his best in the steely-blue claustrophic battle-training scenes, immerses the viewer in the process.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Mr. Scott's affinity for the visceral and strenuous, from ''Alien'' to ''Blade Runner'' to ''White Squall,'' is much more central here than the renegade feminism of his ''Thelma and Louise.'' With punishing intensity, he plunges his audience into the maelstrom of the training program.

Slate Sarah Kerr

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.

Washington Post Eve Zibart

Guts-and-green-beret saga.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Were women put on earth to be warriors? Demi Moore certainly was. The role of Jordan fits her as snugly as a new layer of muscle.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's the kind of high energy, fast-paced film where you can guiltlessly root for the heroine to persevere -- but that's all it succeeds at.

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

The most refreshing performance is by Mortensen.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

This hot-button picture isn't especially well thought-out, but it might be crafty and manipulative enough to rile up audiences.

TV Guide Sandra Contreras

Bancroft and Mortensen take home the acting awards -- the pleasure they take in what they're doing really makes the film come alive.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Well-intentioned even as it surrenders to commercialism, G.I. Jane comes on like the ultimate battle of the sexes. But it ends up being an unfulfilling exercise in pseudo-feminism. [22 August 1997, p. 7D]

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

As a vehicle for Moore's acting abilities (and Mortensen's, for that matter), G.I. Jane is terrific. But as the end-of-summer blockbuster it's doubtless intended to be, it's pretty much a washout.

Dallas Observer Peter Rainer

G.I. Jane is liberated, all right--from good acting and a good story.

Empire Deborah Brown

In spite of a catalogue of downsides, including clunky dialogue, fuzzy morals and preposterous story lines, G.I. Jane does offer a perverse level of enjoyment.

The Onion (A.V. Club) John Krewson

If you're looking for a film that addresses a woman's place in a combat unit, keep waiting. If you want a film where a woman can get big muscles and shoot guns and have her husband still love her, here you are.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Virtually unendurable.