G.I. Jane is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the U.S. Navy SEALs.

The film was produced by Largo Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, and Caravan Pictures, and distributed by Hollywood Pictures. It received mixed reviews, with Moore s performance receiving criticism and winning her the Razzie Award for Worst Actress. It also was a box office bomb, grossing $48 million on a $50 million budget.

Plot

A Senate Armed Services Committee interviews a candidate for the position of Secretary of the Navy. Senator Lillian DeHaven from Texas criticizes the Navy for not being gender-neutral. Behind the curtains, a deal is struck: If women compare favorably with men in a series of test cases, the military will integrate women fully into all occupations of the Navy.

The first test is the training course of the U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team (similar to the SEALs UDT/BUDs) Senator DeHaven selects topographical analyst Lieutenant Jordan O Neil, because she is physically more feminine than the other candidates.

To make the grade, O Neil must survive a grueling selection program in which almost sixty percent of candidates wash out, most before the fourth week, with the third week being particularly intensive ( hell week ). The enigmatic Command Master Chief John James Urgayle runs the training program that involves 20-hour days of tasks designed to wear down recruits physical and mental strength, including pushing giant ship fenders up beach dunes, working through obstacle courses, and hauling landing rafts.

Given a 30-second gender-norming allowance in an obstacle course, O Neil demands to be held to the same standards as the male trainees. The master chief observes O Neil helping the other candidates by allowing them to climb on her back to make it over the wall obstacle course. Eight weeks into the program, during SERE training in Captiva, Florida, the Master Chief ties her to a chair with her hands behind her back, grabs hold of her and slams her through the door, then picking her up off the floor he repeatedly dunks her head in ice-cold water in front of the other crew members. O Neil retaliates and is successful in causing him some injury, despite her immobilized arms. In so doing, she acquires respect from him, as well as from the other trainees.

Navy leaders, confident that a woman would quickly drop out, become concerned. The media learn of O Neil s involvement, and she becomes a sensation known as G.I. Jane. and Joan of Arc . Soon, she must contend with trumped-up charges that she is a lesbian, and is fraternizing with women. O Neil is told that she will be given a desk job during the investigation and, if cleared, will need to repeat her training from the beginning. She decides to ring out (ringing a bell three times, signaling her voluntary withdrawal from the program) rather than accept a desk job.

It is later revealed that the photo evidence of O Neil s alleged fraternization came from Senator DeHaven s office. DeHaven never intended for O Neil to succeed; she used O Neil as a bargaining chip to prevent military base closings in her home state of Texas. O Neil threatens to expose DeHaven, who then has the charges voided and O Neil restored to the program.

The final phase of training, an operational readiness exercise, is interrupted by an emergency that requires the CRT trainees support. The situation involves a reconnaissance satellite powered by weapons-grade plutonium that fell into the Libyan desert. A team of U.S. Army Rangers is dispatched to retrieve the plutonium, but their evacuation plan fails, and the trainees are sent to assist the Rangers. The Master Chief s shooting of a Libyan soldier to protect O Neil leads to a confrontation with a Libyan patrol. During the mission, O Neil, using her experience as a topographical analyst, realizes when she sees the team s map that the Master Chief is not going to use the route the others believe he will in regrouping with the others. She also displays a definitive ability in leadership and strategy while rescuing the injured Master Chief, whom she and McCool pull out of an explosives-laden kill zone. With helicopter gunships delivering the final assault to the defenders, the rescue mission is a success.

Upon their return, all those who participated in the mission are accepted to the CRT. Urgayle gives O Neil his Navy Cross and a book of poetry containing a short poem, Self-pity , by D. H. Lawrence, as acknowledgment of her accomplishment and in gratitude for rescuing him.

Cast

• Demi Moore as Lieutenant Jordan O Neil
• Viggo Mortensen as Command Master Chief John James Jack Urgayle
• Anne Bancroft as Senator Lillian DeHaven (TX.)
• Jason Beghe as Lieutenant Commander Royce Harper
• Daniel von Bargen as Secretary of the Navy Theodore Hayes
• Scott Wilson as Captain Salem
• John Michael Higgins as Chief of Staff
• Kevin Gage as Instructor Max Pyro
• David Warshofsky as Instructor Johns
• David Vadim as Sergeant First Class Cortez
• Lucinda Jenney as Lieutenant Blondell
• Morris Chestnut as Lieutenant McCool
• Josh Hopkins as Ensign F. Lee Flea Montgomery
• Jim Caviezel as Slov Slovnik
• Boyd Kestner as Lieutenant Wick Wickwire
• Dimitri Diatchenko as Trainee
• Angel David as Newberry
• Stephen Ramsey as Stamm

Release

Release of G.I. Jane had been delayed by a week by Buena Vista Pictures and the film opened up against the comedy Money Talks from New Line Cinema. Both studios predicted their film would earn $11.1 million and be number 1 at the box office. Buena Vista held sneak previews to generate positive word of mouth for the film. Phil Barlow, president of distribution for Buena Vista, said: We knew from the research that people loved the movie . He further said: All we had to do was get them in. Variety attributed audience reticence to the declining popularity of actress Demi Moore.

Reception

Box office

G.I. Jane in the U.S opened at number one, grossing $11 million in its opening weekend, playing at a total of 1,945 theaters. In its second weekend, the film stayed at number one, grossing $10.1 million. In the end the film played in a widest release of 2,043 theaters and grossed $48.1 million domestically, falling slightly short of its $50 million production budget.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on reviews from 37 critics, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site s critical consensus was: Demi Moore admirably does her duty, but G.I. Jane s well-intentioned message is obscured by stylistic bombast and an overload of jingoism. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews . Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.

Todd McCarthy of Variety called it a A very entertaining get-tough fantasy with political and feminist underpinnings. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: 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. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote: 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.

Deborah Brown of Empire magazine wrote: 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.

About Demi Moore’s performance, G.I. Jane screenwriter, David Twohy, tells Yahoo Entertainment: It s the performance of her career. The movie rises or falls on her performance, and that required her to have a total, unflinching commitment to that part. And she had that commitment — I think she f***ing nailed it. About the critical and box-office’s reception, Twohy added: Striptease came out while we were in production, and the stink was in the air. I don t think it was fairly received, and Striptease had a lot to do with it, because it was a truly bad movie. She should have been nominated for G.I. Jane, and I think she would have been, too, if not for Striptease. That tainted her chances and maybe everyone s chances.

Accolades

Demi Moore won the Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance in the film. Viggo Mortensen was nominated for Worst Fake Accent at the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards but lost to Jon Voight for Anaconda and Most Wanted.

Home media

G.I. Jane was released on VHS and DVD on April 22, 1998. The only extra feature was a theatrical trailer. It was released on Blu-ray on April 3, 2007, with no extra features aside from trailers for other movies. The film was also released on LaserDisc; this release featured an audio commentary by director Ridley Scott. The film grossed $22,122,300 in rentals.

Year	1997
ReleaseDate	1997-08-22
RuntimeMins	125
RuntimeStr	2h 5min
Plot	A female Senator succeeds in enrolling a woman into Combined Reconnaissance Team training where everyone expects her to fail.
Awards	Awards, 2 wins & 3 nominations
Directors	Ridley Scott
Writers	Danielle Alexandra, David Twohy
Stars	Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Anne Bancroft
Produced by	Danielle Alexandra,Julie Bergman Sender,Roger Birnbaum,Diane Minter Lewis,Tim McBride,Demi Moore,Terry Needham,Ridley Scott,Suzanne Todd,Nigel Wooll,Chris Zarpas
Music by	Trevor Jones
Cinematography by	Hugh Johnson
Film Editing by	Pietro Scalia
Casting By	Louis DiGiaimo,Brett Goldstein
Production Design by	Arthur Max
Art Direction by	William Hiney,Richard L. Johnson
Set Decoration by	Cindy Carr
Costume Design by	Marilyn Vance
Makeup Department	Diana Acrey,Enzo Angileri,Kylie Bell,Dorothy D. Fox,Joanne Gair,Rodger Jacobs,Barbara Lacy,Cheryl Markowitz,Cheri Minns,Brad Wilder,Sherri Bramlett,Jane Alexandra Foster,Stephen Robinette
Production Management	Daneen Lagrone Conroy,Donald Heitzer,Michele Imperato,Miguel Ángel Poveda,Pat Rand,Michael Solinger,Nigel Wooll,Ron Lynch
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	J. David Brightbill,Hugh Johnson,Terry Needham,Darin Rivetti,Adam Somner,Christopher Surgent
Art Department	Chuck Askerneese,Eric J. Bates,Ron Breedlove,Jon Danniells,William Davidson,Allan Gordon,Thomas Minton,Dan Pemberton,Virginia L. Randolph,Rob Simons,Bill Taliaferro,Merritt Wise,Karen Agresti,Jamie Arbuckle,Kurt Beckler,Sean Bernard,Mark W. Brown,Carl Catanese,Rick Chavez,Christopher L. Conner,Larry A. Cornick,Don Dalstra,Abigail Drury,Stephen P. Durante,Frank M. Fleming,William F. Gambill,Daniel J. Gillooly,Antoinette J. Gordon,Chris Grantz,Sean Hargreaves,Michael D. Harrell,Sean Hood,Bill Kauhane Hoyt,Andrea Levine,Robert Loring Jr.,Maureen McGuire,Channing Mentzer,Angela O Neill,James Passanante,Mickey Pugh,Jeremy Alan Read,Ricky Riggs,Courtney Talbot,Dave Trevino,Thomas R. Wagner,Cary Whittaker
Sound Department	Campbell Askew,Jeremy Child,John Cochrane,Sarah Dane,Graham Daniel,Robert Gavin,John Ireland,Derek Lomas,Ray Merrin,Randy Nielsen,David M. Ronne,Timothy P. Salmon,Jules Strasser,Adrian Trent,Keith A. Wester,Peter Elliott,Laura Evans,Franklin Jones Jr.,Terry O Bright
Special Effects by	Phillip Beck,Chris Brenczewski,Jeff Frink,Steve Galich,Ken Gorrell,Morgan Guynes,Allen Peppy Richardson,Jeff Sparks,Ray Svedin,Joe Barden,Don Dalstra,David Fletcher,Mike Gerzevitz,Michael J. Hudson,Scott Mobley,Howard Allen Richardson
Visual Effects by	David Sewell
Stunts	Shifuji Shaurya Bharadwaj,Steve Bolan,Duffy Gaver,Scott Helvenston,Leigh Hennessy,G. Peter King,Mark Lonsdale,Phil Neilson,Keith Woulard,Matthew R. Anderson,Brian Finn,Allen Gerbino,Charles Grisham,Terry Holland,Cinda-Lin James,Jim Pearson,Darrin Prescott,Hash Shallan,Chris Soule,Keith Woulard
Camera and Electrical Department	Ben Bardin,Stuart Bicknell,Rhett Bloomquist,Terry Bowen,Phil Bray,David Brink,Gideon Carpenter,Andrew Reed Conner,Pam Connor,Bill Fiedler,Chuck Finch,Sean Finnegan,Will Fowler,Gerrit Garretsen,Michael Goldman,Edward Gooch Gutierrez,Craig Haagensen,Daniel R. Haizlip,W.C. Chunky Huse,Kevin Jackson,Lindsay Jamieson,Gary Kangrga,Eric Leftridge,Scott W. Leftridge,Craig Ligget,Steven Litecky,William McConnell,Stephen McGehee,Fred L. McLane,Dan Mindel,Steve Owen,Frank Parrish,Todd Ranson,Tony Rivetti,Frank Ryan,John Scanlan,Richard Scarpone,Lee Shapira,John Skotchdopole,Jeff Sondberg,Robert Spencer,Andrew Taylor,Rick Uva,Chris Walters,Steve Adcock,Willie E. Dawkins,Frank Detone Jr.,Gerardo Gutierrez,Brian Heller,Richard H. Kryder,Jason Maresch,Greg Martin,David B. Nowell,Carl Post,Mike Savage,Tom Schurke,Jeffrey P. Soderberg,Ian Speed
Casting Department	Billy Dowd,John Strawbridge
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Nancy Cone,Ed Fincher,Joe McCloskey,David Rawley,Anthony J. Lipin,Tony Lipin,Muto-Little,Annalisa Strickland,John M. Jack Wright
Editorial Department	John Bickford,Paul Elman,John Ensby,Paul Ensby,Chris Innis,Marisa Johnston,Tristan Mullane,Pamela Power,Mark Sale,Lee Flea Shulman,Fulvio Valsangiacomo,Jason Wheeler,Chisako Yokoyama,John Marston
Location Management	Carol Flaisher,Ken Haber,John McSweeney,Mary Morgan,Carl Post,Errol Reichow,Kathleen Beall,Mitch Harbeson
Music Department	Geoff Alexander,Giles Baker,Paul Clarvis,Clem Clempson,Peter Cobbin,Andrew Glen,Nick Ingman,Trevor Jones,Julian Kershaw,Mitchell Leib,Alex Marcou,Jill Meyers,Charlie Morgan,Kathy Nelson,Simon Rhodes,Victoria Seale,Belinda Sykes,Phil Todd,Kirsty Whalley,Gavyn Wright,Mark Berrow,Rachel Bolt
Script and Continuity Department	Luca Kouimelis
Transportation Department	Lee Garibaldi,Gene Johnson,Russell McEntyre,Danny Mortenson,Marc Scott,Robert W. Simpson,Tommy Tancharoen,Doug Wilson,Gilbert Young,Don Baer,Robert aaron Brown,Richard Curry,John R. Dove,Bo Falck,William Hogue,Knut Kielpinski,Anthony J. Mignano,Ian Overson,Ron Parsell,Jerry Sidwell,John H. Stephens,Robert Van Apeldoorn
Additional Crew	Rick Baer,Andy Birmingham,Jorge Calvo,Bonni Camen,Karyn V. Cody,Adam Collins,Deirdre De Tappan,Ned Dowd,Terry J. Erdmann,Gary Gillingham,Craig Glaser,Harry Humphries,Greg Joujon-Roche,Jule Champ Kaufmann,Anne Lai,Shari Leibowitz,Chris McComb,Rob Meisenholder,Sarah Millar,Frank Moorefield,Mark W. Nelson,David Paris,Julie Payne,Mark Reinking,Catherine Schwenn,Alison Sherman,Neville Shulman,Clare St. John,Amy Taft,Marion Tumen,Annette Vait,Tania Vujic-Powell,Marlena Wilkens,Kelly Wroe,Chris Beal,Jesse Russell Brooks III,Mark Ross Edrys,Michael J. Fowler,Peter D. Graves,David Guilbeau,Pauline Hume,Beverly Jusi,Matthew Krueger,Lauren Lloyd,Richard Marcinko,Jim McCarthy,Emily McGovern,Matthew H. O Connor,Steve Park,Ben Pezzillo,Vincente Stasolla,Jason Burke Sutter,Thomas R. Wagner,Sam Wells,Howard Young,Garson Yu,Robert Bobby Z Zajonc
Thanks	Isabel Hill,Jeff Monks,Susan Simms
Genres	Action, Drama, War
Companies	Caravan Pictures, First Independent Films, Hollywood Pictures
Countries	USA, UK
Languages	English
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	6
ImDbRatingVotes	82150
MetacriticRating	62
Keywords	feminism,military,training,strong female character,soldier