The Patriot

Briefly, Annapolis grad turned Navy SEAL Lt. Ryder (Gregg Henry) refused a lawful order to wipe out a Vietnamese village of women and children, received a Dishonorable discharge, and became a drunk, and oil rig driver. Ex girlfriend Simone Griffeth, also a Navy Lieutenant/SEAL and daughter of an Admiral (Leslie Nielsen) dumped him.

NUDITY REPORT

Simone Griffeth, who gave up acting after this role, showed a breast during the one sex scene with Gregg Henry.

Suddenly, his country needs him again. Someone has stolen three nukes, and he has to find them. I say three nukes. It was two at the start of the film, but three by the time it ended. They made some noises about anti-war political motivations for the robbery, but also had one set to go off to add some suspense to the film.

I could never figure out just how many bad guys there were, or how they related to each other, but then I didn't understand why the Navy would bring back a drunk, erase his dishonorable discharge, and reinstate his rank, or why an Admiral's daughter was still a Lieutenant after so many years in the Navy.

DVD info from Amazon.

Look for Michael J. Pollard in a minor role.

The Critics Vote

no major reviews online.

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 4.4/10

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a D-. The Patriot is one of the worst thrillers I have ever seen. Fight scenes were amateurish at best, without even the illusion of punches connecting. This film has a terrible plot, bad acting, and is ineptly made and transferred. The DVD was dark, grainy and undersaturated.