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Rules of Engagement

Play trailer Poster for Rules of Engagement R 2000 2h 8m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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36% Tomatometer 97 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Col. Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) is a 30-year Marine veteran: a decorated officer with combat experience in Vietnam, Beirut and Desert Storm -- a patriot, a hero. But now, the country he served so well has put him on trial for a rescue mission that went terribly wrong. For his attorney, he has chosen Marine Col. Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), a comrade-in-arms who owes his life to Childers.
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Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement

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Critics Consensus

The script is unconvincing and the courtroom action is unegaging.

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Critics Reviews

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Philip Wuntch Dallas Morning News 01/01/2000
Reconfirms the talent of onetime wunderkind director William Friedkin. Go to Full Review Ted Gideonse Newsweek 01/01/2000
A run-of-the-mill legal thriller that hopes to be a little more. Go to Full Review Paul Clinton (CNN.com) CNN.com 01/01/2000
At its best, Rules Of Engagement is merely bad. Go to Full Review Peter Sobczynski The Spool 10/05/2023
Stephen Gaghan’s screenplay...huffs and puffs but never really gets anywhere.  Go to Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 11/05/2022
2.5/4
...an often exceedingly deliberate drama that does, at a running time of just over two hours, feel substantially longer than necessary... Go to Full Review Tony Black Cultural Conversation 02/16/2021
3/5
A military drama scared to face its demons. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Clarice F. @clarice25 Nov 17 Great cast. Would happily re watch it. See more Mary S 09/09/2024 The epilogue lacks details of how the authorities caught Sokal. See more Liane C 09/28/2023 Excellent movie and cast.Very intense.Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones were a great team in this movie.So tragic to see what its like to have ones own country and military that they honorably serve and protect, turn on them in the face of corrupt politics and leave their fellow marine "out to dry". See more Steve D 02/07/2023 Aggressively average. See more eric y 11/03/2022 An underappreciated war/law movie. Great acting, good script and well directed. See more red t 11/02/2022 It was disappointingly average. The acting is the best part of this. It's solid overall. Jackson & Jones have solid chemistry and are likeable. Guy Pearce is the standout though giving a very good performance. The Supporting Cast is decent but generic. The cinematography has its moments (The exchange between Jackson/Pearce on the stand was really well done) but is for the most part very basic and uninspired at times overall being ok. The music in this overall is bad not because the music itself is (really its generic and forgettable) but because its so weird how little its used in this besides the opening and closing scene. It makes things feel very dry and really was confusing to me why more wasn't use to give scenes more feeling. The Editing in this is not good. There are scenes in the first half that should've been cut, some flashback scenes that are out of place. Everything is else is just ok. And this makes the pacing never develop tension or investment to see what happens because of the poor execution in music, editing, uninspired camerawork and mediocre pacing. This should have been made as a Courtroom thriller rather than show what happened they should have cut the Vietnam scenes and the fight at the embassy. Instead we should let our imaginations piece together the crime as we slowly figure out what happens. this would've worked much better instead though we have a generic war/courtroom drama that is forgettable. This honestly should be remade with the changes listed above. If your not a fan of Jackson, Jones or Pearce than skip this. It's ok but there isn't enough war or compelling court drama for fans of either genre to appreciate. See more Read all reviews
Rules of Engagement

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Cast & Crew

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William Friedkin

Director

Tommy Lee Jones

Colonel Hayes Hodges

Samuel L. Jackson

Colonel Terry L. Childers

Guy Pearce

Major Mark Biggs

Bruce Greenwood

National Security Advisor William Sokal

Blair Underwood

Captain Lee

Movie Clips

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Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Rescue Mission Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Rescue Mission 3:00 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Ambassador's Testimony Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Ambassador's Testimony 2:40 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Hodges Fights Childers Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Hodges Fights Childers 3:00 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Binh Le Cao’s Testimony Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Binh Le Cao’s Testimony 2:26 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Saving the Ambassador's Family Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Saving the Ambassador's Family 2:58 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - "Waste the Motherf***ers" Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - "Waste the Motherf***ers" 2:45 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Rules of Engagement Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Rules of Engagement 2:07 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Threatening P.O.W.s Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Threatening P.O.W.s 2:59 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Killing Civilians Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - Killing Civilians 2:55 Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Verdict Rules of Engagement: Official Clip - The Verdict 2:48 View more videos

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Rules of Engagement

Guy Pearce is Maj. Mark Biggs, a prosecutor for the military in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Terry Childers in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Anne Archer as Ambassador Mourain's wife and Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Hayes Hodges in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Guy Pearce and director William Friedkin on the set of Paramount's Rules Of Engagement The country of Morocco was used as a stand-in for Yemen in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Col. Hayes Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones) travels to Yemen to investigate whathappened in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Terry Childers and Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Hayes Hodges in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Terry Childers and Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Hayes Hodges in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Hayes Hodges and Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Terry Childers in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Terry Childers and Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Hayes Hodges in Paramount's Rules Of Engagement View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Col. Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) is a 30-year Marine veteran: a decorated officer with combat experience in Vietnam, Beirut and Desert Storm -- a patriot, a hero. But now, the country he served so well has put him on trial for a rescue mission that went terribly wrong. For his attorney, he has chosen Marine Col. Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), a comrade-in-arms who owes his life to Childers.
Director
William Friedkin
Producer
Scott Rudin, Richard D. Zanuck
Screenwriter
James Webb, Stephen Gaghan
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Seven Arts Pictures, Roe Productions KG
Rating
R (Violence|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 31, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$61.3M
Runtime
2h 8m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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