Rules of Engagement (2000) on Netflix
Colonel Terry Childers leads Marines sent to evacuate the American embassy in Yemen when a demonstration turns violent. Accused over civilian deaths, he asks Colonel Hayes Hodges to defend him.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb6.4/1053,141 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes37%
Trailer
Plot summary
Colonel Hayes Hodges is a Marine lawyer who has spent twenty-eight years as a JAG officer and is close to retirement. His friend Colonel Terry Childers commands a Marine unit sent to Yemen to evacuate the American ambassador, Mourain, and his family when a demonstration at the embassy turns violent. Escorting them to a helicopter, Childers retrieves the embassy's flag. After demonstrators shoot at the Marines, Childers orders his Marines to shoot into the crowd. Officials in Washington fear the diplomatic fallout, and National Security Advisor Bill Sokal presses for a court-martial. Childers asks Hodges to defend him. Hodges agrees, while prosecutor Major Mark Biggs believes Childers is guilty.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Rules of Engagement (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director William Friedkin clashed with writer James Webb over rewrites of Rules of Engagement, so producer Scott Rudin moved the project to Richard Zanuck, who hired Stephen Gaghan to rewrite it. Webb hated Gaghan's script and frustrated efforts to get Department of Defense cooperation, which was eventually obtained anyway.
- The script for Rules of Engagement came from an original screenplay by future U.S. senator James Webb and spent about ten years in development at Universal Pictures before Paramount acquired it; Sylvester Stallone was in talks to star.
- To make the film in Morocco, director William Friedkin had to have the King of Morocco read and approve the script and sign his name; Friedkin said nobody on the Arab side considered the film anti-Arab.
- The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee called Rules of Engagement "probably the most racist film ever made against Arabs by Hollywood", comparing it to The Birth of a Nation and The Eternal Jew.
