Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The plot movie captures the spectator, it is well arranged. But the performances are reasonable and it lacks continuity. I had a good time watching, the action scenes are well filmed. The music and scenarios are also good. Is shows very well how American armed forces are from inside and use a subject very present nowadays.

1999's "The General's Daughter" takes place at and around a coastal Georgia military base. John Travolta plays an Army investigator who teams up with Madeleine Stowe, a woman he once had an affair with (yeah right), to solve the ugly murder of the daughter of the commanding officer, herself a captain.Whether you like Travolta or not, there's no denying his star power. He easily carries this film as the protagonist from beginning to end. The real cast highlight for me, however, is the stunning Madeleine Stowe (remember her from 1992's excellent "Last of the Mohicans"?). Throughout most of the film Madeleine wears a white sleeveless shirt and form-fitting tan-ish slacks; she's just spellbinding. The film is rated R and for good reason. There are numerous scenes of a naked woman staked out spread-eagled, both alive and dead. Besides murder, the picture features overt elements of S & M and gang rape. This may turn some potential viewers away, but the film is worth sticking with if you can brace yourself for the sordid aspects. How so? Because "The General's Daughter" powerfully shows that sexual abuse must be addressed and not shoved under the rug. Inner wounds must be properly bound and healed, not dismissed with a casual shrug.My wife and I recently saw a fascinating documentary on prostitutes. I never could understand how a woman could have sexual relations (especially oral sex) with some dirty, smelly sleazebag for money. It's gag-inducing to me. With one exception every prostitute interviewed confessed to being sexually abused while growing up. The abuse was never properly addressed and, consequently, no real inner-healing could take place. The abuse literally damned the women to a sordid life of self-loathing and self-destruction. My heart goes out to them! The sleazy sexual elements are so in-your-face in "The General's Daughter" that it's hard to look past it to the meat of the story. The unaddressed sexual abuse of the General's daughter leads to a promiscuous and deviant lifestyle, resulting -- of course -- in misery and (ultimately) destruction.Travolta's character briefly knew the general's daughter before her murder. What compels him to solve the murder and enact justice & vengeance on the direct and indirect perpetrators (aside from the fact that it's his job) is that he clearly saw a genuine gleam of beauty and life in her. Reviewer Steven Quan understandably objects that, if she was as horribly abused as depicted in the story, she wouldn't be so vibrant and perky. But, nevertheless, this vibrancy and inner beauty is authentic. Travolta knows it because he experienced it. It's a glimpse of who she really was or could be, a glimmer of her potential as a woman and a human being. True, most of it may merely be a public veneer, an act she hides behind, but the flimsy root is REAL. Unfortunately it's overshadowed by her raw torment within, inner pain so great that it compels her to ridiculously radical actions.When Travolta finally figures out what and who destroyed the inner beauty and potential of this young woman his righteous anger is potent and palpable.I heard the story was loosely based on real-life events, but can't verify it.The picture was filmed on location in coastal Georgia, around Savannah. There's also a breathtaking shot of West Point, NY, where a small portion of the story takes place.CONCLUSION: "The General's Daughter" is more than just a meaningless detective mystery/thriller. It's thought-provoking and delivers a powerful message. Some won't get it. Some are unable to get it. Others can't get past the sleazy elements. For the rest of us it's a worthwhile, heavy and potent piece of filmmaking. Travolta is at his charismatic best and Madeleine Stowe is spellbinding. I'd give it a higher rating, but the implausible Hollywoodisms stack-up toward the end and the revelation of the murderer and aftermath is weak.GRADE: B+

Actually, the audiobook is the way to go on this story. It is very good, both in terms of the story and the reader. The movie is only a shadow of the original book and as such its hard to be objective about the movie. When you finally get to the part of Kent in the end and he just gives it up, its like, how pathetic can this get? The story of building the case against him in the book was more involved than this entire movie. And then, he blows himself up? Friggin Hollywood. Maybe its just not possible to make a good film out a book like this. I dunno. After watching this, I need to go smack myself in the skull with my shoe heel a couple a hundred times.....

John Travolta does a pretty good job in this,, just have a hard time getting over his hillbilly accent. The General's daughter is murdered, and a crime investigation detective is sent in to undercover the truth, but he has to make up his mind on this one is he a police officer, or is he a soldier,, James Woods gives an excellent performance in here, Madeline Stowe is equally good, just wish she would have had some more screen time in here. An Army cover-up is underway when the beautiful daughter of the general is murdered, now the detective has to figure out who did it and why,, the answers may lie years before when something that happened at West Point resurfaces. all in all this is a pretty good thriller/mystery/ who done it. lot's of twists and turns, all around great performances by everyone.