The Base / The Base 2: Guilty as Charged Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Base / The Base 2: Guilty as Charged Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 6, 2026

Mark L. Lester's "The Base" (1999) and "The Base 2: Guilty as Charged" (2000) arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber and Dark Force Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary with Mark L. Lester, actor Randy Cognata, and David DeFalco; exclusive new program with Antonio Sabato Jr.; and original trailers for the two films. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Mark L. Lester has directed several legitimate cult films. My favorite is Steel Arena, an astonishing piece of Americana from the 1970s about a group of daredevils doing things that nowadays cannot be legally recreated before a rolling film camera. In the 1980s, everyone who saw The Terminator checked out Lester’s Commando, too, and I have never encountered anyone who did not enjoy it. Now, Commando is too big a film to be profiled as a cult hit, but in the 1980s and early 1990s, while independent video stores were still doing good business renting VHS tapes, most everyone knew it as one. In the 1980s, Lester’s Class of 1984 developed a reputation as a small cult film, too. In the 1990s, Lester gave action junkies another cult hit, Showdown in Little Tokyo, which unloaded such an astonishing number of fireworks that it probably should have been directed by an Italian expat during the 1980s. After Showdown in Little Tokyo, Lester made several other decent action films. However, they only aspired to sell well on the home video market, which was already saturated with countless direct-to-video films exactly like them.

The Base was conceived to perform well on the home video market as well. I recall renting at my favorite independent video store, but not in 1999, when it was released. I saw it sometime after its star, Marc Dacascos, appeared in the French blockbuster Brotherhood of the Wolf. It is a small B film, predictably well directed by Lester, entertaining exactly as it should be. Also, it is representative of the quality of the work Dacascos did during the 1990s that earned him a reputation as a reliable action star.

Dacascos is John Murphy, a veteran U.S. Army Investigator with an impressive record, tasked to infiltrate a small border unit whose members are suspected of working with the Mexican cartels and trafficking drugs into the Los Angeles area. Murphy travels to Fort Tillman and quickly earns a spot in the border unit, whose leader, Sgt: Michael Gammon (Tim Abell), dreams of becoming the biggest drug lord on the West Coast. While participating in several operations, Murphy begins gathering intel on Gammon, his Mexican partners, and a corrupt general who protects the drug business, but jeopardizes the cover of his Pentagon contact and on-again off-again lover (Paula Trickey). Shortly after, while Gammon begins replacing the top Mexican dealers who question his potential, one of his associates also receives a tip that Murphy is loyal to the U.S. government.

The Base describes plausible developments. For decades, the California and Arizona sectors of the southern border have been successfully used by the Mexican cartels to flood the country with incredible amounts of drugs. Naturally, it is not difficult to conclude that the Mexican cartels are working with powerful people in America. Can some of these people be in the U.S. Military, as The Base speculates? Of course. More than likely, they share the mindset of Gammon and his associates, too.

However, The Base is not a messenger film. It is a pure action film, delivering fireworks exactly like the ones seen in all other action films Dacascos appeared in during the 1990s. In The Base, Dacascos only wears a military uniform and, where appropriate, follows orders.

Also included on this release is Lester’s The Base 2: Guilty as Charged. In this sequel, Antonio Sabato Jr. plays another U.S. Army Investigator, dispatched to infiltrate a different military unit linked to the disappearance of various soldiers. Soon after he begins uncovering bits of the truth, as expected, all hell breaks loose. While a few action sequences look decent, The Base 2: Guilty as Charged is plagued by virtually all the weaknesses exhibited by current action films, funded by the streaming giants and required to meet numerous quotas. It looks bland and very, very artificial.

The Base / The Base 2: Guilty as Charged Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in aspect ratios of 1.89:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted 1080p transfers, The Base and The Base 2: Guilty as Charged arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber and Dark Force Entertainment.

Both films were direct-to-video productions, and I know for a fact that The Base was initially presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. (I do not know how The Base 2: Guilty as Charged was first presented). However, I am unsure if they were composed and shot to fit the 1.33:1 ratio. To be clear, both films have several very tight shots, but there is an enormous amount of material that looks ideal in the 1.85:1 ratio. I would say that The Base looks better, but the discrepancies between the two films are extremely small. So, if I had to guess, I would say that both films were shot as hybrid projects, meaning that their cinematographers did their best to make them appear equally convincing in 1.33:1 and 1.85:1 ratios. Of course, I could be very wrong, but it does not appear at all that someone simply cropped both from 1.33:1 to 1.85:1 when they were remastered.

The Base looks very healthy and stable. Delineation, clarity, and depth are always pleasing. However, in several darker areas, and especially in the final act, the gamma levels are uneven. It is very difficult to tell if this is how the darker material is shot or mastered. However, some small adjustments could have been made there. Color reproduction and balance are good. I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. I noticed a few blemishes and small scratches, but there are no distracting large cuts, debris, warped or torn frames to report.

The Base 2: Guilty as Charged looks equally healthy and stable. However, there is a lot of stylization work in this film that affects contrast and sometimes even clarity and depth. On my system, it often looked significantly lusher than The Base, but its colorization is also too aggressive at times. Regardless, it produces visuals that I am convinced a lot of people will find attractive. There are no traces of any recent problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Base / The Base 2: Guilty as Charged Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Base and The Base 2: Guilty as Charged are presented with English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for each film.

Despite being direct-to-video productions, both films have very nice, quite aggressive soundtracks. In The Base, the shootouts with the Mexican drug dealers sounded particularly good, while the final act with the tank was simply terrific. In The Base 2: Guilty as Charged, the outdoor material sounded very good, too. The dialogue was always clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review.

The Base / The Base 2: Guilty as Charged Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary for The Base was recorded by director Mark L. Lester, actor Randy Cognata, and David DeFalco from Dark Force Entertainment. It is a very interesting commentary, with Lester discussing in great detail how The Base came to exist, the casting of Marc Dacascos, Lionsgate's funding of the film and HBO's acquisition of it, and the terrific action choreography.

• Know Your Weapons - in this exclusive new program, Antonio Sabato Jr. discusses his Italian background, reveals how he met Mark Lester, and comments on his character and the various weapons he uses in The Base 2: Guilty as Charged. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Base. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Base 2: Guilty as Charged. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

The Base / The Base 2: Guilty as Charged Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Early in the new commentary he recorded for The Base, Mark L. Lester mentions that someone told him that no one knows how to shoot action films like The Base anymore. Then, he quickly declares that it is true. It is mostly true, because there are still plenty of very talented people around who can shoot action films like The Base, but the entire industry is different now. Lester also reveals that Lionsgate's budget for The Base was 5 million, which was a lot of money for a small action film in the late 1990s. The other obvious big reason The Base is a small but solid action film is the quality of its action choreography. In a similar film made today for one of the streaming giants, virtually all of it would have been faked with powerful computers. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release also includes The Base 2: Guilty as Charged. RECOMMENDED.