Totally agree and Jack Nicholson's delivery was PERFECTION‼ I can watch this scene over & over‼Chef's 💋

All the way to the end…”the witness is dismissed”

Don’t forget the incredible writing by Aaron Sorkin.

One of the best or THE BEST

Great coment. You're exactly right.

One of my favorite movie scenes without a doubt. The chemistry in this scene is off the charts. Jack can play one hell of a SOB & make you believe it. Tom played the Colonel like a fiddle so well that his reaction to his admittance was beautiful.

true.

Amen.

I’d say not one of the greatest, the greatest. This is the perfect storm of all movie history… Budget,Casting, Acting all at the highest levels. #Perfection

Everyone talks about the performances by the actors. But the real standout is the screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.

Also, although it’s blurred, the little rub of his forehead in despair before he reads Colonel Jessup his rights. Little detail, but adds to the emotion of the scene.

BACON thought about going back to the desert and hunting those deep crawlers in Tremors

And the 2 secs of Demi Moore swallowing... simply awesome

lmao I love that movie too; cult classic@@islandrepublic9166

The character that Bacon played knew it was the Colonel all along. He just didn't want to be in the rough water.

Gene Hackman is a marine. No slighting Mr. Nicholson...but too bad we can't watch that non-existent version for point of comparison.

5 years in the California Air National Guard including active service may not be in the trenches with the grunts but it’s still service.

I heard that Jack practiced this scene over and over. His memorable performance was no accident.

This is A GREAT PERFORMANCE. 'Period!"

I don’t how how he manages to be so intimidating!

Indeed. Bacon was totally speechless when Jessup dropped the bomb on himself. I think even the judge was taken aback with the confession. Everybody was phenomenal here. I can usually take or leave courtroom dramas, but this one I never tire of.

It wasn’t so much Kevin realized he lost but his expressions while looking at colonel Jessup as if to say wow he really freakin did it!

Throughout the film, Captain Ross had shown he was a decent person just doing his job as thoroughly as he could as a prosecutor. But it's clear in several scenes he didn't trust or respect Jessup or Kendrick. He did have respect for Kaffee, and it's clear they outside of this case are on good terms with each other. Ross' reaction is one of shock and relief, as he had clearly been worried about the consequences the path Kaffee took in his examination of Jessup, but also because he is a decent person and is glad the truth finally came out, but he is in utter disbelief Jessup was stupid enough to allow his emotions to explode and take Kaffee's bait.

@@kylestorsin9907 ~ Agreed, Kyle. You could tell Kaffee and Ross were on good terms. They were both just doing their respective jobs. As for Jessup, it was his arrogance that undid him. He couldn't stand that the guy in the 'Faggoty white uniform' was one upping him. I think that comment that Jessup made about his uniform is one of the things that ignited his fire. Thus, Kaffee managed to push the right buttons with Jessup to get a confession. Go with works, I always say. 😁

He didn't really lose the case. Downey and Dawson were still found guilty of conduct unbecoming of a U.S. Marine and dishonorably discharged. The evidence of the order only removed the murder and conspiracy charges.

I agree apart from the cheesy dialogue bit. There's a fair bit of cheesy dialogue in this movie

Unlike so much of the trash on the big screen these daya

So it's an amazing scene because it doesn't have all of those things or because it's just a great scene? It's a great scene by itself and should be appreciated as such and not because it doesn't have other things in it.

Great script and Legendary Actors.

They need more jump cuts and slow mo. Sheesh.

I think you have not grown in all these years. This is overly dramatised bullshit scene. It was ok to love them in the 90's and early 2000's..but now to say they are good, just shows pigheads still rule ..

Tom Cruise did an awesome job!

Cruise is great in pretty much everything he does.

I thought Cruise was the leading actor 🤔

Cruise was the leading actor in this movie.

I agree,They both should of been nominated 4 an Oscar ,It's a historic seen,,Riener also should of been nominated.,& 4 best picture great film

calling him-- you are under arrest you son of a bitch will clear coronel Jessup in his next trial,

In all the practice sessions and read-throughs for the actors beforehand (in street clothes)... they said Nicholson was just as intense every single take. After initially shocking everyone, It set the tone and got everyone to lift their efforts throughout the process.

“It’s just been revoked.”

Yeah, but in real life, wouldn't a judge be the one saying that?? Wouldn't a lawyer say "I have no further questions"!

"Don't wake my friend. He's dead tired."

"Is there any other kind?" I like the exchange too. It's not just to annoy the colonel, it really gets him to "confirm" that Santiago was in danger. Then later when Kaffee asks, if you gave the order that Santiago was not to be touched, and your orders are always followed, why would he be in danger -- Jessup knows he has been caught in a contradiction.

​@sueprice3315 The thing to do there would've been to say, "Well perhaps I exaggerated my men's ability to follow my orders to the letter. And since Santiago is in fact dead, it's never been more clear to me that my first instinct to transfer Santiago out of Guantanmo was correct."

Yes!

My favorite line (or word), is when he looks at Ross, and says "Jack"! It's just this little nuance that reminds him that in the JAG Corps the adversary aspect of the system cedes to their greater duty and obligation as officers in the military.

@@kturkel dead meme. Ok I'll edit my comment too. You changed yours from a mockery to a genuine observation about the film.

I believe it is a smirk of contempt, I see zero respect. This "son" just destroyed his career and he believes the nation is weaker because of it. He is utterly disgusted.

I think that smirk means something different: In this moment he begins to understand that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. He had justified his needless cruelty (that probably began with him just being a bully) for all his life until he had no more doubt that he was always right. Now that smirk is the first tiny shimmer of doubt returning; and with it the realization that a good chunk of his hard guy mindset might be nonsense. He smirks because he feels a piece of that deep, almost comic absurdity: He might actually have worked hard and dealt harsh punishments and just generally lived and kept living for all the wrong reasons.

Jack is SO good, you almost forget he's barely in the movie... like 2-3 scenes at the start and then this courtroom scene, and I think that's it. But his presence, both the character and performer are so large they can't/won't be ignored.

Actually they did the reaction shots first, because Nicholson's choose that option when the director asked him. He did the exact same performance every time, to the point the director suggested to him that maybe he should save something for his shot. Nicholson replied that he loved acting and he loved acting in such a great part. So, indeed, when it came time for Nicholson's shot he again did the exact same performance.

@@system3008 No wonder he is so good!

@@system3008 Is this true????

Apparently, after Nicholson left Rob Reiner would have liked a few more reaction shots. Kevin Pollack does a spot-on Nicholson impression and volunteered to do Jack's lines. As far as I know, no one was ever told which shots were used in the final cut.

I have seen this movie several times and Jack's performance still amazes me. He is such a fantastic actor who can show his acting abilities in drama and comedy with such panache and professionalism.

Absolutely. This is powerhouse acting.

He was so committed to this work, that he even did the readbacks, and with the same inflection when other actors were shooting their scenes, like when they're getting reaction shots from the lawyers and members of the jury. As a bigshot actor, he could have easily skipped that.

Jack Nicholson has been a great actor before this movie but Cruise and his dialogue (which I saw some of it was unscripted) made it.

He threw a Hail Mary on that one

Why can’t they ask if he ordered a code red?

@MF Nickster Yup, I think it's the Fifth Amendment, the right not to incriminate oneself if not being the one on trial.

Kaffee: 'DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?!' Jessup: 'YOU'RE GOD DAMNED RIGHT I DID!!!' I was thinking, 'You just hung yourself, pal.' Jessup was guilty of ordering the Code Red that led to a wrongful death, and he was guilty of perjury. His arrogance and short temper destroyed him in that split second. Kaffee played a risky game, but it paid off.

@@JamesBond-sr7fw it goes over it earlier in the film. Jessup is a colonel and if a lieutenant was to accuse a higher rank of something like a code red and there wasn't evidence, Kaffee might be disbarred or thrown in jail. So him trying to get a confession without evidence is very risky. The airmen were also bluffs, so he had no backup, he drinks the water because he's genuinely taking a massive risk and is building up the courage.

One of the great lines in movie history

It was not improvised. It was in all of the earlier versions of the script, which are available online. One change from the script ot the film is that Kaffee and Jo agree to go on a date. A "real" date. She tells him to wear matching socks, which pays off a line from earlier. While the possibility of romance still lurks underneath, the film (wisely) ended on a different note.

Nicholson is believable

Tom was brilliant to watch

@@jillweekley2148 agreed, but he was really still just getting started while Jack was at his peak. I like to compare it to Tom in Minority report. When he learns he has his sons killer in hand the rage and anger turning to glee, then shame then finally pride at choosing to follow the law. Great actors

jack is a legend-perfect acting. but the acting of tom where he almost lost the case. wow. that made the whole scene 4 times power

​@@drewsachs6238 I don't think he was still getting started here he was a movie star for 10 years and one time Oscar nominee he was an established star already at that time

Hard to believe that Cruise didn't even get nominated. Hard to believe that an actor playing transvestite got nominated over Cruise. Actually it's not had to believe. it has now become an automatic nomination anytime anyone plays a member of the MCBLTW/CHEESE community

Tom Cruise's best acting is in Magnolia IMP

I’ve never liked jack in anything more than this

@Yardbirds 67 he does a good job then making you hate that maggot. That’s acting. I’m not talking about best writing

@Yardbirds 67 and I was talking about the acting but glad you’re into the story and writing

its more about the writing/script. too much over the top graphics vs personality in todays movies

He did his famous speech in one take, I believe.

A contrast to 'Easy Rider' and 'Batman'

He did the right thing. He pushed Jessops buttons and got him riled up so he would slip. Jessop threatening Kaffee's life while still under oath was icing on the cake. That's an extra criminal charge.

See that's what I struggle with. Did Caffee plan the whole thing out? If you look back, one of his first questions to Jessop was with regards to the two separate orders. A seemingly innocent question. Then it comes back at the end with a vengeance.

Bravo!! 👏 👏

I think he went in for the kill at the perfect moment! He spent the entire time up till then, carefully being as smug and condescending as he could get away with, which successfully aroused the Colonel's indignation, and when he sensed that Jessup was close to boiling point, he pounced. It was still a long shot, of course, but he had his whole game-plan worked out.

That camera Wok stir fried his ass! 😏👌

well said

There's one extra facet to the plan aside from pressing Jessep's buttons and appealing to his pride: the two airmen. We learn from Kaffee telling Ross, that the two airmen had no recollection of the covered-up flight. This is understandable; they deal in a high volume of flights so how could they possibly remember a random unremarkable flight from a random uneventful night from what is presumably quite a while ago? . So as witnesses they were worthless. There was no value in Kaffee calling them to the stand. And in fact, he was saying he was gonna call them as rebuttal witnesses to rebut Jessep's testimony. If they couldn't do that, then calling them to the stand without their being on the witness list wasn't even allowed. *But Jessep didn't know that.* He would've assumed the flight would be forgotten. But he couldn't be sure. Maybe something had been randomly, unpredictably memorable about that particular flight for one of those airmen. After all, if the only reason they could be called as rebuttal witnesses was that they could rebut Jessep's testimony, then in Jessep's mind, surely that proved that they WERE about to blow his story wide open. So the final part of Kaffee's plan was to convince Jessep that those two airmen were about to blow his story wide open. Or at least remove his confidence that his story was bulletproof - Kaffee mentioning that he was going to call them to the stand next and the discourse about how the only reason Kaffee was going to get away with doing that without their being on the witness list was because they could rebut Jessep's testimony was calculated to make Jessep sweat that his story had a hole in it. Kaffee was hoping that Jessep's worry about being on a leaky ship would cause him to jump ship prematurely in an attempt to get ahead of things. In other words, Kaffee was saying to Jessep "your story is about to fall apart and there's nothing you can do about that. So you have to decide whether you want to: A. keep telling easily disproven lies and making yourself look even more unsympathetic when your own court martial comes, or B. switch from denial to defence and instead of futilely claiming that you didn't do it, claim that what you did was necessary. You might think I'm bluffing, but if you think that, ask yourself why I'm accusing you directly when doing that without evidence would get me court martialled myself. I seem pretty certain this accusation is gonna stick, don't I? I still have two surprise witnesses coming up, don't I? Are you SURE you wanna stick to your 'I didn't order it' story? Especially since you don't actually believe you did anything wrong anyway?". The third part of Kaffee's plan was bluffing Jessep into believing he'd already been caught.

I love it when he says "what would you like to discuss now, my favorite color"

I just saw an interview with Kiefer, and Willis was right by in another lot and came to watch this scene. Everyone but Jack was off for the day. Kiefer said that it was total silence, not any standing ovation. Silence. Rob Reiner stood up and said" I don`t see the point in filming another take, because this one was as good as it can get" You made a boo-boo, and you know it, but I just called you out. LOL. Sorry, I had to give you a noogie! No lying allowed!!👁😁

@@gib59er56 I'll have to go find that interview now. I'm not perfect, but I don't lie. Why on Earth would anyone lie about a interview?? That makes no sense. 🙄

@@gib59er56 okay I found the interview on the digital fix. Dead silence during the take. You were correct Rob Reiner says it can't get any better than that. After it was finished they did receive a standing ovation from cast and crew. Kiefer said he'd never seen that before.

Be careful who you call a liar. The stuff on the internet is there for eternity easy to look up. Try Kiefer Sutherland interview" digital fix".

@@Jamie-lw5sy J, I was just bustin your chops man!! I was not trying to be dickish. That must have been amazing watching Jack go Hardcore Leatherneck in that scene right!? I was suprised to see Kiefer with tat`s too. They must be pretty new. It sucks that this whole WOKE shit is going on, cuz we won`t get anything like that anytime soon!!! I razz people all the time man. I really do not do it with ill intent though. Happy to speak with you man!! Cheers!

😂😂😂

Yea, ol meathead is a fine director, too terrible his political stance is throwed off tho

@@waynelalonde4778 Agreed!

Red??

@@mikebridge7598 Redrum red!

That speech would shake an actual J.A.G lawyer and definitely any non military lawyers

I dunno about nothing, those two airmen testifying could very well have been the beginning of his end. But, yeah, still incredibly risky.

@@ChokeslamToHell ~ I'm not sure if the airmen were there to actually prove Kaffee's case, or if it was a bluff. We don't know if could prove Jessup was lying or not. Regardless, it was dangerous ground that Kaffee was treading.

@@DBarns7 it was a bluff. He states it after the verdict is read.

@@DBarns7 It was a bluff. He says it to Capt. Ross. Ross asks him what the airmen were going to testify to and Kaffee says "unless I'm mistaken, they were going to testify to seeing absolutely nothing."

@@DBarns7 They were going to testify there was no flight, and as soon as they did, Kaffee was going to be court martialed. Kaffee is screaming his last questions about the Code Red because he's almost out of time to get the witness off his game. Kaffee's jaw dropped because the bluff actually worked and Jessep was completely explicit in what he did.

My favorite line is “you’re god damn right I did”

the Colonel’s ego was what this was about. He figured no matter what kind of Marine Santiago was the marine corps cant be run any other way except for the way he’s fit

What this scene was about is the Colonel committing murder.

@@thefauxtist4387 IMO it about the Colonel taking responsibility for causing the death of someone under his authority. Had he simply taking ownership for Santiago's death, it could easily have been written off as overzealous discipline. It was his cowardice in placing blame on people he knew would follow his order(s) to the letter and without fail is the real crime. If he really believed his order was in the best interest, he would have accepted the consequences and probably only gotten a light reprimand. Cowardice!!

@@kingsbay1 exactly!

@@kingsbay1 facts. For a man as proud as he was, he was a total coward.

😂😂😂😂

Jack has three Best Actor Oscars, so I wouldn't weep for him too much.

Irrelevant. Just because he won 3, has nothing to do with him being denied another one. Or it shouldn't have stopped him from getting one for one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. See also Tom Hanks for Cast Away

@@Smartass_Jedi "See also Tom Hanks for Castaway". Actually, the title is "Cast Away". It's a common mistake, though.

Tough year. Jack was up against Gene Hackman in Unforgiven, and Al Pacino in Glengarry Glen Ross, among others.

@@kylenielsen5341 Glengarry Glen Ross is phenomenal.

Tom was brilliant! Wonderful to watch him and Jack in this movie!

Tom Cruise is a very good actor, and this was probably his best role.

Agreed. And I have no respect for people who can’t separate appreciation for ability from personal judgment. Dude may be a little batty off screen but the man puts in quality work in every movie he’s in. Except Vanilla Sky, but that movie was all around dogshit, no one could have saved it.

@@MultiDean1980 Agreed. I don't think I've ever seen a role of his where I wasn't impressed. He's coocoo off screen but he does phenomenal work and I always enjoy every role I've seen him in

Same here. He oozes likeability.

Good point. Stunned that his long-shot gamble worked. But also trying to remember the law so that he doesn't throw away this opportunity to hold Nicholson accountable or maybe even to save his clients.

Followed by Demi Moore's gulp.

Nicholson's movement there is very a la Full Metal Jacket, no?

Until now I never connected that quote ... great writing to connect the two incidents. How ironic that Jessop mentions it during the trial.

I was just thinking that. All the subordinates following Jessup's orders are what cost Santiago his life. But Jessup goes by "We follow orders or people die”

I'd love to see them do something with a comedic base - bet that would be hilarious. Jack is really good at comedy and wit, Cruise can be and Kevin Bacon can do anything he sets his mind to. Something like rob a Brinks truck with hardly any plan, and everything the "thought" was completely wrong, so they tie up the guards with duct tape, get strained at carrying the money, almost get caught many times, but skate onward, and the finale two are relaxing on a beach in the Carribean wondering what happened to the third, and the third walks up and they poke fun at him always being last, but hand him a cold one and all three start laughing..

Demi Moore held her own against these guys in this movie too.

Problem is Jack hasn't the ability to memorize lines of script anymore. 😢

They are thinking about doing a female version..."A Few Good Women". Madonna, Taylor Swift, and Bette Midler have been pegged to star in it. Takes place in a brothel. To all you "woke" folk out there: JUST KIDDING!

You mean Kevin Bacon.

@@hoopoe_ no, Tom Cruise was the main protagonist. After this movie NCIS shows started flooding the network. Bacon was good in this, but it was Tom’s performance that sold it

@@garyfrombrooklyn I meant to say that you wrote Kevin Pollack instead of Kevin Bacon in your first comment.

That's wild bro

Hahaha not laughing at the divorce part. Just how you ended your thought

Not really. Great acting, that's for sure.

@@pofcross what other courtroom scenes are better? I'm genuinely interested

Definitely vicious and cruel, but on principle definitely believable and human logic.

It was ego, plain and simple. He ended up believing that he and the defense of the nation were one and the same, making him untouchable. The whole movie is a commentary on that thought process which is so prevalent in armed forces, that because they're so hyped up as the "pride of the nation", "the last line of defense" etc, they think they can get away with anything. We've seen this in real life so many times, it's just that usually it's other people (Iraqis and Afghans, for instance) and not their own who suffer.

Yes, but only until he sold out two marines under his command. Still very believable motivations, but he was just a coward and hypocrite. If he really believed all those crap (which the movie actually supported through the comments of the co-council), he would have stood by his men, covered it up or just acknowledged that it was an accident. He might have lost his promotion, but it's not like the military would make too much a fuss about it. Then soldiers would have died for him instead of losing hearts. The other issue is that he wouldn't make that good a commander being easily provoked and losing his cool. Might have made a perfectly good field officer if he had earned his men's loyalty, but not higher up where cooler heads must always prevail. The lawyer really got nothing on him if he just said yes or no or I don't know to every question.