The epilogue lacks details of how the authorities caught Sokal.

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".

I loved this show. It was like a demented version of Friends.. super funny and when they added the Timmy character it got even funnier.

Aggressively average.

An underappreciated war/law movie. Great acting, good script and well directed.

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.

These Yemeni children have been vicious terrorists for quite a long time, huh? But the mighty United States has kept them in check for decades by droning the hell out of them. Keeping Yemen safe and not a failed Middle Eastern state on a pile of other failed states where the Americans bravely intervened. Let's get down to brass tacks. I loathe all the assessments and the plot of this film. Yet as a courtroom drama with great actors and direction, it sure succeeds.  First of all, any notion that this is some moral debate goes right out the window. Childers is completely justified in his actions. Period. The drama is that Washington wigs don't want Childers to gun down the children because politicians are evil, they hide the truth, and they have never been in the field, so they know nothing about how you should kill terrorists. Are you anti-American, Department of State?  It's a farce. Why did weapons completely disappear the moment shooting stopped? Why could no other marines even see the supposed dozen upon dozen of guns among the dead? Don't think about it. You just haven't tasted the gunpowder, like Childers, boy. He is protecting the American flag. Who are you to judge the great peacekeepers? Let's all collectively pretend that nothing like that ever happened in reality ever since. Okay?

Script and courtroom action mediocre. It is an expert melodrama that has a terrible screenplay. Lazily plotted, dishonest, and dripping with Islamophobia. It succeeds in capturing details of a successful military operation and showing the ensuing political fallout. The drama lags in the courtroom where the story is neither accurate or compelling. It reeks of Jingoism, akin to Birth of a Nation or The Eternal Jew. But the movie can also be viewed as not anti-Arab or Islam but rather anti-terrorist.

Military conspiracy drama to its ugliness

I found it surprisingly enjoyable despite the plot being ridiculous throughout. If so many people in the crowd had guns, then why was Colonel Terry Childers the only person to see any weapons? It doesn't make any sense. All of the soldiers looked at the mass of dead bodies, and yet none of them noticed any weapons. That question alone destroys the believability of the film. Why did the Americans take so long to return fire? Why did the Americans all pile onto a roof that had no cover? Then there was the silly war crime at the beginning, the prosecution being able to find the Vietnamese colonel who hadn't aged a day, the weird accent by Guy Pearce, the destruction of the tape, the lying in court, and the silly fight between Colonel Hayes Hodges and Colonel Terry Childers. The outcome was predictable, there wasn't enough action, there was no suspense, there was poor character development, and most of the characters weren't likeable. However, the pacing and acting were reasonable, and the cinematography, visual effects, and soundtrack were fine.

Guy Pierce's accent was so hard to endure. Where was he supposed to be from? He sounded like a wanna be gangster from New Jersey that was supposed to be from New York. Ugh. Terrible terrible terrible. And it took Tommy Lee a while to warm up. Otherwise it was a good story. But Guy Pierce RUINED it for me. I kept laughing at how BAD the accent was. Why couldn't he speak in his normal voice? And the National Security guy who's type-cast as a deuchebag in every movie; not too hot either.

A good friend gets you acquitted on fully justified charges of murder, but a real friend also covers for your previously committed, and untried, war crimes. They don't make buddy movies like this anymore and the messaging definitely feels extremely dated.

They're not allowed to produce these type of movies nowadays...

Rules of Engagement stands as a testament to the fact that rampant Islamaphobia was not birthed on 9/11, but has been around for as long as there has been white people hating (aka forever). Even if you could "put aside" the horrific Middle Eastern stereotyping and the fact that this film is about defending a war crime, it's still not good. Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson are both lazy and playing their stereotypical cranky, cussing, standing up to authority selves you see in a lot of their other (better) films. The courtroom scenes are dull as. The one and a half stars are because Jones and Jackson do have good bro chemistry together.

Rules of Engagement could have explored the confluence of factors that contributed to a violent event, and the assignment of blame - the survival instinct, the weight of human life, the need for rapid decision-making, ties of brotherhood and personal involvement, taking action for personal gain rather than dispensing justice, the preservation of American hegemony despite the dynamic nature of its global status, and the conflict between senses of nationalism/patriotism and base human morality. Toss them all into a high-pressure scenario with little time to decide, see which is the primary motivator, and spend the rest of the film picking through the rationale in deep character studies. The film could have been reformulated as a far more politically relevant iteration of A Few Good Men, with the potential to create an issue that the audience themselves would even be divided on. Instead, the final product is a clunky conspiracy film with very shallow characters and a dangerously slow courtroom procedure, which is a shame given the talent of leads like Jackson, Jones, and Pearce, and even a few top actors in supporting roles (Kingsley and Hall). (1.5/5)

Movie full of racism, and stereotypical propaganda. Would not have expected big actors like Jackson & Lee to work in such a demeaning plot.

Fascinating at every second, and great actors doing a great job! Loved it!

Must see film that tells the truth about the realities of radical Islamic terrorism. Superb cast and well written script.

It amazes me how emotional people get and as a result refuse to accept the truth. What is represented in this movie happens in real life. The corruption of politicians who only care about themselves, as well as people who hide their terrorism behind the face of an innocent. This movie was brilliant. If you can't face facts, don't watch.

The movie is entertaining if you can get past the lack of authenticity. I choose to believe it is a result of ignorance not racism.