Reviewing Movies

JAG, Judge Advocate General, was one of the best TV series of the 90ies. Given the amount of military hardware depicted onscreen it must also have enjoyed the US military’s support as well. Mind you one of the central conceits of the series, that Harman Rabb was an airforce pilot, stretches reality to the extreme as fitting his six foot, four inch frame into a cockpit meant for an aviator no more than five foot nine seems a physical impossibility. The diminutive Tom Cruise in Top Gun, yes; David James Elliot, no. Whereas Tom’s sets must have platforms to elevate the vertically challenged Mr. Cruise the challenge here was finding partners for David who wouldn’t look like dwarves beside him. Seeing him attempt to navigate in the confined space of a small submarine is almost laughable if it didn’t look so painful.

Everything about this series points to high production values. The writing, the sets, the venues, the settings world wide, the military hardware, the ships, the armaments, the acting. It is no coincidence that this series hung around for ten years. JAG almost gives lawyers a good name and Harm, the lead character thumbs his nose at authority with a twinkle in his eye that only the profession’s brightest and best could get away with. The supporting characters are equally well developed and acted. Season Two is already available and the remaining eight will surely follow.