Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

massjazzfan I am extremely impressed with this movie, and I feel like it is under-appreciated. This movie is not the fast-paced action movie that we are used to with military films. Instead, this is an inspirational story about overcoming the challenges in one's life. The movie follows the character development of Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) and Ben Randall (Kevin Costner). In the movie, both characters are facing similar struggles, and when they first meet, they are dealing with they're ghosts in different ways. But, together they overcome them and become the heroes that they need to be. I love this movie because it helps to inspire people to become better. These characters are rescue swimmers or training to become rescue swimmers, and they must overcome their own personal struggles to be able to help save others. You gain a deeper appreciation for real life coast guard swimmers. You also feel as if you yourself are able to make a difference in the lives of other people. This movie is a great representation of overcoming one's self to become a person that will make a difference in the lives of others.

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK DVD releaseActors: 6/10Plot/script: 5/10Photography/visual style: 6/10Music/score: 5/10Overall: 6/10You can imagine the production meeting. Costner and Kutcher were middle-sized names, with their own followings, so it seemed reasonable to put them together in a middle-budget film. Costner has moved on from action heroes and romantic leads to grizzled military types and father figures, and Ashton makes an effective cocky young recruit who will grow under his tutelage. Throw in the idea of shining the spotlight on a less glamorous area of the military, and the rest pretty much writes itself. Basically, it's An Officer and a Gentleman with helicopter sea rescuers instead of air force pilots. It's really that blatant.Presumably that is why they gave it to comparative screen writing novice Ron L Brinkerhoff, and he does a decent job of putting tab A into slot B, adding in some (I assume) well-researched details that enhance the Coastguard training academy scenes, and finessing some of the character interactions with a bit of extra metaphor and frisson. The whole thing plays to a moderately right-wing middle-American patriotic audience, with a soundtrack comprising mostly pop and country music.Both of the leads are accomplished but not inspired. Costner has the experience and charisma to come across as likable even while playing the unnecessarily cruel, hard taskmaster, and Kutcher does better as the cocky douchebag than the sensitive hero, but he stops well short of disgracing himself.The director is a safe bet. Andrew Davis is probably best known for action thrillers Under Siege and The Fugitive. He brings his skill with those action set-pieces to the couple of (presumably quite expensive) helicopter rescue scenes, generating a really visceral sense of the danger and discomfort. He can also be trusted to not make a mess of the character interaction dialogue scenes.I found the whole reasonably diverting, if rather forgettable. One to watch when you are feeling a bit fragile, and not in the mood for anything at all challenging.

mattkratz This was a terrific movie and one of my favorite Kevin Costner movies. In a nutshell, it is about training for life in the U.S. Coast Guard. Costner plays a Coast Guard legend, who, after a tragic and traumatic accident at sea, gets assigned to teaching and takes hotshot recruit Ashton Kutcher, who had been a swim champion (and who has a similar incident in his past) under his wing as his protégée. The bulk of the movie deals with the classes, swimming, rescue scenes, and the recruits' going out at night. I thought those scenes were hilarious, especially when Kutcher tries to pick up chicks.I think the best parts of this well-done film were the rescue scenes (which were brilliantly filmed), the character development, the classroom scenes in the pool, and the interactions with Costner and Kutcher. I also loved the legend of "The Guardian. Anyone who loves the stars will love this movie.*** out of ****

zardoz-13 "Under Siege" director Andrew Davis pays tribute to the rescue swimmers of the U.S. Coast Guard in "The Guardian," toplining Kevin Costner as a legendary swimmer who trains an aggressive young turk, Ashton Kutcher, after Costner loses his entire crew during a daring high seas rescue attempt that ends in disaster. Ben Randall (Kevin Costner of "Dances with Wolves") is given the choice of either leaving the Coast Guard or taking time off to recover by training a new class of rescue swimmers in this bittersweet but heroic tale. When the action starts our hero is estranged from his long-time wife Helen Randall (Sela Ward of "The Day After Tomorrow") because they cannot spend enough quality time together. Ben is repeatedly being summoned for one more mission. After he manages to survive the debacle that wipes out his entire crew, including his best friend, Carl Billings (Omari Hardwick of "Kick Ass"), Ben bows to the stern wishes of his superior officer, Capt. William Hadley (Clancy Brown of "A Nightmare on Elm Street"), who reassigns him to the Coast Guard's 'A' training training center. For the record, the 'A' School is where recruits learn the ropes of rescue swimming. The training sequences with the swimmers carrying out strenuous underwater exercises in a pool are visually compelling stuff, especially the brick scene at the bottom of the pool. Two men are paired up per brick and they must slide it from the shallow end to the deep end. One of them must always stick with the brick while the other surfaces to replenish his air supply. Davis and his special effects team do a marvelous job of incorporating footage that they lensed in their six-foot wave tank with genuine oceanic footage. None of the actors in the rough seas scenes were in real waters; they were in the tank.Basically, after the opening disaster, "The Guardian" turns into just another boot camp movie with the seasoned veteran putting the recruits through the ringer, separating the ones who want to succeed from those who don't have the stuff for success. Of course, Randall's way differs drastically from the teachers at the 'A' School so he winds up ruffling some feathers. He encounters a record-breaking, high school swimmer, Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher of "The Butterfly Effect"), who wants to become the next Ben Randall. Gradually, the two men grow to understand each other, and Ben converts brash young Jake into a team player. Along the way, Ben learns Jake's dark secret about a car crash that killed Jake's entire swim team and alienated him from his hometown friends. Ben helps Jack out and Jake graduates at the top of his class. Despite all the grueling rigors that Ben put Jake through in the water, Jake finds time to romance a local elementary school teacher, Emily Thomas (Melissa Sagemiller of "The Clearing"), who demands that they keep everything casual because she knows that he is only temporary. She informs him early on in that his kind rotates through every 18 weeks. The problem with "The Guardian" is that Jake and Emily's romance develops less passion than the boot camp scenes. One subplot about a three-time repeat swimmer, Billy Hodge (Brian Geraghty of "The Hurt Locker"), who struggles to learn how to keep a tough swim instructor, Jack Skinner (Neal McDonough of "Walking Tall"), from drowning him in a simulated drowning exercise is good. Jake inspires Hodge's confidence after they bond during a brawl at a Navy bar. Not long afterward, Ben takes Jake back to the Navy bar and slams the pugnacious Navy squib face down into the bar. Davis and "D-Tox" scenarist Ron L. Brinkerhoff flesh out Costner's character so he can behave in a different light as he tempers his approach to Jake and Billy based on their identity. Costner gives one of his better performances because he plays a character of considerable nuance. Bonnie Bramlett of "Vanishing Point" is a revelation as bar owner Maggie McGlone who serves beer and sympathy in her saloon.The ending is tragic, but it wasn't the only ending that Davis filmed. Actually, nobody from the head of Disney to Costner himself liked the other ending, but Davis shot it anyway for protection. Amazingly enough, the focus group must have preferred the most dire ending. In the alternate ending, our crusty hero survives. Mind you, "The Guardian" is an above-average adventure, but it isn't top drawer entertainment. The rescues look convincing enough in the savage seas that swamp our heroes.