Although documentarian Frederick Wiseman was renowned for his interrogations of American institutions, his second directorial effort is equally revealing as a snapshot of a generation in transition. Filmed in a suburban Philadelphia high school, the film captures the quiet moments in the daily life of the students as well as the more dramatic confrontations between authority figures and those who resist. Especially stirring is the reading of a letter from a former student serving in Vietnam, a fate which may have loomed for some members of the graduating class.

Shot in his trademark observational style during the summer of 1970 at Fort Knox in Kentucky, Wiseman investigates the transformation of ordinary civilians into highly trained killers, most of whom will inevitably go off to serve in Southeast Asia. Closely following the soldiers' day-to-day progress—from mandatory haircuts upon arrival to hours of bayonet training—Basic Training highlights the loss of individuality at the hands of a system that demands unquestioning obedience and total conformity; those who resist or cannot keep up face punishment and humiliation.