Buffalo Soldiers
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Movie Reviews of Buffalo Soldiers
Movie Review: Unrelentingly bleak and dark tale - as it should be
Summary: 4 Stars
BUFFALO SOLDIERS didn't make it to the theaters for long because of the content and timing. This is one of the more anti-military moives out there and watching the inner dark workings of subrosa crime within the military is not what the studios deemed as appropriate when it was due for release around the time of 911. But now, a couple of years later, when we are hearing the stories of what happens in soldiers' minds when stressed (as in Vietnam, as in Iraq where the suicide rate is increasing) or when bored by the false security of a two year stint of isolation and that boredom encourages subterfuge, then this film noir makes sense, uncomfortably. Joaquin Phoenix makes the most of his role as the 'undercover agent' who pilfers goods for the black market on the German base of the US Army at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall 1989. Ed Harris is terrific as the disillusioned officer-on-the-way-up who loses everything, and Scott Glenn is evil personified as the Top Sargent who comes on base and wipes it clean - if dastardly deeds can be termed 'clean'. Elizabeth McGovern proves she can still vamp, and Anna Paquin is growing into a fine actress. So even if the story is a bit on the slight side we still have some fine actors to observe. There are shortcomings here, chief among them is the rather flatline of the speaking and the action. It is almost as though everyone concerned is zoned out (much like those who are cooking heroin to sell) - and that 'everyone' includes the director and camera crew. But it is not without its good moments - for a view at home.
Movie Review: Nice.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm going to write this in the sense that I just know that it was based on real events, and that I watched it simply for entertainment value. [...] I wouldn't be really surprised if worse things really happened in the military in the late '80s, however.
This movie has very grim, yet subtle humor in places, like the drugged-up trio in the tank running over a "beatle" and a local German market. I almost felt a tinge of guilt for laughing. What kept me glued to the screen when I saw it on Cable a few years back, was the character of Elwood and the way his moralless self carries himself and the way he handles situations. He seems to have the confidence, knowhow, and "intelligence" that the other soldiers lack. Also, I bought this DVD as the story and everything seemed so non-mainstream in spite of it having a good budget with Hollywood stars. Nice mix. You'd never guess it was an Aussie/German flick.
I can't really say that it's perfect. The ending seems rather abrupt after the big climax with the crazy sarge; It'd be more mind-blowing if he really did die afterward, as it would've made the "falling dream" seem like a premonition. Ah well, it could've been a lot worse. A few scenes would've also been expanded upon a little more.
I don't recommend it for a date movie, and not if you want to laugh your [...] off. If you want a good drama, don't have a problem with a main protagonist with next to no decency (a plus in my opinion), and like some black humor to boot, you might just enjoy this one.
Movie Review: zany military comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
Zany military comedy in the spirit of Sgt. Bilko or Gomer Pyle in which Joachin Phoenix plays an enlisted man, sprung from jail to join the Army,who considers himself an entrepreneur and pulls off an outrageous drug-making scam to enrich himself (he drives a Mercedes) and also, worse still, romances the Sargeant's daughter, played with verve by Anna Paquin. He exchanges a captured arms shipment for the basic ingredients of street drugs, which he then boils down into a more saleable form using 1000 gallons of requisitioned Mop-and-Glo as a solvent. Sargeants Ed Harris and Scott Glenn basically live up to their predecessors' comedic heights, and I guess the 'new' slapstick humour consists of exploding gas stations and exploding laboratories. Most of the gags, including the sargaents' wargames, are delivered in deadpan fashion, with kudos to Buster Keaton. Some wag might consider Anna Paquin's face to be somewhat cartoonish. Still, for the most part, the film is filled with plenty of gags and worth the rental price, and Phoenix basically succeeds in his Gomer Pyle-like role. The first 'gag' involves an enlisted man who dies after hitting his head on the corner of a table during a game of indoor football, and it is up to the Sargeant to describe to his relatives how he died while serving his country.Movie Review: CYNICAL YET AMUSING ANTI-WAR SATIRE
Summary: 4 Stars
This is no Catch 22 in terms of a caustic anti-war satire, or a No Man's Land in the moving political undertones, but it's an entertaining indie nevertheless. It's interesting to consider what it must be like for the US military for the number of years between major wars (e.g., between Vietnam and the first Gulf war.) Aside from the minor skirmish here and there, fully trained and fully armed soldiers have a lot of time on their hands, idle hands with unbridled access to weapons and drugs. Surely makes for a funny predicament for a film!
Among the actors, Phoenix has a remarkable way of playing negative characters, and yet making the audience care about his characters (e.g., in Gladiator.) He is at his charming best as the anti-hero. It seems almost that the director did NOT want this to be a comedy, and therein lie the most hilarious moments -- e.g., when Ed Harris plays against as the bumbling Colonel Berman.
Overall, a pretty watchable movie and hence a worthy rental with a pithy topical theme. Just don't expect it to establish any sort of a rooting interest.
Movie Review: refreshing
Summary: 4 Stars
The coolest movie would be a documentary on how a script like this made it to production. It is so cynical and downbeat that I really can't believe the story got anywhere near money. Just when you're about to believe that nothing but the safest kind of crap (I thought "Narc" was totally safe) gets made anymore, a movie like "Buffalo Soldiers" gets released--albeit three years after completion--to give you some hope that all is not lost in movie land...maybe.Having been a popular novel always helps and-- the promise of a good cast--I'm just guessing here... but STILL!
Alas, nobody'll rent it but the hip and the flip and some teenybopper fans of whats-his-face with the lip scar who won't make it through the whole film and will whip out "Gladiator" instead and get their rocks off to the ubiquitoous family values theme barely concealed therin (I shall see my family again!) (yawn).
Four stars for falling back on slapstick drug humour and for having the relationship "work out" (yawn again).