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Buffalo Soldiers | Year: 2001 Directed: - Gregor Jordan Actors/Actresses: - Joaquin Phoenix - Ed Harris - Anna Paquin "When there's peace, the war-like man attacks himself" BUFFALO SOLDIERS is a movie adaptation of Robert O'Connor's popular novel about a group of young U.S. soldiers at the Theodore Roosevelt U.S. Army Base in Stuttgart, West Germany in October 1989. Military clerk Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) is the mastermind of the operation. Along with his GI pals he deals drugs, steals supplies, and has a thriving black-market business. But his schemes begin to unravel when Sergeant Lee (Scott Glenn) decides to investigate Elwood's activities. And to make matters worse, Elwood pursues Lee's daughter without his permission. While viewing this DVD I was constantly confused about the intention of this film. Is it a comedy or a drama? Did the directors want their audience to walk away with a serious impression or laugh all the way through to the credits? Unfortunately this film couldn't make up its mind. Some of the scenes contained screwball comedy elements reminiscent of classic military movies such as STRIPS (i.e., stoned soldiers causing havoc by running the tank though the town). Other scenes attempted to portray the heartfelt emotions of the characters (i.e., Ed Harris coming to grips with the end of his military career). But the two polar opposites never successfully united to create a good movie. I read all the press about this film when it was suppressed shortly after 9/11/01. But now after finally being able to watch it I can't believe that anybody had a problem with it. Clearly this is an instance of being hypersensitive. Why is this film controversial? It's surely not the first film to portray soldiers who don't follow protocol. What's more, it's set during 1989 - 15 years ago. In short, BUFFALO SOLDIERS simply didn't work for me. There were too many frayed loose ends at the end that detracted from the whole. It is surely unfortunate that wonderful actor abilities such as Ed Harris and Scott Glenn were wasted in this dismal film. CYNICAL YET AMUSING ANTI-WAR SATIRE 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. classic stuff Buffalo soldiers shoulda been in theaters but bob and harvey weinstein screwed the pooch again and sent it direct to dvd. They wussied out because of the war just starting,and didnt want to hurt the cash flow.But now the same two guys proudly bring you fahrenheit 9/11.The only people who might be offended by this great movie are the ones who think stuff like that would Never happen.DONT MISS THIS EXCELLENT GEM. Buy Buffalo Soldiers at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Buffalo Soldiers Search with the Priority Search Engine on Buffalo Soldiers This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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