The Soldier (1982)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

People are voting emotionally.

Don't Believe the Hype

Absolutely brilliant

The people who have been trashing this film are missing the point. Of course the film's premise is implausible, many of the scenes are improbable to the point of being ridiculous, and some of James Glickenhuas' political views may be offensive to some, but as far as I'm concerned, The Soldier is more entertaining than all the 007 movies combined. This is a very offbeat, unusual film that requires a complete suspension of disbelief in order to watch from start to finish, but it's definitely worth watching.Ken Wahl was an interesting choice for The Soldier. I'm surprised that Robert Ginty wasn't offered the role considering that Glickenhaus and Ginty enjoyed great success with The Exterminator less than two years prior. Still, Wahl turns in a good job, although the brief appearance of Klaus Kinski as Dracha is one of the highlights of the film.James Glickenhaus had a good run in the 1980s (The Exterminator, The Soldier, The Protector, Shakedown) and offered an interesting alternative to all the lousy mainstream movies of that decade. This is one cynical, jaded New Yorker who wishes Glickenhaus would return to film-making and give us another interesting film like The Soldier.

I was nearly added as an extra on this film but I passed when asked. Instead my friends, who made the cut, had to spend 2-3 days walking in and out of doors to a cable-car/tram at the Kapall in St Anton to be part of the film. It was really boring according to them, but they managed to rub shoulders with Mr Wahl and the famous Mr Kinski.We all worked as tour-guides for a Swedish travel agency that winter and we had been asked when visiting the Krazy Kangaroh*, also included in the film, if we wanted to be part of the film as extras. As a matter of fact I said no to be a part of the film and but my friends, who accepted, had to stand inside being filmed and missed the chance to ski in glorious sun and skiing conditions. We had 6-8 feet's of snow that winter and lot's of powder.Anyway, I ended up seeing the film later that year when I happened to stumble upon the film at a small cinema in Paris, France. It was of course dubbed to french with no subtitles but I really enjoyed the film scenes from St Anton and the stone-faced Mr Kinski. But I really couldn't make out what the film was about...! */ There is a scene in the film when the hero is doing a 360 over a ski jump and shooting bad guys at the same time. He then lands on restaurant tables and that scene is from KK. KK's owner, Gunnar Munthe, is standing in the audience watching in amazement.

Although this is a cold war thriller,its topical today because the plot was to make it look like terrorists were behind this theft of nuclear material used to plant a bomb in Saudi oil fields and thus make the wests oil supply worthless.The acting was poor save for the fine turn by Alberta Watson as a Mossad agent.Also notable was a very brief bar room scene showing a young George Strait playing in the background.Believe me,that scene was better then the whole retched"Pure Country"movie.Klaus Kinski is also very cold in his brief apperance. Some parts are silly,but this is a movie after all.Don't expect the world,and you'll get a treat.

I saw THE SOLDIER in the theater, on HBO or Movie Channel (I can't remember which), and in college. Now, I was a freshman at a military college, and they showed this one weekend. Everybody cheered during the title sequence, when words like "DEMOCRACY" and pictures of B-52s were shown, and booed for "COMMUNIST" and pictures of Soviet leaders. Yes, it was the height of the Cold War, and we were training to fight the Soviet Menace, the Evil Empire, the Reds. And we all loved the opening scene in Philadelphia, when the limo, targeted by the terrorists, turns out to be bait to draw the bad guys into the open, so Ken Wahl and his team can hose them with their weapons. But, let's face it, the dialogue was bad, and Ken Wahl has two acting modes--steely resolve and steely anger. But it was a fun little movie in which the good guys will, the bad guys lose, and a Porche gets destroyed jumping the Berlin Wall! It's James Bond with naked breasts and more firepower. And, of course, the "Politically Correct" crowd hates it. But THE SOLDIER, like RED DAWN and THE FINAL OPTION, are definitely products of the Cold War. We, the US and NATO, are good. We stand for freedom, democracy, and peace. They, the Soviets and their minions, stood for oppression, conquest, and war. Of course, we are going to win in these films. Did they ever make a movie about WW2 in which the Nazis won? It seems that most people will try to quickly forget the past, even if that past is less that 20 years earlier. Just enjoy films like these for what they are, movies from an earlier era. Just remember, "SKY BLUE ICE DAWN!"