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Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A wonderful little seen gem
Review: Buffalo Soldiers truly is one of the best war comedies ever made. It ranks right up there with M.A.S.H. and Catch-22. Like Catch-22, the film is very profound and funny at the same time. This is probably Phoenix's best performances to date. Just a solid fun film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: HIGHlarious!
Review: Damn this movie is funny. I watched it very drunk last night on a movie channel at a buddies house. The part where the three guys drive that tank all doped up is HIGHlarious! You should buy the movie just for that. For some reason this movie kinda reminds me of Fightclub with some of the camera stuff (or I'm just making this up cause I was really drunk last night....). But anyways, it's a hilarious movie with some good plot. Buy it....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Original...Unlike anything Ive seen!
Review: Forget the tagline, "Steal All That You Can", which makes BUFFALO SOLDIERS seem like every other heist movie in the last ten years. It is not that movie! As a matter of fact it's hardly even a heist movie at all (even though that's part of it). It is instead dark, funny, gripping, and more importantly, more original than any movie Ive seen in quite some time.

As soon as the movie began I knew I was in for a treat but by the time the movie reached its climax - complete with drugged up US soldiers battling one another to the death - I knew I was watching something classic. Ive liked everything director Gregor Jordan has layed his hands on (TWO HANDS and NED KELLY, both with Heath Ledger) but this is easily his best work and Joaquin Phoenix (as he did in GLADIATOR and SIGNS) delivers a flawless performance.

If you're in the mood for something highly entertaining and entirely different I recommend trying BUFFALO SOLDIERS. I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Got to see this movie again.
Review: Gregor Jordan's "Buffalo Soldiers" was simply brilliant and real. Originally to be released in 2001, but postponed after 9/11 this movie presents both satirically and factually the corrupt military in US Army. Sure not all military personel
are like this, but many of them especially going up the higher
rank food chain know how to exploit and abuse their power
which is what the movie shows.

Joaquin Phoenix (in his best performance may be)plays Ray Elwood,
an army guy who gets way over his head when he and his army buddies come across top military missile weapons and then tries
to sell them to his drug dealing friends.

Everything's cool until the corrupt and psychotic Sgt. Lee (Scott Glenn) catches wind of whats going and then sends in his
Army goons to steal Ellwood's stuff, he then proceeds to make
Ellwood's life a living hell while Ellwood is now targeted
for death if he doesnt have the merchandise to sell by his
drug dealing friends.


Ellwood hatches a scheme to tick of Sgt. Lee by investigating
his personal files then dating his daughter who knows all too
well about her maniacal father.

When these two guys collide , sparks will fly and eventually
at the end of the movie you see that military isnt quite, the
skeaky clean, moral image they portray to be in those propaganda "all you can be" commercials.

Ed Harris is also great as Col. Berman, a col. whose really
not too smart but who would rather be growing a wine vineyard.

Buffalo Soldiers is definitely worth seeing on all accounts, though some people will call it un-american, even those people
will have a time denying what actually happens inside the
military through this movie.

It seems that guys like Sgt. Lee are very real in the military
and thats what really is scar

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this is a hilarious movie
Review: I didn't know anything about this movie but I realized Anna Paquin and Ed Harris were in it so I gave it a try and i'm glad I did. This is one of those movies that is funny but the humor is dark and the movie is very strange. I do reccomend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: London Calling
Review: I just saw this movie at a theater in London and I heard that they are not widely releasing it in the states yet because of the situation in Iraq. All I have to say is thank God I am in London because this is one of the year's best films!! Joaquin Phoenix gives a great performance as a military screw-up and Ed Harris does an excellent job portraying the dumbest military leader ever. Anna Paquin and Scott Glenn give strong performances as well, and the script for this movie is great. If you love black comedies, and laughed at films like Very Bad Things, this is definately a movie for you. After a summer filled with terrible blockbusters like Hulk, it is nice to see a good old flick about soldiers on heroin that blow stuff up and sell Mop-N-Glow on the black market. However, I have a feeling that this film may be the next Boondock Saints, in terms of not getting the recognition that it deserves. It still gets an A+ in my book though.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fenix at his Best...
Review: I recently rented this film from a recomendation of a friend. This film is extreamly well done, The story is amusing, acting is superb and it has dark comedy written all over it. The film does have its sad parts here and there but overall is a great comedy. I really enjoyed this Military comedy(or is it?)and the dvd is even great.

Put simply........ You gotta see Buffalo Soldiers...

4 out of 5

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Suprisingly funny!
Review: I usually don't like soldier or war films but this time I must admit that this movie is great..It is not only a soldier film..It made me both laugh and think at the same time.It's a comedy with full of reality.I strongly advice this film..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Surprisingly good!
Review: I was actually quite surprised by this black comedy. It's really much more sympathetic and amusing than I expected, though it has its' dark moments too. I would suggest that those viewing it not take things too seriously and don't go into it thinking this is going to be a documentary about real life in the military--its' not that kind of movie. As the bonus material indicates, the point of the movie is that it was supposed to take place in 1989, the end of the Cold War, when for a short period it was believed that this was a good thing that was happening and that it might be the end of wars. (The cynical among us knew better, of course, and can scoff at such misconception now.) The result is that without a real war, some will create their own, out of boredom or whatever.

Anyway, all that said, this movie worked for me. As usual, actor Joaquin Phoenix takes an unethical, uncaring opportunist and gives the audience permission to like him and root for him, even though he's not a traditional good guy. His character, Ray Ellwood, has just the right mix of charming wit and inevitable screw up. This is a character that the audience could have just written off as an idiot and a bad guy without the nuances and layers Phoenix brought (and always brings) to his roles.

I liked the German scenery, thought the music was great, loved the mix of comedy and tenseness.

There's a couple of great twists at the end of the film too. The movie definitly exceeded my expectations.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Buffalo Soldier
Review: I'm a media studies graduate student and an ex soldier myself. What's interesting is that others have called this film comedy and satirical, which it is. Certain truths are just that, satirical and comical. Only because it is a contradiction to the signification process of defining a soldier. That is, the ideological construction of "military" and "soldier". Bravo to Robert O'Connor and Eric Weiss for figuring out a method of capturing this contradictory world. It's the scene by scene, sequential action that tells all on the U.S Military. Soldiers peddling drugs ( I knew at least 3 of them per unit), black market (selling liquor rations to the locals in Korea was equal to having a second job for many), "sham" time (the guys playing football because that's all there is to do), cover ups (throw the guy out the window and get the spin doctors on the incident ASAP), insecure and dopey higher ups, supply personnel/MP's and anyone who can, abusing their jobs, drugs-drugs-and more drugs, everyone's looking to cash in or get ahead, this story captured that so well. What this film did was pull no punches. Every single soldier, now or then, can honestly say, "oh, I know some guys like that." Or, they can say, "yeah, the Army covers stuff up just like that." David O' Russell, attempted to capture some of the "reality" based military existence in Three Kings, but this film far exceeds his depiction. And, unfortunately, Buffalo Soldiers didn't get the discussion and attention it should have gotten. I know, it's a hard truth for the American public to accept. But unless you've been there.... But the bright light ahead is that, when it's time to pull it together, and get serious, soldiers can do that better than any individual on the face of this planet. Afterwall, it's what we're trained to do. But when there's nothing going on, unfortunately Buffalo Soldiers does a good job of depicting what's really going on. Even down to the guys getting wasted in the M1 tank (or some other FA tank), crushing cars, rolling over gas tanks and finding a way to haphazardly complete the mission, and getting the credit for completion when it's all over. My only problem with the film was the ending. But in a satrical depiction I guess it works. Basically, it's saying, if you can escape with your life, then you can escape conviction and go on with business as usual. That's true too. So I guess the film does get 5 stars!


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