The Soldier

source: The Soldier

Evil Russians steal some nukes, plant them in an oil field, and threaten to detonate them, thereby contaminating a large part of the world's oil supply. For some unexplained reason, they are anti-Israel bigots who want to move the Israelis off the West Bank. Sadly, The President (that's actually his credited character name) (Prince) is all too willing to comply. But there's one more ace up the USA's sleeve: The Soldier (Wahl). He's a highly-trained agent who controls a super-secretive and elite unit, and he's working with the Israelis to save the world. This movie has a killer opening sequence that really pulls you in. Its themes of terrorism and anti-Semitism (even from the highest levels of government) are, disturbingly, quite relevant and even prescient for today. The Soldier, for all it's 80's-style anti-commie plot threads (not that those are a bad thing in any way), was ahead of its time. Plus it has an unbeatable combination of Ken Wahl and Steve James fighting the baddies. So for that alone The Soldier is worth seeking out. Of course, there is some top-notch stuntwork as well. The ski chase sequence is a movie highlight, and director Glickenhaus must have loved it so much, he also included it in his movie Shakedown. Sam Elliott is watching it in the movie theater. It's truly Glickenhaus on Glickenhaus. And it's top-notch Glickenhaus. He's only directed eight movies, and out of those, The Soldier stands out. He's adept at action sequences, as amply proved here. Wahl is cool, and he's as cool here as we've ever seen him. He should have done more projects like this. His sweaters are very stylish and we liked his attitude. As for Klaus Kinski, one of the most underrated actors of all time, he does about a five minute cameo and has no spoken dialogue. Hmmmm...talk about a paycheck role. The Soldier could have been improved if Kinski was the main bad guy and Wahl had to face off against him. That would have been awesome. Chalk that up to a missed opportunity. Loaded with three of the best things you can ask for in a movie like this: top-quality stunts, over-the-top action violence and 80's atmosphere, these elements overcome some plot weaknesses. Additionally, the soundtrack by Tangerine Dream rules. You should definitely enlist The Soldier into your collection. For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

"The Soldier" is a politically loaded, extravagant action-thriller that is very much a product of the Cold War era. Ken Wahl of 'Wiseguy' fame (whatever happened to him?) stars as the title character, a coldly efficient anti-terrorism expert with a squad of four (played by Joaquim de Almeida ("Clear and Present Danger"), Peter Hooten ("The Inglorious Bastards"), cooler than cool Steve James (the "American Ninja" series), and Alexander Spencer). They're an "outside the grid" team that report straight to the director of the C.I.A., and they're called into action when KGB agents, posing as terrorists, steal a nuclear bomb and plant it in a Saudi Arabian oil field, threatening to detonate it. They want Israel to withdraw from the West Bank of Jordan, but didn't count on the Wiseguy factor. You have to turn your brain off a bit watching this gleefully over the top escapism, while it goes and pushes your buttons with zeal. The plot (by director James Glickenhaus, who was following his memorable revenge saga "The Exterminator" at the time) is muddled, but it allows for some extremely impressive set pieces, which of course is what we're really watching this for. You may find some of this material totally implausible, but it's undeniably exciting. One highlight is Wahl escaping down a mountain on skis and turning around in the air to mow down his pursuer. Glickenhaus wastes absolutely no time in amusing the viewer, with Wahl and his comrades baiting a terrorist group into the open so the cretins can get annihilated. The globe trotting aspect is also highly appreciated. Pacing is excellent and those electronic score geniuses Tangerine Dream do wonders with the music. Wahl doesn't have to really DO much with his hero; all we need to know and see is that the guy defines the word "badass". James is as charismatic as ever. The late Canadian beauty Alberta Watson ("The Sweet Hereafter") is a sexy Mossad agent and romantic interest for Wahl. William Prince ("The Gauntlet") is the U.S. President, Jeremiah Sullivan ('The Adams Chronicles') the Russian villain. Buffs will enjoy spotting familiar faces in small roles: Zeljko Ivanek ("Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"), Jeffrey Jones ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), Ned Eisenberg ("The Burning"), Rebecca Schull ('Wings'), and Tom Wright ("Marked for Death"). However, the legendary Klaus Kinski ("Aguirre, the Wrath of God") is utterly wasted in a VERY brief cameo. Provided you don't think about it too much, "The Soldier" shows undemanding action fans a pretty good time. Seven out of 10.

I seriously have to stop making up my own story lines before seeing the actual movies! Too often it happens that see an enticing poster/cover image and title and then subsequently begin to draw my own story concept. Like in the case of "(Code Name: )The Soldier"… With a title like that, and the dark silhouette of a man with a massive gun on the VHS cover, I quickly became convinced that this film was about a secretly developed military weapon – presumably an indestructible cyborg of some sort – that would singlehandedly exterminate an entire army of bad guys. Disappointment all around when it turns out the soldier is, in fact, just an ordinary human being without any special powers or superhuman strengths. He's simply a CIA-agent who gets appointed the toughest and riskiest jobs. Other than that, "The Soldier" pretty much lives up to all expectations and contemporary 80's clichés. This is a typical US movie released during the peak of the Cold War era, so basically it means that evil and stereotypically hideous Russian bastards are developing fiendish plans to undermine the prosperity of the poor and peaceful American citizens. Russian terrorists with bazookas manage to steal a significant amount of plutonium and threaten to destroy 50% of the world's oil supply, unless the Israelis retire from the West Bank. Yes that does sound like a lot of political gibberish, but don't let this scare you off! In between all the politic nonsense and anti-communistic propaganda, there are plentiful of wild explosions, violent gunfights, close range executions and cheesy dialogs. Whilst allegedly negotiating with the Israelis, the American President assigns the head of the CIA to do whatever possible to prevent the loss of oil. "The Soldier" stands for half-decent and brainless entertainment, even though James Glickenhaus' screenplay sometimes tries to be a little bit too ambitious and intelligent. The film is actually very incoherent and too often jumps from scene to scene without making sense. Glickenhaus puts a lot of effort in the action sequences (like the skiing chase) and detailed accuracy in some cool gimmick sequences (like the construction of a light bulb bomb), but the overall storyline is pretty dumb. Glickenhaus' previous film "The Exterminator", about an embittered Vietnam veteran going on a vigilante rampage is much more shocking and socially confronting. Oh, and Klaus Kinski's role is frustratingly petite! It's hardly even a cameo.

yes the ski Chase is just to good i have been in st anton where it is shot and been to the nice pub crazy kangaroo where they ski through i would love to have this movie in my collection. but it seems difficult to get anywhere so if anybody know where to get it on DVD i would be grateful. i think that 10 lines off text is difficult to write . but i try. but there is several good scenes in this movie other than the ski chase , i think to remember a good car chase to, and lots off other stuff cold be a bond movie.- its kind off build the same way it just doesn't have all the cull stuff as a bond movie has. what else to write i give up soon to write a comment 5 lines should be enough to keep out junk . this way you push me to write junk. Peder Denmark

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.

First of all.. I co-owned a video store. There was this young teen who would only rent this movie. Over and over and over.. ----- This is surely in my top 5 GREAT movies to watch! This material deserves a real Film-DVD or Film-Blue Ray release. IMHO! I saw it when it first came out. It was every bit as shocking as Glickenhaus's other genre movies.. if not more so. I'm also sure its release has been hurt by how accurate it must have been. ------ The folks that give this movie a bad or low rating.. Well they need to put this movie into context. Unless you were at least 20 years old in 1980.. NONE of this movie will make much sense. Many of the "In" jokes or cold war antics will not be fully understood. Yes we were actually AT WAR with the Russians. Yes a whole lot of goofy stuff happened back then. On both sides of the wall. At the time this movie came out.. This movie made it a point that America was not a super power anymore. We had lost the ability to field troops. Post Vietnam era really took its toll on the Military. We couldn't even launch helicopters to rescue our hostages in Iran. Poorly trained.. Poorly armed.. We were a toothless lion (with nukes) in 1982. Also you need to understand that SCENARIOS such as presented in this picture were actually "Thought about" back then. What if THEY do this? Is there anything WE can do? People forget that under Regan.. America nearly launched WWIII nukes more than 6 times! The scene where the American President orders a first strike against Israel. Then the next scene is the Israeli (guy in charge) being told the strike is coming. Yes it would surely have gone like that. So much for secrets right? To that end.. I'm sure there were rouge "Elite" units active back then. Folks that had the "Keys" and kept up the "Code books" to gain access. There is probably more truth in this movie than any TOM CLANCY book. Yea.. really. PS: From what I understand Glickenhaus is "Not a nice man". His production company has hurt young film makers. (Watch out)

First of all, everybody's acting sucks. Considering the cast includes personal favorites like Jeffrey Jones, Ken Wahl, and Zeljko Ivanek, this says a lot. The plot is kind of like a bad acid trip, maybe a mescaline letdown - hard to tell. Everybody moves like they're underwater, and it's completely incomprehensible. The ski sequence was the best of the scenes, which frankly isn't saying a heck of a lot. I wept for Ivanek and Jones, caught like deer in headlights. Bet that ABC Movie-of-the-Week that they turned down to do this is looking like Bergman about now.

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.

Probably the best Glickenhaus film, great action sequences, over the top yes, but a lot of fun. Especially the beginning and the plutonium theft scenes. The only downsides are the film drags slightly in the middle and Klaus Kinski has a minuscule role. Only gets one line I think. No great acting performances but action speaks louder than words in these sort of films and there is plenty. A ninja sequence with Steve James is a bit wasted as this angle could have been used more throughout the film i think, maybe in the assault on the missile base? Apart from those minor points it is overall a very good and underrated film. Certainly worth watching.