Buffalo Soldiers

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.

I was in the Army in the same time period and almost the exact same area where this film was portrayed, in a little town called Neu Ulm, Germany. I can promise you, this film is not over the top and it's not necessarily taking any artistic license.Not that every soldier was like Elwood and the rest of them. There were plenty of people who were very strait laced and did their job profesionally. But there were also plenty of people just like the ones in this film, and all of this stuff and worse did take place in the real US Army in this period. In fact I knew a guy who was eerily like Joachim Phoenixes character in this movie. He even looked kind of like him.I'm sure it's all quite well documented, I know there were plenty of articles in Stars and Stripes and especially in the German media. Look it up online if you don't believe it. There were shootings on base, smuggling and theft rings, drug rings. Horrible racial incidents. Corruption. Riots between different Army units. Just like in the movie there were horrible "training" accidents in which numerous G.I.'s were injured and killed. Routinely. Thats just a fact of military life.In reading some of the other reviews, I have to wonder. Who do you think your military is? A bunch of saints? A bunch of geniuses? Middle of the road high school graduates, tasked to do very difficult jobs under very trying circumstances (like staying up for days on end which the DOD seemed to have a fetish for making people do) using Extremely dangerous equipment (like tanks!)Sometimes these kids rose to the occasion, sometimes they cracked under the strain and / or succumbed to temptation. It's just human nature.Watch this entertaining film but only if you can handle the truth.

A film about what the late 1980's Military was like. I'm sure a lot of viewers will think it's made up, but things such as the "tank incident" are taken directly from the news headlines of the era. It's true, few wanted to serve in the US Military in the 70's and then again in the late 80's after Reagan left office. Lots of drugs. (Things that left the system quickly because of drug tests that only looked for marijuana. Lots of Acid, and Speed, and some Heroin.) Lots of guys who had to either go to jail or serve several years in the Army.Nobody wanted to fight for a losing US Military. They were looked at as losers by most young people then, and then somewhat new All Volunteer Army only attracted the naïve and geeky. It's a period piece, and while the main story is fictional, and it's a tad over-blown because, hey, it's a movie after-all, it's fairly close to reality at the time. Anyone who says otherwise, WASN'T THERE, or was an naïve geek that was oblivious to what was obvious!

I really think this movie is hilarious, especially the way all those soldiers are so casually killed (by each other) on their military base in peace times. The runaway tank through the town driven by a crew high on heroin is utterly hilarious as it destroys market places, flattens a Volkswagen Beetle, and plows down a row of gas station pumps and detonates the place killing the crew of a military truck convoy, and the tank crew is confused by the orange flames showing up in their video surveillance screens but otherwise oblivious of the appalling destruction going on and engulfing the tank. All our (anti-)hero sees when he spies the two charred bodies and the military trucks is the opportunity for plunder and they find the trucks filled with about five million dollars worth of weapons which they later trade to a weapons dealer for 30 pounds of opium which they later try to convert to heroin, only to have their entire factory blow up when it is attacked by undercover agents. Side splitting stuff.

I had never heard of this movie until it was recommended to me by somebody who was stationed in my unit in Germany. My basic reason for purchasing the movie was to see recent pictures of where I was stationed -- Siegelsbach Army Depot. I was a "Tower Rat" there with the 556th Military Police Co.I found the movie to be a caracature of military life, and I found many of the situations a bit hard to believe, but there is such a thing as artistic license. Other reviewers have said that there is a "dark theme" to the movie, and I agree. HOWEVER, both my wife and I found the movie to be entertaining. This is not a movie for everybody, but I would recommend it especially for people who were stationed with the U S Army in Europe at any time during the past 30 years. You know, immediately after seeing this movie, I sent an e-mail to a friend in Cleveland and told him that he absolutely MUST see this movie.

Brilliant film with Joaquin Phoenix on top form as a corrupt army quartermaster and the ensuing chaos upon the arrival of a new sergeant. Set in West Germany during the early 1980's the film is an amalgam of various incidents on an army site as described to the author, the prevailing notion of utter boredom resulting in drug taking, black marketeering and murder. Joaquin's laid back acting underplays the amorality of his character, dope dealing and selling army supplies to local criminals. He is Sergeant Bilko on steroids as he attempts to sell a huge cache of guns and missiles, worth millions of dollars. This is when Scott Glenn's tough as nails Master Sergeant arrives and cottons on to what is happening.There are some stand out moments in the movie, notably the stoned out tank crew who shoot up on heroin and heaven only knows what else, and proceed to crush an October Fest celebration in a small German town. The acting by the spaced out commander is hysterically funny, brilliant moment. At the end of the film the drugged out soldiers in a basement drugs laboratory is awesome, great cinematography and a real atmosphere of narcotic fumes. This is when boiling point is reached with the explosive finale.In the fine tradition of war comedies like Dr Strangelove, MASH and Catch 22, Buffalo Soliders succeeds admirably in sending up the crushing tedium of men at arms, with some marvellous set pieces. There is a lack of films like this with black anarchic comedy, instead we are presented serious studies which have a similair homogeneity. Tyrants always fear the satirist.

This is a good film but like all military films I think think you both appreciate it more while ignoring the flaws if you've had any military service yourself. How credible is the story? I'm not sure, possibly not very in places, but the film moves along at steady pace such that there's no time to ponder such things and spoil the film. Not a truly great film but a good film and worth watching more than once.

good story line. really good watch

nil

Ok