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.
Review of The Soldier
