Die Schattenkrieger

Oddly, I found myself actually watching this show late night during its syndication runs. What confounds me is how a moderately enjoyable light fare like this can be cancelled, and yet the absolute junk of Walker: Texas Ranger and Martial Law is still in production.

In any case the most I can say of Soldier of Fortune, at least in its 1st season, is that it's a smarter and grittier A-Team. Villains do die and some members of the team actually are believable as former SpecOps operatives, particularly worthy of note is Tim Abell, who himself was an Army Ranger. Brad Johnson was born to play a military man and Melinda Clarke is stunningly gorgeous.

Jerry Bruckheimer puts his usually polished, right-wing slant on episodes. Themes like Patriotism, Self-sacrifice, and Honor are routinely addressed though not necessarily explored to any depth. At the end of a few episodes, I did feel like waving a flag.

Like I said, this is not like reading Proust, but it was enjoyable on late night syndication. After Dennis Rodman joined in Season 2, the show became truly ridiculous. By moving production to Montreal and trying to create a more "hip" crew, the creators destroyed what I thought was interesting chemistry.

Here's a good example of that tried-and-true rule. One person called the show an Intelligent A-Team, and, for the first season anyway, that was the best possible description you could get. Five HIGHLY trained and skilled mercenaries, four ex-SpecOps soldiers and the lady an ex CIA field agent/troubleshooter. Officially, they're guns-for-hire; independant SpecOps, bodyguards, and security consultants. Unofficially getting most of their money and jobs from a backdoor of the State Department, working missions where secrecy and official deniability is paramount. If they're caught, the US government doesn't even know they exist.

The first season was spectacular. The actors were all form-fitted for the roles and the action had Jerry Bruckheimer written all over it. If you wanted to see what real military special operations were like, this was as close as Hollywood can get. Then they screwed it up....

In order to spice the show up and add some color, the Powers-that-be dumped the very professional Mark Sheppard and Real Andrews and replaced them with conciderably less professional but more colorful Eigenberg as a mouthy ex-DEA agent and Dennis Rodman as an independant freelancer who occasionally works with the Team (Rodmans schedule prevented him from committing full-time to the show). Within two months the show went from an intelligent A-Team to an A-Team Wannabe. The quality of the show dropped rapidly and so did the number of watchers. It wasn't long until the show was finally cancelled altogether. As it was, Soldier Of Fortune was great. If they hadn't tried improving it, it could've lasted a good five years more.

Would love to know where to go to let the "Powers that be" know that many would be interested in DVD sets of this show, anyone know if there is a site to show interest? Even looked on networks like TNT and Spike to see if they would air the show. This show was engaging and fun. Characters you could stay with. But agree with other reviews. Season 2 cuts and reshaping of team hurt the series. As a covert team, Dennis Rodman is hard to hide. I have seen other UPN shows headed to DVD, would love to see this one. There is a DVD of season 1 finale but that is not enough. Anyone who like action/adventure shows would love this. When there is a problem regular government finds to hard/embarrassing, etc., they turn to SOF,INC

I'm sorry that it isn't on DVD in Belgium or I would have bought all the seasons. I loved te series and my friends too. If they ever decide to take it out on DVD, don't' forget Belgium, I think it would sell fantastic. I regret it that it was over and there were no more episodes. In Belgium it is only been showed on TV once. Think about us adrenaline junks. We want more and on DVD with Dutch subtitles. I never heard of Tim Abell before but his acting was first class also for the others like Brad Johnson and like a lot of viewers of this series I was amazed by Dennis Rodman. I think it was his best performance until then. In mean while I've seen more pictures with him and there all funny. Greatings from across the ocean.

I've always been an 'A-Team' fan, and when I saw 'SoF Inc.' I thought it was the 'A-Team' for the 90's. Well, it was. Then they changed it way too much with the second season and it just wasn't the same anymore. I hope that the guy responsible for that never lives it down.

I hope that someday a network is created just for all action movies and TV shows. 'SoF Inc.' would be a perfect addition. If you like action shows and movies and you haven't seen this one, you should try to find it if it ever makes it to home video. The first season is worth it, even if only for the writing. The second season was okay but the chemistry just wasn't there anymore.