Army Go Home!

Without an enemy to fight, an army will fight itself or find its own enemies. In the tradition of "Sergeant Bilko" (the Phil Silvers TV show, not Steve Martin's ghastly remake) "Buffalo Soldiers" shows what happens when soldiers with nothing to do but wait for war begin to think for themselves and exploit the system.

In place of Bilko's poker games and lottery scams, Ray Elwood opts for black marketeering, drug dealing and gun running. However, the characters portrayed by Phil Silvers and Joaquin Phoenix respectively do have a lot in common.

The tone of "Buffalo Soldiers" is much darker than that of "Sergeant Bilko", but the film and TV series share the same absurd yet plausible vision. There are no chimpanzee conscripts like Private Harry Speakup in this movie, but there ARE characters who have clearly risen well above the level of their own incompetence. Ed Harris' Colonel Berman is a pathetic example of the uniformed, time-served bureaucrat, someone you could almost feel sorry for until you realise that one day he may have to lead men into combat.

Counterbalancing the Bilko-esquire vibe created by Elwood's wheeler-dealing is his nemesis, Scott Glenn's steely Sergeant Lee. Glenn clearly relishes his role in this movie and is very convincing as the model soldier with a true heart of darkness.

Joaquin Phoenix gives Elwood an understated charisma as he leads his troops from behind, rarely lifting the lid on the fear and frustration that simmers within him as the events he sets in motion go out of control.

To say that this film is anti-military is unfair as it contains portrayals of decent, honest and professional soldiers as well as the scammers, pimps and dopeheads that the plot focuses on. It is a film about human beings (with all their failings) in uniform, not soldiers. "Buffalo Soldiers" is anti-complacency, anti-indoctrination and anti-corruption, which is probably why its release was postponed after the September 11th terrorist outrage of 2001. In the light of recent despicable acts by a small group of US soldiers in Iraq's Abu Graib prison, this film seems eerily prescient. Without an enemy to fight in open combat, what happens to the aggression and contempt for that enemy that military training fosters?

Ignore the negative comments and give this under-rated film a chance. It was titled "Army Go Home" in Germany, where the film is set, echoing the feelings of German citizens who lived near foreign troops sent to defend them against Communism. The Beetle-crushing sequence (an absurdly comic high point of the film) is based on actual incidents involving bored, intoxicated British and American troops on manoeuvres, armed to the teeth and waiting for a war that never came.

It's difficult to sum Buffalo Soldiers up. On one hand you have the comedy aspect, particularly from Ed Harris, on another you have the romance, from Anna Paquin, and then you have the violence...from just about everybody. The story is set in Germany, 1989, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is based on a unit of the US army called the Buffalo infantry (Or something) who aren't exactly above board and legal with what they get up to. Truth is this movie really isn't to do with army combat, it's to do with the corruption of the vast majority of the soldiers who'll do anything to make a buck, such as drugs and weapons.

Dark comedy in many places, it seems many have taken great offence to Hollywood's portrayal of their 'heroes' - for goodness' sake don't take it so seriously. I'm jewish and don't care when I see my religion mocked on screen. So why should anyone be offended by this?

It's funny in places, dramatic in places, dark in places and risque. But what it is is a good movie which *will* entertain.

I was in the Army stationed in Germany from 1986 through 1989 and there was a day that we called "Black Sunday" when several people on our post were discovered to have a drug ring going on. The people implicated and taken away by MPs that day included several officers. My post was known for being able to get everything from hooker to heroin ON POST! Our Sgt,. Major walked around with an ax handle tethered to his wrist because he had been jumped at night so many times! So this movie is not a joke and is very close to the truth. There was even a second lieutenant that was murdered by putting him in a wall locker and pushing it out of a third story window. There was also times when you could not walk past some buildings or windows if you were white or black depending on which window and what color you were because of racial tensions, sometimes you might be hit by a beer bottle by someone of the opposite color. This movie very closely depicts what it was like vbeing a soldier in the US Army staioned in West Germany at the end of the cold war. Hooah!

Well, in reality, I suspect the story behind Buffalo Soldiers has picked up a bit of embellishment along the way from modern folklore to big screen, but that's hardly surprising. What is surprising is that such a basic story can be turned into such a funny film. It's not so much ha-ha funny as it is just ironic funny. Indeed, the story about one woman screaming protests about the so-called anti-American sentiment of the film and flinging a bottle at the screen tells me that some people still expect their comedy to be spoonfed to them.

If anything, this film reads like a celebration of the things that the citizens of Western societies take for granted. With soldiers situated far from home, and having nothing better to do than play games of indoor gridiron at times, it's a small wonder that soldiers turn to drug abuse or other such illegal activity in order to stave off boredom. Stir craziness is a problem in any army during peacetime, although one can't help but wonder if we're not being shown a rather extreme example here.

The basis of this black comedy is in the solid performances of the principal cast. Joaquin Phoenix shows once again that he has a great talent, while Ed Harris and Scott Glenn do an admirable job of playing the straight arrows. But it is another moderated little-girl-lost type of performance from the ever-wonderful Anna Paquin that at least kept this viewer engaged. This woman could make a ninety minute film in which she reads the telephone book, and I'd probably enjoy it.

The corruption shown in this film is hardly surprising, given how little soldiers seem to be paid in comparison to the stress they endure. If there is indeed any truth to the depicitions of drug abuse, then it's not surprising anymore that employers are currently employing random drug testing. Dr. Strangelove couldn't get more spot-on about how the human element of the military is generally its undoing. After one memorable sequence involving drugged tank drivers, I'll never be able to catch sight of an army vehicle without getting the urge to run away, screaming.

I gave Buffalo Soldiers an eight out of ten. Under normal circumstances, I would have given it a seven, but it has Anna Paquin in it, and any film with Anna Paquin in it can earn a bonus point. If you like your comedy without obvious prompts of when you're meant to laugh, then you can't go wrong with Buffalo Soldiers.

The movie deals with an US corporal (Joaquin Phoenix) whose slogan is ¨steal all that you can steal¨ . He has moneymaking plans for every occasion in the United States headquarter located in Germany during George Bush Sr time . His superior Colonel (Ed Harris) looks the other way until a new and veteran sergeant (Scott Glenn) turns up , but the corporal falls in love with his daughter (Anna Paquin) and the sergeant seeks vengeance .

The film is a ferocious and hilarious military critical , it's an anti-army and anti-war/protest black-comedy which follows exploits of a woolly and wild US unit ; being based on the 1993 novel by Robert O'Connor . Ironical recycling of the classic 1950s Television comedy series which was interpreted by Phil Silvers and ¨Sgt. Bilko¨ film by Jonathan Lynn with Steve Martin . Movie characters are utterly negatives , they are mean , greedy , villains or nuts and aren't politically corrects . Spectacular images when appear the tanks , these American tanks featured in the film are actually modified German L1 Leopards . The forest where the tank drives through was planted just for this movie on a green field in front of a real forest , though he tanks were not allowed to drive through the real forest .

Here Joaquin Phoenix plays a top-notch farceur and he is assembled by a perfect support casting such as Leon , Harris , Gabriel Mann , Dean Stockwell and Elizabeth McGovern . The picture obtained moderated success , giving a new meaning on the word 'irreverence' and really fierce criticism to Army institution . None relation to the film with same title ¨Buffalo soldiers¨ (1997) directed by Charles Haid with Danny Glover about post-civil war black cavalry corps . The motion picture was well directed Gregor Jordan . Rating : Good . Well worth seeing.