Le guerrier d'acier

I saw this free on TV and I still feel robbed. Mario Van Pebbles takes on a role that suits him - one that requires him to be wooden and slow. The story is so predictable and boring that 2 minutes in you now how it's going to go. The special effects are poor and the fight scenes have no real excitement.

I suppose if you're drunk then it's enjoyable, but really it is a waste of time and will leave you wondering what else you could have watched instead.

When I stumbled on SOLO on cable TV and realized Adrien Brody, one of my favorite actors, was third-billed in this Mario Van Peebles action flick, I decided to record it and check it out later for the heck of it. Turns out that was a good idea, since I got the most enjoyment out of this derivative SF/action/adventure when I simply gave up and fast-forwarded to Brody's scenes as Solo's endearingly scruffy creator Dr. Bill Stewart (sounds like the kind of bland name they'd give the hero in a 1950s creature feature -- told you SOLO was derivative! :-). Brody's one of the few performers in the film who actually says his lines with heart and conviction. When he was emoting opposite Van Peebles & Co., I wonder if Brody ever thought one day he'd be winning an Oscar for his starring turn in a Roman Polanski drama? :-) Adrien Brody fans, get the VCR ready; genre fans, try renting THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, FRANKENSTEIN, THE TERMINATOR, or any of the other movies that SOLO rips off! :-)

When I saw this film, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the ridiculous plot, with bad acting, bad effects etc. it was probabaly worse than the butt ugly operation: Delta Force film series! I really smell a huge rip- off of good films with human/ robotic cyborgs eg. Terminator, Robocop, even the British TV show Red Dwarf. SOLO, aka Mario Van Peebles attempts to create an atmosphere that is spoilt by a commando team searching for SOLO and the scene where he throws the knife with the wire on it is pathetic, especially where he shimmies down the wire on his bare hands without any scratches, comedy, and definitely a bargain bin classic!

This little b-grade straight-to-video action joint won't win any awards for it has been done to death, but for what it is… it made for a passable outing despite the predictable formulaic nature of the story, silly occurrences and mechanical action set-pieces. "Solo" actually had I thinking of Paul W. S. Anderson's big budgeted "Soldier" that came out two years later. The two surprisingly had some similarities just that "Solo" were set in modern times and in the humid jungle terrain, compared to the futuristic backdrop for "Soldier" which was much more expansive across the board. The basic plot is almost identical. Even a sequence involving a poisonous snake. While the screenplay for "Solo", is actually adapted off Robert Mason's novel "Weapon" and has shades of "Universal Soldier". Solo is cyborg that was created to be the perfect killing machine, but it disobeys an order when it meant killing innocent civilians. The army isn't particularly happy with it, so it plans to re-create it. But before doing that Solo escapes in to the South American jungle. There he helps out a small, poor village that are terrorised by rebel soldiers by providing them fighting spirit. But to top that off the Americans want their creation back, so a small elite group is sent in to get him back. Director Norberto Barba's handling for most part is rushed and lacklustre, where by hiding it with jaded editing and its techno special effects. Still it has some gusto in its climatic exchanges, especially in the one that comes from nowhere that sees two androids colliding. Don't try to compute the script either, sometimes sappy in its emotional details but never does it go beyond its comic-book approach. Mario Van Pebbles is surprisingly convincing, embodying that steely approach but also showing cracks of humane qualities (trying to understand the meaning of a bluff/joke and freaking you out with his cackling). Quite old-hat in the character portrayal, but well done. Having fun William Sadler provides the psychotic edge, as an army Colonel who disapproves of the Solo creation and would do anything to see it fail. "First rule of dealing with the devil. Don't". Going gawky is Adrien Brody as Solo's creator and Barry Corbin is the General in charge of the project. Soulless, but reliable entertainment.

"When you hunt a fox, bring your own dogs".

I just watched "Solo", and I don't think it's as bad as some reviewers have suggested. I'm not an action movie aficionado, but I found the movie an enjoyable, maybe mindless, hour-and-a-half. Mario van Peebles did his best to present himself as a cyborg with human tendencies. Barry Corbin is always enjoyable when in his Maurice Minnifield persona. Adrien Brody is wonderfully emotive as the scientist who cares about his creation. My only question, after watching the movie, is how Solo continues to survive without anyone to repair his power management chip.