Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155345 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English

Amazon.com
Inviting casual comparison to Catch-22 and M*A*S*H, Buffalo Soldiers is an Army-base comedy about soldiers "with nothing to kill except time." It's 1989: The Berlin Wall is falling, completing the cold war's thaw, and Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix)--a clerk with the 317th Supply Battalion, stationed in West Germany--combats boredom with a variety of black-market schemes, from cooking heroin for the base's corrupt MPs to dealing stolen arms to the highest bidder, in addition to having a shallow affair with the two-timing wife (Elizabeth McGovern) of his outgoing commander (Ed Harris). Elwood's new CO (Scott Glenn) clamps down on his illegal activities while protecting his daughter (Anna Paquin) from Elwood's advances. Fine casting and positive buzz couldn't prevent this movie's ironic fate: Acquired by Miramax one day before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Buffalo Soldiers--based on the celebrated novel by Robert O'Connor--was shelved for nearly two years, by which time this dark and defiantly amusing exercise in political incorrectness had been overshadowed by world events. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) is having a ball. The year is 1989, the place is West Germany, and the pickings could not be riper, or easier to pluck. Elwood is the battalion clerk in an antiquated peacetime outfit, and, in the absence of combat, he devotes his skills to the black market and the heroin trade. Into this pleasant routine comes Sergeant Lee (Scott Glenn), who sees Elwood as a grifter and a slacker; Elwood, in turn, has eyes only for the sergeant's teen-age daughter (Anna Paquin). The director, Gregor Jordan, gets harsh laughs from all this mischief, but his grasp of Army life feels unstable, and Phoenix is enjoyable rather than credible in the role of a hipster Bilko. As for the casting of Ed Harris as a feeble and hapless colonel, isn't that against regulations? Too much of the second half is consumed by the nocturnal niceties of a drug plot-a pity, because a film about the joys and travails of the American military abroad could hardly be more apposite. With Elizabeth McGovern, almost unrecognizable as the colonel's wife, and a fall-down cameo for the Berlin Wall. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

London Calling
I just saw this movie at a theater in London and I heard that they are not widely releasing it in the states yet because of the situation in Iraq. All I have to say is thank God I am in London because this is one of the year's best films!! Joaquin Phoenix gives a great performance as a military screw-up and Ed Harris does an excellent job portraying the dumbest military leader ever. Anna Paquin and Scott Glenn give strong performances as well, and the script for this movie is great. If you love black comedies, and laughed at films like Very Bad Things, this is definately a movie for you. After a summer filled with terrible blockbusters like Hulk, it is nice to see a good old flick about soldiers on heroin that blow stuff up and sell Mop-N-Glow on the black market. However, I have a feeling that this film may be the next Boondock Saints, in terms of not getting the recognition that it deserves. It still gets an A+ in my book though.

Restless soldiers...a good thing?
Buffalo Soldiers had its first official release in Canada during the Toronto Film Festival on September 8, 2001. This was days before 9/11 when terrorists flew aircrafts into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Miramax held the film back in concern of how some might react to the anti-war message depicted in the film. Almost a year and half later during the Sundance Film Festival, a woman verbally assaulted the filmmakers by stating that they were anti-American for making the film as she threw a water bottle towards the screen that accidentally hit Anna Paquin. Having this background information prior seeing the film brings the audience to the story in a completely different light, which builds up a pre-viewing atmosphere full of notions.

Buffalo Soldiers is an interesting story about Specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) who runs all kinds of scams on his military base in Germany during the final days of the Cold War when the Berlin Wall is about to plunge. When the new Top Sergeant Lee arrives to his base, there seems to be a new sheriff in town. Lee also happens to bring his daughter Robyn (Anna Paquin) who falls for Elwood. This is a recipe for disaster as Elwood discovers that he also has feelings for Robyn, and Robyn's father is out to get him by all means necessary. Buffalo Soldiers is a comic anti-war drama that is depicted through an atmosphere of boredom among young adults without much life experience and a lot of responsibility. This restlessness among the soldiers is captured with precise directing by Jordan and a good performance by the cast, which leaves the audience with a fine cinematic experience.

A dark look at US Army life in Germany in the late 1980's
Buffalo Soldiers is the story of US Army supply clerk Ray Elwood, played by the handsome and mysterious Joaquin Phoenix. Elwood is one of those go-to-guys who can score anything you need in exchange for the right favor. He has his hands all over the supply chain, drives a sweet German sports car, and knows who to cook up a batch of heroin in spare warehouses. He's a stoic who is well-respected by his peers. He helps his goofball desk jockey boss (played by Ed Harris) keep the base in West Germany in line.

Elwood's life is thrown into personal and romantic turmoil with the arrival of Sgt. Lee (played by Scott Glenn) and his beautiful daughter (Anna Paquin). Sgt. Lee has a personal goal of cleaning house and exposing Elwood's dabblings in the black market. Elwood, of course, decides to antagonize Lee by dating his daughter, and then he falls hard for the young lady. The movie is a dark game of cat and mouse between Lee and Elwood, with the base commander bumbling around in the background in truly comedic fashion. With a few healthy plot twists and elements of both satire and horror, Buffalo Soldiers is a movie to catch on DVD for anyone who likes dark drama/comedy in which the viewer ends up rooting for a handsome "bad guy." Fans of this movie should check out Wonderland and Lord of War.