Not a great movie, but better than other films. The Soldier is about the cold war between the Soviets and Ameriacans. This movie is similar to James Bond but is more violent than the Bond films. Ken Wahl is the C I A's version of James Bond. However, I find the movie is inferiorly made compared to the Bond series. I hate seeing a few good scenes wasted in a film which has choppy directing, an unbelievable script, and bad acting. I like these kind of films but this movie is like a HBO style, low budget film. I wish the makers had more time and money to make this movie the way it should have been made. The Soldier is an 3 or 5 out of 10. Watch it on late night TV.

I saw it when it first came out, and I think I was a sophomore in high school. Carter and his "maliase" (pardon the spelling) were out, Reagan and his pro-America anti-evil empire were in. The Soviets were considered a real threat. Perhaps like today's Bin Laden with a few thousand nukes pointed at us.

Yes, the acting tended to be stiff, and there were some things that happened in the movie that didn't make too much sense. You know what? It was not a documentary. Tangerine Dream did an excellent job with the score, the opening scene was great, good action sequences that were of course pro-American, and it had a patriotic ending. It was a good movie for it's time. Back in 1982, it was considered very cool to be very patriotic, and this movie fit the time.

Evil Russians steal some nukes, plant them in an oil field, and threaten to detonate them, thereby contaminating a large part of the world's oil supply. For some unexplained reason, they are anti-Israel bigots who want to move the Israelis off the West Bank. Sadly, The President (that's actually his credited character name) (Prince) is all too willing to comply. But there's one more ace up the USA's sleeve: The Soldier (Wahl). He's a highly-trained agent who controls a super-secretive and elite unit, and he's working with the Israelis to save the world.

This movie has a killer opening sequence that really pulls you in. Its themes of terrorism and anti-Semitism (even from the highest levels of government) are, disturbingly, quite relevant and even prescient for today. The Soldier, for all it's 80's-style anti-commie plot threads (not that those are a bad thing in any way),was ahead of its time. Plus it has an unbeatable combination of Ken Wahl and Steve James fighting the baddies. So for that alone The Soldier is worth seeking out.

Of course, there is some top-notch stuntwork as well. The ski chase sequence is a movie highlight, and director Glickenhaus must have loved it so much, he also included it in his movie Shakedown. Sam Elliott is watching it in the movie theater. It's truly Glickenhaus on Glickenhaus. And it's top-notch Glickenhaus. He's only directed eight movies, and out of those, The Soldier stands out. He's adept at action sequences, as amply proved here.

Wahl is cool, and he's as cool here as we've ever seen him. He should have done more projects like this. His sweaters are very stylish and we liked his attitude. As for Klaus Kinski, one of the most underrated actors of all time, he does about a five minute cameo and has no spoken dialogue. Hmmmm...talk about a paycheck role. The Soldier could have been improved if Kinski was the main bad guy and Wahl had to face off against him. That would have been awesome. Chalk that up to a missed opportunity.

Loaded with three of the best things you can ask for in a movie like this: top-quality stunts, over-the-top action violence and 80's atmosphere, these elements overcome some plot weaknesses. Additionally, the soundtrack by Tangerine Dream rules.

You should definitely enlist The Soldier into your collection.

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