cody1216

The people who have been trashing this film are missing the point. Of course the film's premise is implausible, many of the scenes are improbable to the point of being ridiculous, and some of James Glickenhuas' political views may be offensive to some, but as far as I'm concerned, The Soldier is more entertaining than all the 007 movies combined. This is a very offbeat, unusual film that requires a complete suspension of disbelief in order to watch from start to finish, but it's definitely worth watching.

Ken Wahl was an interesting choice for The Soldier. I'm surprised that Robert Ginty wasn't offered the role considering that Glickenhaus and Ginty enjoyed great success with The Exterminator less than two years prior. Still, Wahl turns in a good job, although the brief appearance of Klaus Kinski as Dracha is one of the highlights of the film.

James Glickenhaus had a good run in the 1980s (The Exterminator, The Soldier, The Protector, Shakedown) and offered an interesting alternative to all the lousy mainstream movies of that decade. This is one cynical, jaded New Yorker who wishes Glickenhaus would return to film-making and give us another interesting film like The Soldier.

Death Wish can be viewed on two different levels. On one level, it's a superb thriller and a social commentary on the condition of New York City in that grim, post-Vietnam, post-Altamont, Watergate era in which we saw a considerable increase in violent crime. But on another level, it's a character study of a man whose personal politics change considerably after his family is victimized by exactly the type of people he would have previously been quick to defend. At the beginning of the movie, one of Paul Kersey's co-workers accuses Paul of being a bleeding-heart liberal, to which Paul replies, "Sure, my heart bleeds a little for the underprivileged". Minutes later, we see Paul Kersey's family destroyed by examples of these poor, "underprivileged" souls. Once the reality of this tragedy sinks in, Paul Kersey's apparent mental deterioration begins, and we see him resort to the type of violence that he was once repulsed by. Interesting.

The pros and cons of vigilante justice have been debated at length, so I don't want to continue that debate. But consider this: as United States citizens, we have the right to walk the streets of our cities at any time of day our night without fear of being victimized by a criminal. That's exactly what Paul Kersey was doing in every scene of the film where he was set upon by muggers, and if he wasn't carrying that gun, he is the one who would have ended up dead, not the muggers. Just a little food for thought.

This movie was considered highly controversial and violent when it was first released, and remains powerful all these years later. My father-in-law, a retired New York City police officer who witnessed and experienced a great deal of violence during his career, once told me that he was so disgusted by the rape scene that he walked out of the theater during the film's original theatrical release. I think that speaks volumes about the film's impact. It's too bad that Bronson found it necessary to make all those TERRIBLE sequels. He was obviously in it for the money.