1971 - an interesting year for film; Michael Caine gave up his cheeky Cockney 'Italian Job' persona to become Jack Carter and George Lazenby gave up the glamour of James Bond to become a 'military consultant', in plain words a mercenary killer for hire.
Like another reviewer I saw this on BBC television back in 1980 and for all its flaws it has really stuck with me. It is not a perfectly realised film and its visual style is very much of its time which makes it look dated. I think George Lazenby found improvising dialogue harder than he expected, but it's worth noting that the famous film critic Dilys Powell praised the film and particularly Lazenby's performance which she said was a marked improvement on his "misfire" as 007.
The fact is 'Universal Soldier' is an interesting film to watch. It takes a hard, cynical look at the links between the 'military-industrial complex', government and corruption in the new African states. Everybody has their price and anything can be fixed, if not by using money, then through governments looking the other way (export licenses for arms) or actively supporting corrupt leaders (no prizes for seeing the CIA fingered here). No-one has any sense of moral responsibility - a gun is just an inanimate object, what the user does with it is nothing to do with the dealer.
Unfortunately, coming back to this world after a couple of years retirement, George Lazenby's Ryker is tired of the game and has lost his edge. He wants out, and that will not be easy.
If it had a little more polish and fewer rough edges, 'Universal Soldier' could be as well-remembered as 'Easy Rider' as a piece of the counter-culture of its time. This is the world of the 1970's: we aren't sure who the good guys are any more, and the good guys don't always win. Everything is tainted. This can't be seen as a great film, but it deserves a strong cult following. I, for one, would welcome a good DVD release.
Like another reviewer I saw this on BBC television back in 1980 and for all its flaws it has really stuck with me. It is not a perfectly realised film and its visual style is very much of its time which makes it look dated. I think George Lazenby found improvising dialogue harder than he expected, but it's worth noting that the famous film critic Dilys Powell praised the film and particularly Lazenby's performance which she said was a marked improvement on his "misfire" as 007.
The fact is 'Universal Soldier' is an interesting film to watch. It takes a hard, cynical look at the links between the 'military-industrial complex', government and corruption in the new African states. Everybody has their price and anything can be fixed, if not by using money, then through governments looking the other way (export licenses for arms) or actively supporting corrupt leaders (no prizes for seeing the CIA fingered here). No-one has any sense of moral responsibility - a gun is just an inanimate object, what the user does with it is nothing to do with the dealer.
Unfortunately, coming back to this world after a couple of years retirement, George Lazenby's Ryker is tired of the game and has lost his edge. He wants out, and that will not be easy.
If it had a little more polish and fewer rough edges, 'Universal Soldier' could be as well-remembered as 'Easy Rider' as a piece of the counter-culture of its time. This is the world of the 1970's: we aren't sure who the good guys are any more, and the good guys don't always win. Everything is tainted. This can't be seen as a great film, but it deserves a strong cult following. I, for one, would welcome a good DVD release.