Following George Lazeny's one off stint as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby tried to break away from Bond and his second starring film 1971's Universal Soldier was described by Lazenby as "Ant-War and Anti-Bond". The movie is very much defined by the counter culture era that gave us such films as Easy Rider and Lazenby certainly disappears into his role as the mercenary known as Stryker, but its satire is so broad and indulgent the movie really does become a monotonous watch with endless scenes of lingering on weapons with "ironic music" placement and the lack of direction in the movie becomes an endurance test.
At its core the movie is a satire of the military industrial complex and the messy political and economic machinations that keep the engine of warfare running, but that's basically the only real point the movie has as it just endlessly repeats meandering directionless scene after meandering directionless scene. I will say the Lazenby is committed in his performance, but the surrounding movie is just so suffocating it's hard to get engaged in his characters journey through various arms dealers and shadowy political figures because by Lazenby's own words the movie has "no plot" and is "just a series of happenings" so there's nothing keeping you invested. I didn't feel right giving this film a quantifiable rating because it's a loosely structured movie that's lacking a point by design and your experience will be subjective. What others will see as indulgent lack of direction, others will see as daring film making of the era.
At its core the movie is a satire of the military industrial complex and the messy political and economic machinations that keep the engine of warfare running, but that's basically the only real point the movie has as it just endlessly repeats meandering directionless scene after meandering directionless scene. I will say the Lazenby is committed in his performance, but the surrounding movie is just so suffocating it's hard to get engaged in his characters journey through various arms dealers and shadowy political figures because by Lazenby's own words the movie has "no plot" and is "just a series of happenings" so there's nothing keeping you invested. I didn't feel right giving this film a quantifiable rating because it's a loosely structured movie that's lacking a point by design and your experience will be subjective. What others will see as indulgent lack of direction, others will see as daring film making of the era.