Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Soldier

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 27, 2018
Price: DVD $16.25, Blu-ray $18.89
Studio: Kino Lorber

From writer/producer/director James Glickenhaus (The Exterminator, McBain, Shakedown) comes the 1982 action-thriller The Soldier, starring Ken Wahl (The Wanderers).

In this globe-trotting flick, KGB agents posing as terrorists steal enough plutonium to destroy half of the world’s oil supply and threaten to do so unless the Israelis withdraw from the West Bank of Jordan. With the world on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the titular “Soldier” (Wahl)–who’s not part of the military but nonetheless engages carries out his own unauthorized, illegal and highly dangerous activities—kicks into action to preserve the delicate balance of power.

Featuring a whole lot of shootouts, explosions and a couple of really out-there stunt sequences (including one dude bailing out of a sky lift high above the Austrian Alps just before it’s blown apart by a bazooka), The Soldier is dry and none-too-noriginal, but never dull. It also features a synth score by Tangerine Dream and a cast that includes Alberta Watson (Helen) and the always crazed Klaus Kinski (Aguirre, the Wrath of God), who has a line or two but looks and sounds delightfully nutty while delivering them.

Bonus features include an audio commentary by Glickenhaus, another by film historian Jim Hemphill, and a bunch of trailers.