Buffalo Soldiers (2001 film)
| Buffalo Soldiers | |
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Buffalo Soldiers film poster
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| Directed by | Gregor Jordan |
| Produced by | Rainer Grupe Ariane Moody |
| Written by |
Robert O'Connor Eric Weiss Nora Maccoby Gregor Jordan |
| Starring |
Joaquin Phoenix Ed Harris Anna Paquin Scott Glenn Haluk Bilginer |
| Cinematography | Oliver Stapleton |
| Edited by | Lee Smith |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
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Release date
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July 25, 2003 |
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $2,300,684 |
Buffalo Soldiers is a 2001 satire film, based on the 1993 novel by Robert O'Connor, which follows the rogue activities of a group of US soldiers based in West Germany during 1989 when the fall of the Berlin Wall is imminent. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Anna Paquin, Haluk Bilginer, Scott Glenn, and Elizabeth McGovern and is directed by Gregor Jordan.
The world premiere was held at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in early September. However, being a satire of the US military, the film's wider theatrical run was delayed by approximately two years because of the September 11 attacks until it was released on July 25, 2003.
Specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) is a U.S. Army soldier stationed in Stuttgart, West Germany, in 1989. Bored with the lack of a war, he instead devotes his attention to black market deals, as well as cooking heroin for a gang of drug-dealing Military Police led by Sergeant Saad. As a supply specialist, Elwood poses as a model soldier and friendly confidant to his incompetent commanding officer, Colonel Berman (Ed Harris), who gives Elwood the opportunity to turn Army protocol to his advantage. Berman has no idea what supplies his subordinate is requisitioning or that Elwood is sleeping with his wife (Elizabeth McGovern).
Elwood's company then gets a new First Sergeant, Robert E. Lee (Scott Glenn). This new Top is both menacing and savvy, quickly assessing that soldiers like Elwood are engaged in graft. Meanwhile a tank crew, under the influence of Elwood's heroin, unintentionally kill two soldiers in charge of a weapons convoy by crashing through a gas station. Elwood happens upon the cache and steals it, hiding the trucks in a missile base.
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