Soldier's Revenge Reviews

Frank Morgan (John Savage) is a Vietnam veteran who turned against the war after he was shot down and saw the carnage wreaked by bombs dropped from his plane. Later, he told a magazine about the unsavory secret operations in which he participated and was branded a traitor by many in his Texas home town. After the death of his mother, he returns home to clear up her affairs and sell the farm, continually harassed by the locals even though he is simply trying to mind his own business. Meanwhile, a plane full of weapons for a Central American revolution puts down at the local airstrip for repairs. The pilot quits, leaving Baetriz (Maria Socas), who is accompanying the load because her father has been kidnaped by the revolutionaries, who have demanded the arms as ransom. Baetriz persuades Morgan to help her and the two become embroiled in the revolution. Released in the same year that gave us one of the most intelligent films made about the conflicts in Central America--SALVADOR--SOLDIER'S REVENGE is a idiotic fantasy for pacifists who still like to see trucks blown up, with Savage wandering through the film offering near-pointless narration and facing down overwhelming odds every few minutes. No mention is made of the politics of revolution; we just get Savage whining about how no one can win a war. Shot in the US and Argentina in 1984, the film appeared on videocassette without ever gracing a theater screen in the US.