It's 1989 Stuttgart, W Germany. Specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) is a schemer in the 317th Supply Battalion on Theodore Roosevelt US Army Base. As many soldiers at the time, he was given a choice between jail and the Army. He sells Army supplies to the black market. He cooks heroine as a middle man. His commander Colonel Berman (Ed Harris) is clueless. He sleeps with Berman's wife (Elizabeth McGovern). When drugged up tankers destroy a gas station killing two truck drivers, Elwood takes advantage by stealing the weapons in the trucks. Then a new Top Sergeant Lee (Scott Glenn) arrives and he zeros in on Elwood. Elwood tries to get back at him by dating his daughter Robyn Lee (Anna Paquin).This is an outlandish black comedy. For the first half, I was rooting against Elwood. It could be more fun if Elwood is a funnier character. Joaquin has a dead-pan delivery. This movie could be funnier. However, it's a good satirical poke at the military. Despite a couple of questionable moments with Robyn, the supporting actors are all great. I like the spiraling chaos around Elwood and what happens to him in the crazy ending.

I served from 1983-1993,7+ years in the European theater (mostley Germany)and this was and IS an ongoing market.While most of Germany's Army bases are closed,I WAS THERE. This is a true account of how things were and didn't ever scratch the surface of what went on. I also served in Operation Desert Storm and that kind of looting also only scratched the surface.I have personally seen things sent home you would not believe. The reason this was iced for 2 years was it was taken as true and it was. The US didn't need this bad PR at the time.The sad part is the loss of the two towers have more BS and mystery that will be never solved. I truly believe this was based on a true story as I have seen it first hand and lived it. I drove a semi their and had many customers in many varied products.I am proud of my time served, but not of some of the things I had to do.Only after all these years do I feel this should be told as it STILL goes on only under a better guise. I do feel liberated getting this out.May my soul rest as many many others like me will NEVER admit this and take it to their graves.Sgt Zak (as I was known) 108th MI and 123rd SPT-1st Infantry .

If you've ever been in the military you will love this movie. It's basically a Sargent Bilko without the slapstick.Covers the more seedy side of military life and has some great jokes, plot twists and one liners.Elwood is the classic E-4 and gets up to all kinds of crazy stuff. Hes basically running a lot of little schemes from his position as one of the Battalion Commanders trusted office personnel.But Elwoods life takes a turn for the worst when a new First Sargent that takes no BS is assigned to his unit and threatens to undermine Elwoods little operations.

Without an enemy to fight, an army will fight itself or find its own enemies. In the tradition of "Sergeant Bilko" (the Phil Silvers TV show, not Steve Martin's ghastly remake) "Buffalo Soldiers" shows what happens when soldiers with nothing to do but wait for war begin to think for themselves and exploit the system. In place of Bilko's poker games and lottery scams, Ray Elwood opts for black marketeering, drug dealing and gun running. However, the characters portrayed by Phil Silvers and Joaquin Phoenix respectively do have a lot in common. The tone of "Buffalo Soldiers" is much darker than that of "Sergeant Bilko", but the film and TV series share the same absurd yet plausible vision. There are no chimpanzee conscripts like Private Harry Speakup in this movie, but there ARE characters who have clearly risen well above the level of their own incompetence. Ed Harris' Colonel Berman is a pathetic example of the uniformed, time-served bureaucrat, someone you could almost feel sorry for until you realise that one day he may have to lead men into combat. Counterbalancing the Bilko-esquire vibe created by Elwood's wheeler-dealing is his nemesis, Scott Glenn's steely Sergeant Lee. Glenn clearly relishes his role in this movie and is very convincing as the model soldier with a true heart of darkness.Joaquin Phoenix gives Elwood an understated charisma as he leads his troops from behind, rarely lifting the lid on the fear and frustration that simmers within him as the events he sets in motion go out of control.To say that this film is anti-military is unfair as it contains portrayals of decent, honest and professional soldiers as well as the scammers, pimps and dopeheads that the plot focuses on. It is a film about human beings (with all their failings) in uniform, not soldiers. "Buffalo Soldiers" is anti-complacency, anti-indoctrination and anti-corruption, which is probably why its release was postponed after the September 11th terrorist outrage of 2001. In the light of recent despicable acts by a small group of US soldiers in Iraq's Abu Graib prison, this film seems eerily prescient. Without an enemy to fight in open combat, what happens to the aggression and contempt for that enemy that military training fosters? Ignore the negative comments and give this under-rated film a chance. It was titled "Army Go Home" in Germany, where the film is set, echoing the feelings of German citizens who lived near foreign troops sent to defend them against Communism. The Beetle-crushing sequence (an absurdly comic high point of the film) is based on actual incidents involving bored, intoxicated British and American troops on manoeuvres, armed to the teeth and waiting for a war that never came.