SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE is a decent enough action B-movie made as a collaboration between America and Russia. The ensemble cast is enough to keep you watching this one, even though the story isn't up to much. The tale sees a bunch of rich thrill-seekers going on a pretend mission in which they dress up as soldiers and engage in mock battles, only to discover that they're soon fighting for their lives.This film suffers from the usual trappings of the B-movie genre. There's plentiful action here but it can feel a bit repetitive and not particularly well staged; the cheapness always comes through. This is where the cast comes in. Christian Slater seems to have been re-invented as an action hero lately and has a shirtless scene here in which he shows off his muscular chest. Sean Bean fits his role like a glove and is typically great. Dominic Monaghan is loud, brash, and has a heart (no stretch, then). James Cromwell is old timer bizarrely wheeled out one last time, and Ving Rhames is a delight as the African arms smuggler. Colm Meaney's villain is all ham but there you go; when watching this film, just remember it could be (and often is) a lot, lot worse.

I wonder if Christian Slater - who once was a big star in major Hollywood movies - gets more depressed with every direct to DVD movie he's been doing for the past few years. Don't get me wrong - I do enjoy a lot of direct to DVD movies. And this one has some merit, such as some interesting locations as well as some colorful and likable performances by the supporting cast (Ving Rhames, James Cromwell, and Sean Bean). Slater, on the other hand, seems less than enthusiastic, almost as if he's gritting his teeth all through the movie. It's probably due to a couple of factors that ultimately sink things. The movie looks pretty cheap; probably most of the budget was blown rounding up that memorable cast of actors. A bigger problem is that the movie isn't very exciting. The action sequences come across as flat and without punch for the most part. And there's somewhat less action than you might think. I've seen a lot worse, but I'm still surprised that a major Hollywood studio (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) picked this up for distribution.

This movie is full of great actors. I like Sean Bean, Ving Rhames, and believe it or not Christian Slater as well.The opening sequence is so laughable, I thought it was on purpose. I expected that this sequence was some sort of staged military exercise the rich guys were participating in. DId Christian Slater really do dive rolls while taking out bad guys?? There wasn't one iota of realism, the weapon was wrong, the uniform was wrong, and why was CS taking on a Taliban village solo?Later, the entire group of mercenaries have a beach party...on the same tiny island that the bad guys are on. Complete with bonfire and shooting pistols in the air. Really?It got worse from there. I didn't think it was possible to combine the talents of A list actors and make a movie worse than a B movie. I wanted to like this movie. Really I did. After the first 20 minutes I considered turning it off, but then decided to watch it to see how bad it was. Turns out it wasn't "so bad it was good". It went past that and was "so bad it was actually bad"The premise wasn't too horrible and this story could have been OK. I don't expect we will see this director again.

First I am glad that I didn't read any of the reviews before watching this. I think that if I had I might not have bothered watching it. I know now that I would have lost something, a few good laughs. The first 15 minutes I wanted to turn it off and watch something else but I gave it a chance and then surprisingly it got a lot better. I didn't try to watch it as a serious movie but more of a comedy and it worked, worked great. I just loved to see a bunch of rich pampered babies get bullied for once it was so much fun. Look not a great movie but damn was it fun to watch. I laughed like I had not done for a long time. To watch this movie with a critical eye is just not the way to watch it. just sit down , relax and put on your young kid eyes and laugh.