Solo (1996)

by Greg
Score: 3/10

 With a nice mix of Rambo, Predator and Terminator, you get Solo. To keep it simple you have Solo, a cyborg engineered to perform dangerous military missions without thhe danger of loss of life or the guilt of killing people. Of course, this cyborg begins to experience guilt and remorse on his first mission. Overiding his directive when innocent civilians are present, he begins to disarm bombs set to eliminate the bad guys.
The story already begins to drag and become very cliche, and the credit just finished appearing on the screen. Returning to base, his programmer/best friend/creator Dr. Stewart (Adrien Brody) must figure out why Solo went rogue. General Haynes (Barry Corbin) has the solution, dismantle Solo and start from scratch. Solo escapes, crashes a militray helicopter and is then befriended by the small village he helped to save. Learning compassion from a little boy and a missionary, with other villagers, Solo must prepare himself for battle against the military that created him and now want to destroy him. Only solution send in super soldier, Colonel Madden (William Sadler), doesn't think just acts. Doesn't take folow orders completely lives by his own code. Only General Haynes has some tricks up his sleeve, a new Solo. Who wins? Peebles
It meets action film requirements, cheesy one-liners, rogue military agents, a steroid induced main actor and explosions. Things missing, a good script, a good lead actor, dumb or comedic relief sidekick, a scantitly dressed female lead, any of those would have made this film better. Supporting actors faired well, but needed better direction.
 The film was probaly a vaction write off for some studio execs, it just plain wasn't good. Sorry Mario Van Peebles, you're ripped but not action hero worthy, atleast not as a rogue cyborg.

Starring: Mario Van Peebles, Barry Corbin, William Sadler and Adrien Brody
Directed by: Norberto Barba
Budget/Gross: N/A / $4,932,915
IMDB Rating: 3.7/10
Tomatometer: 4% critics and 25% audience liked it