A Soldier's Story

PG

Released Sep 14, 1984

1h 41m

Mystery & Thriller

List

91%

22 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A black Army investigator (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) travels to a remote military base in the heart of the Louisiana backwoods to look into the mysterious murder of a black sergeant toward the tail end of World War II. Once he arrives, the investigator discovers an Army regiment and an entire community that, despite the beginnings of integration, is still torn apart by race and segregation. He soon learns that on this base, trust is sparse and secrets are a currency all their own.

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Critics Consensus

A meticulously-crafted murder mystery with incisive observations about race in America, A Soldier's Story benefits from a roundly excellent ensemble and Charles Fuller's politically urgent screenplay.

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Alec C

How can you expect to fight for your country if you're at a war with yourself! With the hated Colonel Waters is murdered by an unknown killer, an investigator is asked to look into it, discovering the racial discrimination between the captain and his squad members, leaving the question of who did it up in the air. Boiling under the surface before going pop, this murder mystery manages to make us wonder which war is worth fighting for!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/20/24

Full Review

isa e

Cast is perfect across the board, brilliantly paced, scripted and acted. Suspenseful and dramatic, one of my all time favourite movies.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/04/24

Full Review

Mohamed Y

A pleasure to watch Denzel in his debut…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The kind of movie everyone should see in history class. It discusses an important subtopic in racism, which is racism within one's own race especially in regards to minorities. ****spoiler alert***** it has a twist ending that I saw coming before it did. I knew someone black had actually killed the serge or whatever and I figured it was Peterson or C.J. I could tell by his last words, "they will still hate you," you wouldn't say that to a white person. This movie is disturbing and while not the most violent of racial films or most gripping, it was perhaps more sad and psychological. The performances are good and the back tracking of the story is interesting. I thought it was based on a true story, it's not but I'm sure there are similar ones.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Felt long, preachy, rambling and boring. Multiple soldier's stories meld together in a not very intriguing murder mystery that felt half obvious from pretty early on. I can't think of much to merit here.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great movie. Does not get enough recognition.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/19/20

Full Review

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Norman Jewison

Director

Howard E. Rollins Jr.

Captain Davenport

Adolph Caesar

Sergeant Waters

Denzel Washington

Private First Class Peterson

Dennis Lipscomb

Captain Taylor

Art Evans

Private Wilkie

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

In showing a woman in training and preparing for a fight, Kusama defamiliarises boxing as a subject, and makes us see afresh its drama of brutality and vulnerability.

Mar 24, 2021

Full Review

Peter Travers

People Magazine

Fuller's writing and Caesar's performance, the power of this Soldier's Story is impressive.

Jul 25, 2018

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Did this movie have to be so lockstep, so trapped by its mechanical plot, so limited by a murder mystery?

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

David Parkinson

Radio Times

Everyone has motive and opportunity and, under Norman Jewison's tight direction, the supporting cast, led by Denzel Washington and the Oscar-nominated Adolph Caesar, give next to nothing away.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 24, 2021

Full Review

Lloyd Billingsley

Christianity Today

A Soldier's Story is a moving piece of human drama that not only draws the viewer into the interior life of the characters -- the task of the dramatist -- but makes him work as well.

Mar 24, 2021

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a slow-moving drama that admittedly does suffer from a hit-and-miss first half...

Rated: 3/4

Mar 20, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

A black Army investigator (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) travels to a remote military base in the heart of the Louisiana backwoods to look into the mysterious murder of a black sergeant toward the tail end of World War II. Once he arrives, the investigator discovers an Army regiment and an entire community that, despite the beginnings of integration, is still torn apart by race and segregation. He soon learns that on this base, trust is sparse and secrets are a currency all their own.

Director: Norman Jewison
Producer: Chiz Schultz
Screenwriter: Charles Fuller
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 14, 1984, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Surround

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