Solo (1996)

4% of critics liked it
(26 reviews)
24% of users liked it
(6,046 ratings)

The American military-industrial complex has a blueprint for the perfect mechanical soldier. Unfortunately, the prototype, Solo (Mario Van Peebles), has responded appropriately to his programming (which requires him to reason things out on his own), with results that the designers didn't anticipate… More The American military-industrial complex has a blueprint for the perfect mechanical soldier. Unfortunately, the prototype, Solo (Mario Van Peebles), has responded appropriately to his programming (which requires him to reason things out on his own), with results that the designers didn't anticipate and don't like. For one thing, he objects to killing innocent bystanders. Already one of their covert operations has been ruined by his scruples. The manufacturers have given orders that he is to be taken back to the lab and reprogrammed. Now on the run from his makers, he comes to a village of oppressed peasants and teaches them how to fight back successfully in a sequence which harkens to the classic The Seven Samurai. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Norberto Barba
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Aug 23, 1996 Wide
On DVD: Mar 6, 2001
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Leonard Klady, Variety
The best one can say for Norberto Barba is that he directs a slick piece of goods. But no amount of fast cutting or tempo can disguise the material's simplistic, thoughtless nature.
Richard Harrington, Washington Post
Since filmgoers are told early on that there is only one other super-cyborg prototype in the world, well, guess what the big climax is?
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
A lackluster action-adventure.
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
Not one fight is memorable, and the set looks recycled from an Indiana Jones theme park.
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
For what it is, a straightforward sci-fi action movie with an equally straightforward hero, Solo works.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
As movie androids go, Solo is a softie, and that's his problem.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Mindless entertainment for the end of the summer, with emphasis on the mindless.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
It simply plods along to it's inevitable, uninvolving and pretty uninteresting end.
Greg Muskewitz, eFilmCritic.com
Silly action yarn furthering the demise of van Peebles.
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
It's not a great film, but it is a little above average.
Dwayne E. Leslie, Boxoffice Magazine
The film ends up having more laughs than a comedy.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

Hollywood's first African-American android hero is a perfect fighting machine except for one thing - he's developing feelings. This angers military brass so much that they intend to mess with his microchips, so he flees into the South American jungle where he saves local… More
Hollywood's first African-American android hero is a perfect fighting machine except for one thing - he's developing feelings. This angers military brass so much that they intend to mess with his microchips, so he flees into the South American jungle where he saves local peasants from armed rebels, battles an evil android, and learns to laugh.
xGary X

Typically cheap and generic action movie from Mario Van Peebles, who plays an android with a conscience who escapes from his military creators when faced with "reprogramming". It's basically a rip off of Terminator 2 with shades of Predator, and not a particularly good… More
Typically cheap and generic action movie from Mario Van Peebles, who plays an android with a conscience who escapes from his military creators when faced with "reprogramming". It's basically a rip off of Terminator 2 with shades of Predator, and not a particularly good one. Why is it these high tec androids can never grasp the concept of "lying" and "why we cry"? Because action scriptwriters are talentless ****wits. That's why.
Steven V

Pretty good. Typically cheap and generic action movie from Mario Van Peebles.
Jason R

Mario Van Peebles is the man! But this is the very definition of so bad it is good.