Leofwine_draca This fun sci-fi romp is enjoyable enough viewing for undemanding viewers, that is if you don't mind watching unoriginal action-packed adventures which tend to rip off themes from THE TERMINATOR (pretty much the norm for any '90s android film). Really, I don't understand all the negative comments about this film; I've seen a lot worse, and at least this never forgets to be fun. It's a fast-paced movie with loads of action and special effects to keep it entertaining, even if we've seen it all before.At least the rip-offs are varied here and it's not just a straight take on one film (like DNA was). The jungle setting is fun and an excuse for lots of nice scenery which brings to mind PREDATOR. The action scenes, while ludicrous, are fun to watch with baddies having the necks snapped and falling prey to various jungle traps (a favourite staple of mine) which Solo sets up for them. There's even a surprisingly nasty back-breaking in there for good measure. The final android vs. android battle is hilarious, and has people flying all over the place.Mario Van Peebles is expectedly wooden in the lead role, but unexpectedly, this seems to work in the film's favour - it goes with his character. Favourite baddie William Sadler also gets to put in a hissably villainous turn in not one, but two roles, and makes a nicely imposing enemy for Peebles to face. For some blessed reason the film isn't saddled down with a boring romance plot between the android and a woman, in fact there are no major roles for women here. Sadly, we do get the stereotypically annoying Asian kid who serves as an aide for our hero.Sure, this isn't intelligent entertainment or even original. But it's a fun experience, and is never boring. There are plenty of pyrotechnics and violence to keep viewers happy and a more interesting plot than most films of this ilk. It's cheap, but the budget is used for plenty of outlandish special effects which I always like (especially the impressive "robo-vision", with loads of swirling colours). Worth catching if you like this particular sub-genre of cyborg/android films.

alanjones792 Solo is a poor film - that cannot be ignored. The acting for the most part is very wooden (the only exception is Adrien Brody's performance as Solo's creator Bill) and the story is slight enough that you would probably forget it WHILST you where watching the film. That said, such films are more about the action than the plot/acting and, as such, live or die by the action set pieces - that after all is the point of such films - to give 14 year-olds something to smile at whilst the adults watch films of actual substance. And even on this Solo fails to deliver - what little action there is is poorly done, dull and uninspired. After seeing the trailer for this on television I was hoping for something along the lines of Predator with a robot replacing the Predaot. Instead I got a fairly lifeless action film with a poorly constructed attempt at depth by taking on message that robots can feel too. Watch Terminator II or Predator instead.. both classics that this film desperately wants to be except it lacks the inspiration or, to be fair, the budget.

jmcguckin Robert Mason's book about was great. It deals with the conflicts of an emerging intelligence and the military sponsors of the research project who want to turn the robot into the ultimate soldier.Unfortunately, this filmed adaptation commits the cardinal sin of movie-making: it's boring. The screenplay omits most of the interesting parts of the book and hypes up the jungle action scenes. Mario's wooden acting is probably the best thing about this movie.

Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci (dtb) When I stumbled on SOLO on cable TV and realized Adrien Brody, one of my favorite actors, was third-billed in this Mario Van Peebles action flick, I decided to record it and check it out later for the heck of it. Turns out that was a good idea, since I got the most enjoyment out of this derivative SF/action/adventure when I simply gave up and fast-forwarded to Brody's scenes as Solo's endearingly scruffy creator Dr. Bill Stewart (sounds like the kind of bland name they'd give the hero in a 1950s creature feature -- told you SOLO was derivative! :-). Brody's one of the few performers in the film who actually says his lines with heart and conviction. When he was emoting opposite Van Peebles & Co., I wonder if Brody ever thought one day he'd be winning an Oscar for his starring turn in a Roman Polanski drama? :-) Adrien Brody fans, get the VCR ready; genre fans, try renting THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, FRANKENSTEIN, THE TERMINATOR, or any of the other movies that SOLO rips off! :-)