A young Welsh soldier on duty in Northern Ireland finds himself used as a political pawn, following a tragic incident during a violent clash with some of the local agitators. The Guardian proposed that "if Spielberg's ET, in the immortal words of Pauline Kael, was a bliss out, Karl Francis' 'Boy Soldier' is a bleed out for sheer fist shaking emotionalism, it would be hard to find another British film of recent years to beat it."
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Cast
17 people
Richard Lynch
Wil Thomas
Known for
The Hollow Crown
Emer Gillespie
Deirdre
Known for
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Karl Francis
Bernard Hill
Officer
Known for
Titanic
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Hayden Pierce
Dafydd Hywel
Sergeant Crane
Also in
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The Indian Doctor
Simon Coady
Quinnell
Also in
State of Emergency
Inspector Morse
Dylan Davies
Joe
Also in
The Clock
James Donnelly
Truscott-Jones
Known for
Robin of Sherwood
They Came from Beyond Space
Russell Gomer
Wright
Also in
Being Human
Denmark
Terry Jackson
Sergeant
Also in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Sherlock Holmes
Bernard Latham
Roberts
Also in
Erik the Viking
Carrott Del Sol
Karl Francis Director · Roger Pugh Evans Cinematographer
Worldwide gross $15M · Budget $1.1M · United States release March 27, 1987
Box office
Budget
$1,113,537
Worldwide gross
$15,073,942
Gross vs. budget
13.5×
Production
Cine Cymru
Production
United Kingdom
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Milwr Bychan
Original language
Welsh
Spoken on screen
English · Welsh
Release dates
United Kingdom · August 21, 1986
Premiere · Welsh · Edinburgh Int'l Film Festival
United Kingdom · January 30, 1987
Theatrical · English
United States · March 27, 1987
Premiere · San Francisco Int'l Film Festival
Canada
June 10, 1988 · Theatrical
Czechia
February 1, 1993 · Limited theatrical · Film clubs only
Ireland
November 12, 1986 · Premiere · Dublin Film Festival
Portugal
September 8, 1987 · Figueira da Foz Film Festival
Sweden
February 2, 1987 · Göteborg Film Festival
United Kingdom
November 25, 1986 · Premiere · London Film Festival
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Some details come from TheTVDB.