BUFFALO SOLDIERS [ 1/2]

Anarchic fun. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated R (violence, drug content, strong language and some sexuality). At AMC Empire, Loews Lincoln Square, the Angelika.

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THE story behind the release of the long-delayed black comedy “Buffalo Soldiers” virtually warrants a screenplay of its own.

After wowing all at the Toronto Film Festival two years ago, director Gregor Jordan’s film about drug-taking, gun-running American soldiers sparked a bidding war and was picked up by Miramax – one day before Sept. 11.

Suddenly, a military satire was thought to be in poor taste, if not downright unpatriotic, and its release was postponed. The war in Afghanistan delayed it further. Then came the war in Iraq.

There have even been complaints about the film’s poster, which features Joaquin Phoenix flashing a peace sign under the tag line: “Steal All That You Can Steal.”

Putting aside the perceived sensitivity of its subject matter – this is fiction, after all, based on a novel by Robert O’Connor – “Soldiers” is solid entertainment with an enjoyably rough-and-tumble vibe.

Phoenix gives an electric performance as amoral Army supply clerk Ray Elwood, who, along with most of his fellow soldiers on an Army base in West Germany at the end of the Cold War, is bored, with “nothing to kill except time.”

He’s looking for trouble, and finds it running a lucrative black market in “anything he can get his hands on,” before graduating to arms dealing after happening upon two trucks full of weaponry.

His ambitious plans hit a snarl with the arrival of a new sergeant, Robert Lee (Scott Glenn), who’s determined to clean up the base.

A battle of wills ensues, with Elwood trying to seduce Lee’s rebellious daughter, Robyn (Anna Paquin, who has excellent chemistry with Phoenix), and Lee using Elwood’s car for target practice.

Meanwhile, Elwood’s comically deluded boss, Col. Berman (Ed Harris, enjoying playing against type), keeps blowing his chances for a coveted promotion.

Jordan, who co-wrote the script with Eric Axel Weiss and Nora Maccoby, evokes the druggy haze of “Apocalypse Now” through music and slo-mo sequences, and wrings much humor from his perpetually stoned soldiers.

The violent climax is unnecessarily over the top, but Jordan generally keeps a tight rein on the parody, making for biting and irreverent fun.