Soldier (1998)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Paul Anderson's follow-up to EVENT HORIZON is another multi-million pound special effects space extravaganza, but it seems that the problems which faced EVENT HORIZON - namely that it was little more than a rehash of other, better movies - also faces this latest, violent movie. This time around the influences are even clearer, and yes, it's Rambo in space time, with a beefed-up Russell taking on a squad of superhuman soldiers and, predictably, winning. In one scene we see Russell applying camouflage paint to his face in a scene directly copied from Schwarzenegger's COMMANDO, while the nomadic colony brings to mind the MAD MAX trilogy, with even a touch of ALIEN 3 thrown in for good measure (the refuse planet being a giant scrapheap). At least SOLDIER tries to do something different this time around, but in the end we have yet another mindless film which substitutes plot for effects, and the plotting really is minimalist.The theme of an almost android-like person trying to discover humanity has been explored loads of times, and this time it's no different. Kurt Russell struggles to convey pathos in his role and very nearly succeeds, while he is no great actor he is adequate in a role which only gives him a few scant lines of dialogue, and, just like Christopher Lee found in THE MUMMY, it's pretty difficult to convey feelings using only your eyes, but Russell just about does it. If not entirely successful, it's still a entertainingly bad effort. Also, for a man nearing 50, he's in great shape.He is given able support by Jason Isaacs and Sean Pertwee, both returning from EVENT HORIZON, and Isaacs fits naturally into the old school type of leader who destroys anything in his path. Pertwee too is a long way from the kind of stuff his father was in, and both men cope well with their respective roles, even if they are quite small. Gary Busey also has a small role as a military man, and it's good to see him in a film again, even if he doesn't play the baddie this time (something of a rarity here folks). Jason Scott Lee, with a fake eyeball, visually plays the part of a heavy well, although he doesn't act (unless you count having a mean expression on your face as acting).Once the action starts, however, it soon all falls apart. Firstly, it's all predictably bigger and more expensive than we've seen before, with rockets flying around in every corner and debris being scattered. Men getting shot is always a boring death to me, especially when it's repeated loads of times. However there are a few enterprising deaths to be had, the best being, of course, the final showdown between Lee and Russell, wherein Lee is slashed with an iron girder, has his arm and then his neck broken. It's bloody and gruesome (although when the film shows a brief glimpse of a man's blown-off leg, you have to give it some respect for not dwelling on the moment, the impact of the glimpse working much more effectively when the viewer uses his/her imagination), so you immediately see why I liked it. In the end, though, SOLDIER is an insubstantial film, much like EVENT HORIZON was. It's an intriguing premise, to be sure, but one which is severely hampered by poor execution. So-so.

Paul Anderson likes to mix his genres. Mortal Kombat was fantasy-kungfu film. Event Horizon was scifi-horror. And now with SOLDIER he has western-sc fi.Soldier (1998) really did understand all the right things about combining science fiction and the western genre.Soldier was written by Blade Runner co-writer David Webb Peoples and, by extension, was done so, not as a sequel per se, but as separate story set amidst the cannon of Blade Runner's future as a distant Off-world exploits. Kurt Russell i a professional fighter trained from birth to be nothing other than an efficient killing machine.In the movie's grim opening scenes, we watch the education of Russell's character, Todd, who is nurtured in an incubator at a special hospital devoted to producing lethal warriors. As a boy, Todd learns to watch with unblinking calm while attack dogs tear apart a man.He is indifferent when a classmate, lagging behind in a long-distance race, is deemed useless and casually executed by an instructor. By age 21, Todd's face has frozen into an expressionless glare. His name and number are tattooed on one cheek and a bicep is inscribed with his war record.Like most science-fiction movies, "Soldier," directed by Paul Anderson from a script by David Webb Peoples.The drama begins when Todd, in his 40s and battle-scarred but still one of the toughest men alive, suddenly finds his generation of soldier about to be replaced by a new genetically enhanced model. The best thing in Soldier is the acting of Kurt Russel. In the film, Sgt. Todd only as about 100 spoken words, 11 of them are "Yes Sir." This means that Mr. Russel, had to develop Todd through body language and actions, and lesser actor would have been unable to pull it off. The talents of Mr. Russel really shine though when Todd interacts with the colonists on Arcadia 234.Kurt Russel, the man who forged Snake Plissken, one of the greatest characters in Sci-fi, worked so hard to make Todd-3465 believable. British director Paul W. S. Anderson has made and surprisingly maintained a career of helming B-movie entertainment with A-list studio backing.Soldier at its absolute best -- when action, story and character harmonize.

Before poor Paul W.S. Anderson made a fatal misstep with Alien Vs. Predator and was maligned, he made a few really excellent genre flicks back in the mid to late 90's, one of them being the mostly forgotten and excessively fun Soldier, starring a mostly mute and wholly badass Kurt Russell as a genetically bred super soldier who has fallen on hard times. His name is Todd 3465, and he's from the last line of soldiers who are in fact real humans, albeit altered. There's a new program moving in, wherein actual replicants are produced, rendering Todd obsolete. The head of the new outfit is sadistic Colonel Mekum (Jason Isaacs in full evil prick mode), who wants to do away with anything that isn't state of the art. Todd is thrashed in a one on one smackdown with Mekum's lead soldier (Jason Scott Lee), and then left to die on a remote planet used only for trash disposal and inhabited by wayward crash survivors who scavenge what they can. Todd is immediately the outsider, an unfeeling asset bred only for combat and alien to human qualities. A few among the group, including their leader Mace (Anderson regular Sean Pertwee) and Jimmy Pig (Michael Chicklis) attempt to connect, but it's gorgeous Connie Nielsen who finally breaks the ice. He may be conditioned to kill, but he's still a human man after all, and there's some base instincts you just can't ignore. Trouble brews when Mekum shows up again, that bastard. Now he wants to vaporize their planet on the grounds that the refugees are essentially squatting. Undermining him is Todd's former boss Church (an unusually restrained Gary Busey), an honorable military veteran who'd love to put Mekum six feet under and restore order. Todd must help his newfound friends, fight tooth and nail against replicants and win his superiority back. Russell is a tank in the role, letting both silence and action speak volumes, a one man old school ass kicking hero of the highest order. The world building and outer space effects are incredibly fun, the villains are broadly characterized with the force of a western, and the whole film knows what people want for a good time at the cinema. Oohh and fun fact: this takes place in the same cinematic universe as Blade Runner, and you can listen for the brief tie in reference that only die hards will pick up on. Great stuff.

Though we're given next to no back story as to why humanity is engaged in some sort of vague interstellar war against unknown enemies or why society has become so fascistic, 'Soldier' comes on like gangbusters, setting up a juicy tale of old vs. new and of a lone outsider protecting a small group of people from danger while also seeking revenge against those who wronged him in the tradition of the classic Westerns.Unfortunately it can't overcome sloppy directing, some poor special f/x work and a script that fails to fully exploit the promising setup or the talents of its strong and quite game cast of actors.