Soldier

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.

Kurt Russell is strong and (mostly) silent in this futuristic action-thriller from Paul Anderson (Event Horizon, Resident Evil.) Set on a garbage-dump planet, Soldier plays like a cross between Rambo and Shane, with Russell barely speaking as the title character, an "obsolete" genetic soldier left for dead. The supporting cast of colonists, including Connie Nielsen, Sean Pertwee and a surprisingly hirsute Michael Chiklis, is able. They spend most of the movie being scared of Russell, and the rest of it running for their lives. Russell's performance here is one of the best he's ever given. With almost no words to say, he conveys emotion, feeling and meaning with looks and glances. It is almost a mime performance. When the action sequences kick into gear, he kicks ass--and does so in a strong, silent, matter-of fact way. There are flaws. Jason Scott Lee is brutish as a "superior" genetic soldier. Jason Isaacs does a great impression of Frank Burns from M*A*S*H as a weaselly commanding officer, and Gary Busey busts a gut (and nearly busts his girdle) as Todd's mentor. This is an underrated, and excellent sci-fi flick, and recommended for anyone who wants a second visit to the universe of Blade Runner--David Webb Peoples wrote both screenplays.

I bought the Laser Disk of this movie and watched it for the first time last night. I thought it was pretty cool, and the audio commentary by the director, producer and co-star was first rate. Highly recommended purchase on LD, or DVD. And if you have a Pro-logic or Ac3 amp it sounds brilliant.

I don't know what I was doing when this movie originally came out, because I watched this first time today. This was, and still is a movie for me.

Background, lighting and camerawork reminded me of Aliens. Plot was similar to several movies of this genre. I have a feeling that lot was borrowed from Universal Soldier. I detected glimpses of the Terminator-franchise as well. Generally I hate it when I can pinpoint copying or "paying homage" (I'm looking at you, Waterworld...), but the team behind Soldier managed to make the experience enjoyable.

Todd was suitably awkward given his long military career and training. The couple who took him in were in my eyes your basic married-with-children husband and wife very much in love with each other. Their son was a nice surprise. Quiet and sensible kid who didn't get anybody in trouble or killed. Even villains of this movie were tolerable. Predictable as heck but not annoyingly childish.

Solid 8 stars.

The first two sequences of this movie set up the two conflicts: the -thematic- conflict between the soldier Todd and his suppressed humanity, and the -physical- conflict between Todd and his bio-engineered replacement. Both sequences are quite gripping in different ways.

Peoples' screenplay falters somewhat by resolving the first of these arcs half-way through the movie, which means the second half is little more than a straightforward action romp.

Nonetheless, kudos to the makers for creating an genre action piece with heart and even a bit of soul and especially to Kurt Russell who conveys much with very little.

Not a great film, but one worth seeing.