Soldier (1998)
by Paul W.S. Anderson
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Connie Nielsen, Jason Isaacs, Jason Scott Lee, Kurt Russell, Sean PertweeDirector: Paul W.S. Anderson
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
Running Time: 99 minutes
Release Date: 1999-08-31
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video
VHS Movie Reviews of Soldier (1998)
Movie Review: Missing In Action
Summary: 2 Stars
On second thought, my title to this review should be "Missing THE Action", which is the film's dominating and damning problem: starring action hero Kurt Russell ("Escape from New York") and directed by genre resident Paul Anderson ("Mortal Kombat"), I expected "Soldier" to be a veritable action-powerhouse...yet the film goes beyond missing its mark and lacks any definitive direction - unsure if it wants to be a an action flick, a survival story, or a social critique.
"Todd" (Russell) is a soldier born into and raised in your typical lifelong military program: taught to kill as soon as he can walk, he excels in his training and becomes the callous veteran of many conflicts. However, when a rival program pits its stronger, faster units against the older models in an exhibition, Todd is presumed killed and his body is dumped on a designated garbage disposal planet. Here, he settles in with a close-knit community of exiles, and slowly begins to attain a level of humanity he never knew...until the new breed of soldiers, in an effort to gain combat experience, is dispatched to the planet to weed out its inhabitants.
As said before, the film lacks action - or, at the very least, lacks satisfying action: with the exception of two encounters with rival soldier "Caine" (a hunky Jason Scott Lee, "The Jungle Book"), Russell has no hand-to-hand fights, and the only firefight - a slow-moving 17-on-1 shoot-`em-up - doesn't occur until the film's last twenty minutes. The rest of the movie focuses solely on Todd getting acquainted and trying to fit in with his hosts, and for a lack of a more delicate phrase, this is very boring: though an accomplished actor, Russell lacks the subtlety in this film to make his rarely-speaking character appear like anything besides a guy who doesn't understand what the heck is going on - lots of pursed-lip, wide-eyed staring. But he calls everyone "sir" - even women.
The rest of the performers - including Connie Nielsen ("One Hour Photo") and Gary Busey ("Under Siege") - are generally passable in their portrayals, but aren't given an opportunity to add to the script. The film's graphics are visibly outdated, and the sets range from okay-ish to dollar-budget. However, the more significant fault lies in the film's sense of morality: the faction that bred Russell's character is seen exercising cruelty and infanticide, yet when the bigger and better soldiers with the cockier commander (Jason Isaacs, "The Patriot") arrive, the folks behind Todd's creation are suddenly turned into good guys. In addition, the over-the-top militarism displayed has no purpose: it's never revealed why a program to turn out such soldiers is even required, and the attack on the exiled colony happens for no other reason than that the commander is a jerk.
While I was expecting Anderson's trademark style of pop-direction and not much of a story, "Soldier" is a significant step below average for the man who brought us "Mortal Kombat" and "Resident Evil", and it's not hard to see why the film flopped back in 1998. In short, this movie isn't going to stir too much interest with either sci-fi or action fans, and Kurt Russell devotees have definitely seen better from their man. Leave this one on the shelf unless you're desperate.
Summary of Soldier (1998)
Kurt Russell hits new heights in laconic action heroes with his portrayal of Sergeant Todd, born and bred to be a soldier in a futuristic army. Raised to kill mercilessly, living only for battle, he finds himself at the twilight of his career (and so-called life) when a regiment of genetically enhanced warriors threatens to make his brand of soldiering obsolete. Despite his extensive skills, he is no match for the best of breed of the new order, and he's left for dead on a planet that serves only as a junk heap. There he encounters a ragtag group of castaways, and in his own strange and silent way slowly begins to learn how to be less a killer and more a human. All is disrupted, though, when the genetic regiment arrives on the trash planet and decides to eradicate the local human "trespassers." Though Todd had been overmatched before, this time he has more than ever to fight for--a home, and friends. Soldier is one of those rare sci fi movies that relies more on plot and action than special effects (though the trash planet is effectively wrought). The pace of action in the last half of the film is relentless and exciting, and Russell's portrayal of the old warrior as he warms to human emotions relies more on expression than words--in fact, he barely utters more than a half-dozen lines. --Tod NelsonAction & Adventure VHS Video
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