Sorry, this movie sucks

Perfect cast and a good story

Expected more

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

...and frankly, I don't care if you like it or not. Without having much dialog at all, Kurt Russel gives an outstanding performance in a rather awkward yet entertaining scifi adventure...yes, Soldier is both a scifi movie, and an adventure movie in one. It has elements of several genres, in fact, including a kinda shadowy love story of sorts...I'm not even gonna throw in spoilers here, but I am sure you will enjoy it for what it is. The settings are very well done, with little CGI, and believe it or not, it is easy to follow the story...I frankly watch it every time I see it come on TV...

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.

1998's Soldier is a science fiction action film written by David Webb Peoples. For those unaware, Peoples co-wrote Blade Runner and Twelve Monkeys, and scripted Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, among several other credits. The writer actually considers Soldier to be a spiritual cousin to Blade Runner, and a "side-quel" since it takes place in the same filmic universe. However, Soldier is also directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson), a director who likes to make trashy action flicks and who gets a lot of flack for his efforts. Hence, while Peoples' script might have been more substantive at some stage, the end result is merely an entertaining action film with a few nice ideas, and it works in that sense.To the credit of Peoples and Anderson, Soldier takes its time to build the characters and observe Todd as he struggles to ingratiate himself into a more peaceful culture. Peoples' script has a number of things on its mind, exploring if it's possible for a lifelong killing machine to assimilate themselves back into society.Anderson gets a lot of hate for his movies, but he knows how to construct fluid and exciting action scenes. The fight choreography here is solid, and the gun battles are bad-ass. When Todd cuts loose and sets out to eliminate his opponents, Soldier is insanely entertaining.Russell was handed a tough task in portraying Todd. Although the star is on-screen practically all the time, he only says about 100 words throughout the entire movie. Instead of using words to convey his character's feelings, Russell had to do all the heavy lifting with facial expressions and body language. And he pulls it off beautifully. It's a terrifically nuanced performance, showing that Russell is a better actor than he gets credit for. Also in the cast is Isaacs, who essentially plays a cartoonish, moustache-twirling villain. It's a cheesy role, but Isaacs seems to be in the right spirit. Gary Busey is here as well, showing us why every movie can benefit from a touch of Busey.unfortunately, the film was a box office disaster, grossing less than $15 million at the domestic box office and predominantly going straight-to-video in the rest of the world. The critics used it as a punching bag, as well. But it matters not. As long as you can accept the movie for what it is, it's a blast.

Version I saw: UK DVD releaseActors: 6/10Plot/script: 7/10Photography/visual style: 7/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 6/10It is not widely known, but Soldier is actually a 'side-quel', set in the same world as Blade-Runner. It mentions a couple of details in passing which mark the connection. It is mainly notable, however, for being the follow-up of director Paul W.S. Anderson to the seminal Event Horizon.Anderson's career has become increasingly shaky, arguably deteriorating progressively from a high-water mark that was the eerie sci-fi horror film Event Horizon. Some of his output has veered dangerously close to outright B-movie fare.Soldier is, in some ways, a throwback to the 1980s, an era of bold, brash action movies with muscular male stars. It even has a couple of representatives of that period, in the form of star Kurt Russell and supporting player Gary Busey. They feed into a theme of old vs. new, mature vs. inexperienced, that I thought would be the entire backdrop to the story.It turns out that this was only a prelude. Russell's titular warrior loses heavily, and is cast out to survive in the wilderness, amongst poor scavengers. Here, it becomes clear that the skills and temperament that made him an excellent soldier, and indeed that were ruthlessly ground into him, are handicaps in any other context. This puts it in a field with the likes of All Quiet on the Western Front, Born on the Fourth of July, Full Metal Jacket, First Blood and right up to the much more recent American Sniper and Ender's Game. Admittedly, having said that, it is far from flattered by these comparisons, but it deserves some credit for tackling an issue, which is more than can be said for many of those dumb 80s actioners.Russell has always been a likable lead, and has only grown in experience. In Soldier, he needs every ounce of it, because his character is so laconic as to be practically mute. So much of his performance comes in the form of body language and facial expressions, constituting a hundred different gradations just of stoic determinedness and confusion/uncertainty. There's something... efficient about his performance that rather impressed me.Another thing that impressed me somewhat was the special effects. By today's standards, CGI from this period often looks very ropey. However, Anderson cleverly places these special effects shots in the background and doesn't draw attention to them, so that they enhance the far-future outer space setting without coming under excessive scrutiny.When it comes down to it, though, Soldier is first and foremost an action film. For all the other themes explored to a degree in the movie, by far the theme most explored is that of men fighting each other. But that certainly has its place, and has become Anderson's metier. I hear Pompeii is pleasingly daft and enjoyable, and if he is not going to go back to the tense, intense horror of Event Horizon, this will more than suffice.