Soldier

Soldier (1998)

Image From IMDB

As a big fan of Paul W.S. Anderson I was pretty disappointed with Soldier upon release. I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but after the fantastic Event Horizon I wanted something more than Commando in Space. Nearly thirty years on, while I still think the movie is missing a little something, it’s definitely a lot more than Commando in space, and is actually a pretty decent movie. Young me could be dumb at times.

Soldier is a story about Todd (Kurt Russell) a super soldier from birth who is deemed obsolete when the next batch of genetically engineered soldiers arrive. After being dumped on a garbage planet and presumed dead Todd begins to slowly discover life exists outside of his regiment, just in time for him to have to defend his new friends against the very soldiers who replaced him.

Soldier is an odd movie, and with a little perspective I think I mean that in a good way. Kurt’s silent hero Todd is clearly a heroic character straight out of an old western, and a lot of the movie is inspired by one of those fantastic John Ford or Howard Hawks films, but then there’s also plenty of modern (at the time) action, and confirmed hints of it being set in the Blade Runner universe.

The movie has long passages of silence… and rocket launchers. A great opening montage showing the history of the soldier… and snakes biting genetically engineered soldiers eyes. It has Todd learning about human emotions… and flame throwers. It’s stuck between wanting to be a serious movie like the aforementioned Blade Runner, and an action flick, while also trying to be a western. I like this kind of tonal mix nowadays, but at the time I think I wanted the movie to pick a lane.

Kurt Russells performances is an odd one for me too. He does a good job, but why have Kurt in a sci-fi if he’s not going to act like Snake or MacReady? His natural charisma feels wasted when he’s being so stoic. Jason Isaacs on the other hand is in full asshole mode which he always does well, and Gary Busey absolutely nails being Gary Busey.

I think Soldier is a great concept, and they do a lot of interesting things within the movie, but I do still think there’s something missing. Whether that’s being a little more focused or tweaking the characters a little i’m not sure, but it is a decent flick. I enjoyed both halves, and all the tonal changes, but yeah… I just wanted that little something else that I can’t quite put my finger on.