Director Paul Anderson's Soldier is a really under rated and misunderstood action movie starring the legendary Kurt Russell. The screenplay was written by David Webb Peoples who is best known for penning classics like Blade Runner and Unforgiven. Set in a dystopian, futuristic sci fi setting. Kurt Russell is Sgt. Todd, a super soldier killing machine who has since birth only known fear and discipline. In this function, Todd excels. Todd was bred to be a soldier and by age 40 he has spent his entire life fighting and training. He ends up getting replaced by a new genetically engineered soldier that is faster and stronger. He is left for dead under high command and resides on a waste disposal planet in a community of outcasts. Todd has trouble coping with domestic life and throughout the course of the film finds some humanity. The new soldiers lack experience and end up on the waste disposal planet. The commander(Jason Issacs) has declared any survivors are hostiles and are to be used as target practice. What the military does not know is they are occupying Todd's new home and he has a score to settle. Soldier is mostly a straight up action movie, but there is a whole lot of subtext here that the critics of this film miss. As much as Todd excels at warfare, he can't function in normal civilian situations and has no idea how to function like a normal human being. Kurt embodies this character well and spent a year and a half training to prepare for the role. Most action actors are also dedicated to that part of the job. However, Kurt is equally effective in playing Todd's flaws as well. Todd is very effective in battle, but is very awkward and inept in a social setting. Kurt also conveys much of Todd's feelings with minimal dialogue, which Kurt makes look easy but is very difficult for most actors to do. This film bombed at the box office at the time of its release and probably has too much amped up testosterone for the wimpy 90's. Action fans however, should enjoy this. Plus Soldier has a bit of substance as well once you scratch the surface.
Review of Soldier
