- An itinerant warrior in outer space is forced to become a hero when he must defend a band of settlers on a remote planet.Running Time: 100 min. System Requirements: Starring: Kurt Russell, et al. Edition Details: Region 1 encoding (for use in US and Canada only) Color, Special Edition Number of discs: 1 Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: R Age: 08539169582
An itinerant warrior in outer space is forced to become a hero when he must defend a band of settlers on a remote planet.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 Nelson
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March 13, 2010
#1
You know when you’re sitting around on a Saturday afternoon, and some pathetically terrible, 1980′s sci-fi movie comes on and it’s SO bad that you end up watching it all? That’s exactly what happened to me with Soldier, but this movie was made in 1998!!
This is the kind of movie, acting, and directing that gives sci-fi a bad name outside a few franchises, and ensures we don’t get much in the way of original movies. Kurt Russell packs wide-eyed looks into the camera as a substitute for acting; the director uses generic music and sudden and *dramatic* slow-motion shots to add ‘feeling’ to the movie. The world is eternally dark and gloomy, only lit by the constant over-bright fires.
Kurt Russell is too big a name for this movie, and none of the other parts are done any justice by the terrible acting.
One of the worst movies I’ve seen in a LONG time! Ranks up there with Battlefield Earth and Lost in Space.
March 13, 2010
#2
If you are going to make a film in someone’s back yard, at least there should be some gripping dialog or novel character development. This film was horrendously bad, trotting out all the scifi and action movie clichés, without adding anything to them. Russell’s macho posing can’t hide the utter lack of thought that goes into his character. This movie was made on a shoestring to take advantage of people (like me) who are stupid enough to see anything that smacks of scifi and action. No more.
March 13, 2010
#3
I am a big fan of Kurt Russell but this movie sucks. And as Forrest Gump said, “thats all I have to say about that.”
March 13, 2010
#4
This is Kurt Russell’s worst movie. A good portion of special effects and action can’t overcome a rather boring, predictable storyline. Even the minor characters have more lines than he does!
March 13, 2010
#5
The basic premise of this movie could be quite interesting – how does a man trained as a ‘killing-machine’ integrate back into society. Yes, it’s been done before but still holds promise. The plot was adequate.
The acting was believable – no complaints there. I particularly enjoyed Sean Pertwee as ‘Mace’. And Jason Isaacs has long been a favorite actor.
But what ruined the movie for me was the science. I’m not a fanatic – I have no problems with FTL travel or spaceships ‘banking’ on turns or loud explosions in space in movies. And I realize that movies are not ‘real’. But I’ve never seen more ‘bad’ science in any one movie. My son and I watched this together and it turned into a contest seeing who could catch more bloopers.
I could go on and on detailing the scientific and logic errors in this movie – but it would take me all night. It spoiled the whole movie for me.