Soldier (1998/I)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Paul W.S. Anderson

Writer (WGA):

David Webb Peoples (written by)

Release Date:

23 October 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Left for dead on a remote planet for obsolete machines and people, a fallen hero has one last battle to fight

Plot:

After being defeated and left for dead by his genetically engineered replacements, Sergeant Todd must save a peaceful community from destruction by the same soldiers.

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Sergeant | Colony | Futuristic | Survivor

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Todd 3465
Jason Scott Lee	...	Caine 607
Jason Isaacs	...	Colonel Mekum
Connie Nielsen	...	Sandra
Sean Pertwee	...	Mace
Jared Thorne	...	Nathan
Taylor Thorne	...	Nathan
Mark Bringleson	...	Rubrick
Gary Busey	...	Church
K.K. Dodds	...	Sloan
James Black	...	Riley
Mark De Alessandro	...	Goines
Vladimir Orlov	...	Romero
Carsten Norgaard	...	Green
Duffy Gaver	...	Chelsey

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and brief language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1999) | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (cable rating) | Canada:14A | Finland:K-18 | Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 (video premiere) | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Freeze frame the 'Trinity Moons' data readout display in the closing scene and you will find several references to "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy". The 'Top Archive Specifications' comes up with ZZ9.Plurl.ZA (the sector in which Earth is reported to be) which comes up in Zaphod mode. On the right under 'Search Results' you can see 'Slartibartfast' complete with an 'HHG' reference number.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Todd is rising from the water ready to shoot, it is clear from the ripples, lack of water falling from his body, and the fire in the background that the shot was played in reverse.

Quotes:

Sandra: How do you know they'll be back?
Todd: Because they're soldiers, Sir. Like me.
Sandra: Why are they doing this?
Todd: They're obeying orders, Sir. It's their duty.
Sandra: Do you know how many there will be?
Todd: Seventeen more, Sir.
Sandra: Oh my God, you can't fight seventeen more on your own, you have to organize us. We're not cowards, we'll do as you tell us, we'll fight.
Todd: No.
Sandra: Why not?
Todd: Soldiers deserve soldiers, Sir.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Spartan (2004)

Soundtrack:

Night Ride Across The Caucasus

A strange mix...

David Webb Peoples meets Paul Anderson...if it already sounds weird to you, then you are right, because it is.

Peoples is known for his scripts with moral implications of what is right and wrong, the value of life, etc... He covered these issues in Bladerunner, Unforgiven, and pretty much in all of his screenplays there is something along those lines.

Paul Anderson's first successful movie was a violent thriller. Not surprisingly so have all of his other movies! And here is a violent thriller with moral implications!

Peoples' script is quite apparent in the first half of the movie. Soldiers trained from birth, taught to kill, and never had a normal life. They are replaced by better, genetically engineered soldiers and Todd, one of the original soldiers, is left on a planet and left for dead. There he must cope with a group of refugees, some want him to stay others hate him and there is an interesting drama here. BUT THEN...

...The bullets start to fly as the new soldiers move onto the planet for a military exercise and try to kill all the people. Big, violent, loud action ensues and Peoples' script turns into an Anderson action-fest. It is hard to believe that the script was originally written that way, but the end product is better then I expected. Entertaining, somewhat, though admittedly not very, thought-provoking, and exciting once the action starts. 7/10

Rated R: a lot of violence