Soldier (1998)
Director: Paul WS Anderson
Starring: Kurt Russell, Jason Scott Lee, Jason Isaacs
Synopsis:
A trained from birth soldier is abandoned as obsolete defends a colony of crash survivors on a planetary waste dump.
Impressions:
I'm not a fan of Paul WS Anderson. Or rather, I'm not a fan of what he became. Mortal Kombat is decent and Event Horizon is awesome. There was one more movie before his filmography took a downward turn with Resident Evil and that's this movie. I was mildly interested when it came out, but it was one of those many films that slipped through the cracks. I'd heard mixed reviews and when I started doing these reviews, this was something I jumped on when the opportunity presented itself. Is this a great movie? No. Is this a good movie? Absolutely. Written as a sort of sidequel to Blade Runner, if the concept of engineered soldiers is an interesting premise to you, then you should like this movie. (Halo fans could think of it as an analog to the SPARTAN program. I don't doubt the movie had some influence on the series.) This is a surprisingly thoughtful movie with a slow second act detailing Todd's (mal)adaption to the civilian environment, touching on themes like PTSD to offset the high-octane action of the conclusion. On a physical level, I have to credit Kurt Russell for bulking up so much for his role but even more so Jason Scott Lee who is an absolute beast as the main rival Caine. I like the general aesthetic of the film and score is reminiscent of James Horner's work for Aliens. I'd say it's a good sign for a movie when the biggest complaint I have is Kurt Russell's ate-up salutes. That mild ribbing aside, I have to give Russell a nod for doing most of his acting without words. Not everyone can pull that off. If you want a solid sci-fi action film, this one is well worth watching.
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