Kurt Russell was in his late 40s when director Paul Anderson put together this gem. He had started his career with Disney and had a pretty good run over the years, in a wide variety of parts (including Elvis, not kidding you). His most memorable part however was the character of hard man Snake Plessken in the two Escape films, the second much worse than the first, and the first notable mainly for Russell. And then comes this gem. Boy does this guy deliver. Not just the action scenes, but -- in the great tradition of Universal Soldier which, arguably, this copies from -- in the acting as well. You look in his face and you feel the pain of being betrayed by the government. The story is superb in that it builds. In other reviews I have explained the mysterious secret of action movies, ie, that the brain of the viewer yearns for logic and order. If you deliver fight scenes that have each new fight based on the result of the last one, you increase viewer satisfaction. Here viewer satisfaction goes off the chart. Nice riffs and children and violence, opposites attract, other neat stuff. Folks, this is one of the greatest action films of all time and the group rating is just plain wrong.

--------------------------------------------------- ***Greetings from both the future and the past*** the former relative to when this film was released, the latter relative to those yet to find this review. Have just seen Soldier for the 9th time. It gets better each time, which is more than I can say for the reviews panning it. It is an extraordinary work on so many levels -- perfectly layered script; a tale of redemption; a tale of revenge; a tale of young vs old, new vs. proved; a metaphor for civilization; a metaphor for justice and worth. And, again, a tremendous "goodbye" from Russell to his fans, from an actor who first appeared before the camera as a kid in the 50's, and then found the grit here to deliver (literally) dialog with only his eyes.

Stoic and laconic soldier Sergeant Todd (a fine and credible performance by the ever reliable Kurt Russell) gets dumped on a desolate remote planet after he's deemed obsolete by ruthless and arrogant Colonel Mekum (deliciously played to the slimy hilt by Jason Isaacs),who has Todd and his fellow soldiers replaced with a new advanced breed of genetically engineered combatants. Todd joins a peaceful ragtag community of self-reliant outcasts and has to defend this community when the new soldiers arrive for a field exercise. Director Paul W.S. Anderson, working from a smart and provocative script by David Webb Peoples, depicts a chilling vision of a bleak, cold and harsh possible near future while maintaining a snappy pace and a tough, gritty tone throughout. Moreover, Anderson handles moving moments of humanity well (Todd's struggle to get in touch with his previously repressed feelings is genuinely poignant) and stages the stirring action scenes with rip-roaring gusto. Russell gives a strong and impressive almost pantomime portrayal of Todd; he conveys a lot of emotion without saying much and instead does the majority of his acting through his body movements and facial expressions. Bang-up supporting turns by Jason Scott Lee as brutish rival soldier Caine 607, Connie Nielson as the compassionate Sandra, Sean Pertwee as the kindly Mace, Jared and Taylor Thorne as mute little boy Nathan, Gary Busey as crusty seasoned veteran Captain Church, Michael Chiklis as the jolly Johnny Pig, and Brenda Wehle as the sensible Mayor Hawkins. Better still, this film makes a profound and significant statement about the spiritual cost of being a merciless soldier and the importance of intellectual strength over physical might. David Tattersall's polished cinematography, Joel McNeely's rousing full-bore orchestral score, and the first-rate rate special effects all further enhance the overall sterling quality of this superior science fiction/action hybrid outing.

It's 1996 year zero of Adam Project. Orphans are raised from babies to soldiers. Sgt. Todd 3465 (Kurt Russell) leads his men in various wars. Years afterward, Col. Mekum (Jason Isaacs) has created genetically engineered superior soldiers. Capt. Church (Gary Busey) insists on a real fight. Caine 607 (Jason Scott Lee) wins a three on one combat but Todd is able to gouge out one of Caine's eye. The older soldiers are reduced to menial jobs while Todd's body is abandoned in a wind-swept waste dump planet. He is taken in by the inhabitants Sandra (Connie Nielsen) and Mace (Sean Pertwee). The inhabitants are crash survivors ignored by the dump ships. The community decides to push out Todd. When Mekum comes to clear the planet, Todd comes to the rescue.

I really like the concept and the start of this movie. However the society on the planet adds very little. Todd's development is clunky at best. His relationship with Sandra and her husband Mace is somewhat of a mystery. I can't tell if the movie is trying to gin up a romance. It would be much better to concentrate on their son and Todd. Todd could be a Frankenstein monster to the boy. It would probably be easier to not make the mom so hot. They shot a lot and blow up a lot of stuff for the final act. It's passable action but felt relatively repetitive.