Back in 1998, a little action flick came out, received middling reviews, and made only $14.5 million of its $60 million budget. A story set in the future, one that embraced the “One Man Army” trope, starring a surprisingly strong cast led by Kurt Russell and directed by the man who gave us Mortal Kombat and Event Horizon. Making things even stranger, it exists in a canonically connected universe to Blade Runner. Movies are 99% about place and time, and this flick was sadly released in the wrong era. So today, I want to explore one of the best and most underrated action films of the late ‘90s. Today, we talk Soldier.
There is something so intrinsically human about the “One Man Army” trope and how we love to see the wrong things put right. It’s been around forever—think George Stevens’s Shane, for example—but popularized (at least in the blockbuster mainstream) in the ‘80s with Reagan-era militarism. And besides some lulls, it has been a popular subgenre ever since. Rambo takes out the Viet Cong, Matrix kills Bennett’s army, Boudreaux kicks every last one of Lance Henriksen’s goons, and even Nico goes up against a crooked CIA in America’s greatest city. And in 1998, we got a futuristic take that might have just been too late to the game. Soldier fits perfectly in the subgenre and aims to give the audience a high-budget version of a man left for dead getting even with the ones who did him wrong.
Soldier tells the tale of Sergeant Todd 3465, a soldier trained from birth, among many others, whose sole purpose was to be the government’s ultimate weapon. That’s until a better and more genetically enhanced model replaces him and his unit. After a “training exercise” gone wrong, he’s dumped on a trash planet where a small community of survivors takes him in and shows Todd a version of life he never knew existed. When his replacements eventually show up on a routine sweep, Todd defends his new family and proves you can’t beat spirit.
But what always surprises me is that, thematically, it has far more heart than it needs to. Yeah, it’s an action movie, first and foremost, with big explosions, badass fights, and all that good stuff. But underneath all that, it’s also a surprisingly thoughtful take on aging, obsolescence, and the human need for belonging. Todd, raised from birth to be the ultimate soldier, has a proven and flawless track record. He’s a grizzled 40 when we meet him, just as a new breed of genetically engineered soldiers is introduced. Todd and his unit are deemed outdated. After a matchup with the Über-soldiers, he’s discarded like a broken TV, abandoned on a trash-covered planet with no further purpose. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older—more gray in the beard than ever before—but Todd’s fading usefulness hits harder now. Time waits for no one, and someone faster, stronger, and smarter is always waiting to take your place.
Of course, Todd isn’t necessarily weaker than his bald replacements, but the military sees these new soldiers as an upgrade. Todd represents a generation who have given everything to their profession, only to be cast aside when they are no longer deemed essential. And that’s a hard reality, one we will all have to face one day. There’s an expiration date; we just don’t know exactly when.
Kurt Russell gives one of his best career performances with only 104 words of dialogue. There’s a reason he’s a Hollywood legend, and this performance foolishly gets overlooked. He does so much with his eyes and body language, conveying many emotions without saying a word. And similar to Murphy in RoboCop, Todd’s character arc is about regaining one’s humanity—the thing corporations and the military can take away.
Of course, the smart script is why Soldier rises above the generic action/revenge flick. Written by David Peoples, who also wrote Blade Runner, 12 Monkeys, and Unforgiven, the script shows his mastery of world-building and character depth. According to David Peoples, Soldier takes place in the same universe as Blade Runner. It’s the same world, but this time, it focuses on the military side rather than the corporate and cyberpunk aspects. We even get a few in-world Easter eggs, like the spinner cars in the trash world and the Tannhäuser Gate battle tattooed on Todd’s arm. Both Blade Runner and Soldier dive headfirst into the dehumanization of artificially created beings. Replicants are bioengineered humans, built for labor and slapped with an expiration date. Do your job and politely die. Soldier takes a similar approach but swaps out synthetic lifeforms for genetically modified human killing machines. The big thematic link? Obsolescence. The one thing that awaits us all, and it’s a lousy, fickle bitch. Just like replicants get replaced with newer models, Todd and his squad are tossed aside the second a slicker, stronger batch of soldiers rolls in. Todd’s fight for survival after being deemed useless isn’t far off from Roy Batty’s existential crisis in Blade Runner.
The supporting cast deserves some love, as they do a lot to flesh out this dark, futuristic world. Jason Isaacs damn near steals the show with his cold and slimy portrayal of Colonel Mekum. And I believe it was his idea to have that punchable mustache. Captain Church is empathetically played by a very toned-down Gary Busey, which was pretty against type for him in this era of his career. He plays Church as a man with integrity and a “salt of the earth” charm while being the most professional kind of smart-ass. Sean Pertwee and Connie Nielsen are solid as always; Michael Chiklis has a small but fun role as Jimmy, while Jason Scott Lee makes for a great villain as Caine 607. He kicked ass as Bruce Lee, became our live-action Mowgli, and is surprisingly intimidating as Caine.
Paul Anderson was on a fantastic run in the ‘90s. Shopping – Mortal Kombat – Event Horizon – and Soldier. Obviously, more in tune with the action & science fiction side of film, Anderson’s eye really sets Soldier apart from feeling bland like Species II or The Avengers from the same year. Besides some aging CG, the sets have personality, and the color of the movie changes as the story progresses. He wanted the military scenes to have more symmetrical framing with cooler blues and greens, then shift to a sepia-toned look for the garbage planet. His intention was to evoke the feeling of an old photograph like you’ve gone back in time.
Soldier should have, and most likely would have, been a hit if it had come out closer to when it was actually written (that being 1984). But by ‘98, these movies were dead on arrival. Tastes had shifted. But as it gets overlooked—or worse, forgotten—in the action genre, I’m here to set the record straight: this movie kicks ass. Kurt Russell delivers a stoic, badass performance; the themes still hit hard today, and it’s pure, unfiltered adrenaline. Guns. Blood. Explosions. It’s one of my favorite calls to action ever.
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