Rating: 
Summary: It doesn't get much worse than this!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Ride
Review: I can't even count how many times I got sucked into this film, I must have watched the thing a dozen times now and enjoyed every one. I'm not meaning to, but it's on the Dish or I just feel like an action flick and there you go. It's a great action film and portrays a soldier's transformation to human. I agree with some of the other reviews that Kurt does a remarkable job portraying his role without ever saying much at all, that was on purpose - a part of the character. It has one of the all-time great lines when confronted with the fact he was wildly outnumbered and asked what he was going to do. He turns and doesn't even blink and says "I'm going to kill them all."
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant characterisation of Sgt Todd by Kurt Russell
Review: Not a classic, but a striking character performance by Russell.
Sgt Todd indoctrinated from birth to be an efficent cold blooded killer is replaced by a genetically superior warrior, whom he, notwithstanding, maims in a hand to hand combat test.
He then becomes the only hope of a band of castaways scavanging an existance on a junkyard planet on which they have been marooned.
Alas, they as thus deemed targets and legitimate prey for the new warriors and their odious commander.
The plot suffers by a lack of consistency in the characters apart from Russell, they are too willing to go with the flow.
However, once Sgt Todd is let loose to 'Kill them all Sir' this becomes a movie not to miss.
Rating:
Summary: See it.
Review: The soldiers depict, to a degree, what is required for a person to do the job, no matter what. Russel is excellent. This should be a movie the everyone is required to see so that they can get the perspective of why one must abandon his conscience in war, and why some people are not able to regain it.
Rating:
Summary: Don't laugh!
Review: I think this movie is one of the most overlooked of recent years. People may laugh, but I thought Kurt Russell was perfect in this--he gets my Oscar for that year. Too bad you never get nominated for a real action flick. He says 80 words (not certain on that, but I counted them once!) but packs more into his performance than any of today's more acclaimed "actors". I've never seen an actor express so effectively with their eyes. So often I see a close up these days and either am not sure what emotion they are trying to show, or I know exactly what they are trying to display but can't help notice how poorly they are showing it. Maybe part of it comes from the character, I'll admit. His emotions are buried due to his lifelong training, but he's seen some things that have tremendous emotional impact, so you are expecting there's something deep inside that wants to get out. And then Kurt shows it, and very effectively. In summary, this is my favorite of the highly specific Terminator/Robocop/Ultimate Soldier sub-genre, and ends up being one of my very favorite action movies.
Rating:
Summary: Truly, eyes are the windows of the soul.
Review: Kurt Russell barely says a hundred words in Soldier. There are no catchy one-liners to diminish his performance; he says only what is necessary and it always ends with 'Sir!'. Soldier is a cruel extrapolation of the the military's destruction of individuality. Here, soldiers are as disposable as tissues when something better comes along.
Russell's performance in this movie is endlessly fascinating! His face and body language express more than any dialogue could, allowing the viewer to take as much emotional depth as he or she would have. It is interesting to find that as one tunes into this near-silent performance, one can find much more depth in the performances of the other actors in the film. If you don't want to delve into the emotional avenues of this film there are some great action sequences to keep the pace moving, including a fight with our hero and our antagonist high up on chains!
The violence here is graphic. Not many punches are pulled by the director, although the commentary makes it clear that he did not go as far as he wanted. The violence is not gratuitous though. To understand our hero we must see where he came from, and that is a cold and fearsome place.
I wish there were more extra features in this DVD. It only comes with a trailer and a commentary. The guys are interesting though, balancing technical aspects of the film with little bits about the actors and what they all went through during filming.
I highly recommend this movie for fans of Kurt Russell, action, sci-fi and good storytelling. Thank you Paul Anderson!
Rating:
Summary: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It.
Review: a human trained from birth to be the ultimate soldier meets the ultimate soldier, genetically engineered to be faster, stronger, meaner.
Russell does a good job coming to grips with his humanity in the action-packed futuristic drama. An interesting twist on the old story of an impersonal military trying to create the perfect warrior only to have it destroyed by a soldier fighting for something he believes in. One of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Good soldiering
Review: Yes, the plot of this movie is incredibly contrived, almost absurdly so. However, the premise of the film is quite interesting. Right around present day, a top-secret government firm recruits (or should I say kidnaps?) male orphans and boys w/out any familial ties in order to mold them into perfect soldiers. The training is ruthless and the weaklings are weeded out; if you can't cut the mustard, you get whacked. In some ways, this reminds me of the regimen instituted by the Spartans of ancient Greece where boys underwent brutal instruction in the art of war between the ages of 7-20.
The movie then skips ahead 40 some odd years into the future. By this time, a new breed (literally) of warriors comes to the fore to replace the old school soldiers. This new class of warriors are genetically engineered to be military men. They endanger the old class of becoming obsolete. There is then a competition between a champion of the old guard (Kurt Russell) vs a member of the new (Jason Scott Lee). The talents of Russell, Lee and Gary Busey are all a bit wasted in this movie, but it's nice to see bona-fide actors in an action movie. Indeed, having these 3 perform in a marginal movie like this is like hiring the Morman Tabernacle choir to sing "Happy Birthday." This is not a great movie, by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is entertaining and boasts top-notch acting. The special effects and sets on the junk-yard-world are quite impressive, too. So, if you're looking for a solid action movie w/out a great plot to round out your action movie collection, this might just be for you. If you demand an exceptional plot from any and every movie you see, I would recommend that you pass this one by.
Rating:
Summary: Destined To Be A Closet Classic!
Review: I applaud the writer, director and star of Soldier - great work! The story brought in some interesting concepts - something to think about. Soldiers trained from birth - a life of incessant training and combat. It makes you ask yourself questions. How far off is this from the athletes from the primarily former Eastern Bloc who's life was geared around Olympic competition? How far off is making newborns wards of the State and inducting them into this kind of life? The story also asked the question: What does someone who has known nothing but military training and combat think and feel? It's really something else. Another thing that I was pleased to see was the triumph of Man over Technology. While the new Soldiers are genetically superior to Dodd and his men, they lack the intuition, creativity, and combat experience that the "old ones" have. The director's influence on the story was obvious in the use of story/plot over special effects (though they did exist). Use of the camera was expert in such scenes as Dodd's flashback as he is using the large metal can as a punching bag - it comes as no surprise that out of instinct and pure reaction that he attacks the man who suddenly comes into the room. Excellent setting of mood and building of suspense. Kurt Russell himself plays an excellent character. He pulls off alot of combinations that other actors may very well have shyed away from. For example, he definitely put on some muscle for this film, but at the same time this hulking and scarred Soldier is at times terrified, compassionate, and paternal...all the while not coming out of the hardened state of the character. Bravo. All in all, the untrained eye may see this as a low-budget sci-fi film (again, few special effects - sometimes the primary judging factor of a sci-fi film, sadly). I, however, see this film as making a statement and showing off the style and skill of all involved.
Rating:
Summary: Kurt Russell didn't have to memorize many lines!
Review: Russell didn't say much, but he didn't have to. The picture was well directed and well acted. A very interesting story line.
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