Soldier

Rating:
Summary: Buy this movie right now, that's an order.
Review: This is a great sci-fi action movie. Not only are the effects top notch but the script actually makes sense.This is a story about a man raised from birth to be the perfect soldier. After surviving numerous battles Todd discovers that he is obsolete and is tossed out with the rest of the trash. He is soon taken in by the inhabitants of the planet and slowly regains his humanity.If you hanen't seen this one you are missing out on some good stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Dumb As Hell , But Watchable
Review: Soldier is one of those films that was just made to be poked fun at. Everything about this film is familiar. The plot is basically Escape From New York meets The Road Warrior. Russell and Busey deserve better than this. The action is a joke, and the acting is hilarious. Just watch this to laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Kurt Russel fights the good fight, says 2 words in movie.
Review: The plot and content of the movie was very origional and different, and the director had a interesting way of showing scenes which was out of the ordinary. Kurt Russel says all of seemingly 2 or 3 words the whole movie "yes sir" and "No sir". Wow, that really exictes me. Dont ask me why they thought that having Kurt Russel practically mute and socially completely retarded would make the movie more entertaining. I would have thought it would have been cool if he learned how to get along with everyone and actually start to speak at one point, but I was let down cause this never happened. The action in the film was exciting and different, but the movie ended and I was like "Thats it? " Its a movie to rent, not to buy.

Rating:
Summary: Russell's worst movie
Review: This is Kurt Russell's worst movie. A good portion of special effects and action can't overcome a rather boring, predictable storyline. Even the minor characters have more lines than he does!

Rating:
Summary: One of the most underrated movies of 1998
Review: This movie works on several levels. First there is the obvious--and if you can not see any deeper than this, you will not enjoy the movie--:The obvious is the action-oriented story and cinematography. Good in its own right, but not great. What makes this movie great is the almost invisible underlayered theme. The little boy at the beginning of the movie is still very much present in Kurt Russell's character as he grows and becomes a man. And even at the end, look into Russell's eyes, and the child within is still there. To me, this movie is really about how bad things affect people from the time they are children. And the main thrust of the movie seems to be that we are all still children, no matter how old we are.

Rating:
Summary: Soldier through the poor screenplay.
Review: The main attraction for buying the DVD is that given the low price one gets some very interesting added features, namely the audio commentary by the director and producer. Ultimately this is their film and it succeeds or fails due to their influences. One of the great drawbacks is that the lead character has very little dialogue with which to convey some complex psychological issues. If not for the competent performance of Kurt Russell as Sgt Todd (and the physical charms of Connie Nielsen) the film would fall flat on its face. Notwithstanding, the action, special effects and cinematography are sufficiently admirable to keep the sci-fi buffs entertained. The movie begins on a good premise although I would question the wisdom of placing the setting in the contemporary period when a more futuristic treatment would seem more likely. But by far the greatest deficiency originates with the lacklustre script, which is hard to understand given thefact that the same pen which inked this mess wrote Blade Runner. At some point it should have been realized that for the audince to make a sypathetic connection with Sgt Todd he would have to undergo an emotive transformation from a heartless killer. That aspect is never successfully explored. Even Jason Isaacs declares on the audio commentary that at times one screams out for Sgt Todd to say something but he never progresses beyond the monosyllabic. One problem with the scenario is that it seems pieced together from movie classics. The beginning evokes memories of Conan the Barbarian then proceeds to emulate Shane while the ending is clearly purloined from Rambo. There is no great shame in modifying the works of others to suit ones own purpose, after all James Cameron has become "King of the World" by utilizing this approach. There is no forgiveness however for a poor script, especially given the writer's credentials. I would have given this film three stars out of five but due to the harshness of some previous reviews I have tried to make ammends. With a slightly different treatment this movie could have been a classic instead of standard fare. Nevertheless, the audio commentary for this DVD is quite revealing about the film making process and is worth the price of purchase.

Rating:
Summary: So simple, So great..
Review: This movie works because of how simple it is. It makes no excuse for what it is...a straitforward sci-fi/action movie. People will probably complain because of the lack of dialog from Kurt Russell (I think he has three lines in the whole movie), but with just his eyes he conveys confusion and a loneness, which is a hard task for any actor to pull off. Also because of the involvement of David Peoples keep an eye out for some hidden Blade Runner stuff, like a busted spinner laying in a trash heap, or the phrase "Tanhauser Gate" tattoo'd on Todd's arm...just for that alone it should be a favorite movie of any sci-fi fan.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle emotional subtext of this movie is not for everyone
Review: I expected this to be the usual action/sci-fi extravaganza and in that I was correct. I love these big blockbuster sci-fi movies, like Aliens, Jurassic Park, Lost In Space. This movie had a deeply emotional subtext which would be hard for some people to grasp or understand, but I was strangely moved by Kurt Russells character of Todd and his inability to grasp the simple human interaction of the crashed colonists on the dump planet. Even though his character only has a few words of dialogue throughout the whole movie, his difficulties in being cast aside for the newer model of soldiers, and trying to live with normal people made the whole story riveting for me. The rest of the cast were also excellent, especially the little boy who befriends Todd. The hopeful ending makes all of the preceeding anguish worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Really liked the idea behind the film
Review: First of all, I like most things militaristic. This movie is sort of inspiring to the military types; with Kurt Russells utter lack of visible emotion and stringent discipline. Perfect! It is what every truelly dedicated soldier/sailor/sniper/grunt would LOVE to achieve. The only thing that I feel keeps the film from being in the five star catagory is just a couple of things. I would have liked to see more of the childhood. Maybe a touch of inner dialog from Todd. And then towards the end...wish I could know what happened to the colonists and the soldiers. Wanting to know these little details is what promoted my interest in the film to the point that I wondered if the movie was based on a Sci-fi book of some kind. If anyone is aware of a written version of this film I would certainly like to know.

Rating:
Summary: Boring And Lacks Imagination.
Review: After watching stuff that's thrilling and full of details and lush tones like "The Fifth Element" or "Star Wars," "Soldier" seems too dull. In fact, it's also TOO boring. Never was I interested in what was happening in this film, I just wanted it to end. First, we have a cheap script by the writer of, can you believe it? "Blade Runner!" The story is badly crafted with some uninteresting characters or characters that we have already seen in previous films. Kurt Russell is basically wasted in this movie. All he does is stand around giving people pissed-off looks. He never even gets decent dialogue! "Soldier" also desperately lacks imagination. All we get is a desert planet that's just full of trash. Even the desert planet in the equally dull film, "Stargate," was more interesting than the one in "Soldier." And when there finally is action, it's predictable and just plain boring. Paul Anderson should have added more, more to the sad scenery and poor screenplay. We are a culture that starves for new images like "Dark City," not boring, unexciting material like "Soldier."