ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Giallo Fanatic I still enjoy this movie. Sure it is exaggerated and simplistic, sure it is just another "Rambo" set in the future and a far away planet instead of a forest or jungle. As a kid, I watched it mainly for the action and Kurt Russell. I thought Kurt Russell was mesmerizing as Todd and I could really relate to his character. Nowadays it is mostly for its theme and still Kurt Russell that I watch the movie. (I'll get deeper into the theme). There is lots of action, but on the more naivé and simplistic side. With a Rambo-like character that can take on a whole army without getting a scratch, standard stuff for your average action movie. But although with the simple premise and approach, I still feel interest in this movie. It is not a groundbreaking movie. It is not the most well made movie, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is good. With a subtle and convincing performance of Kurt Russell.Now to the real reason why I like this movie: the theme. The theme has been explored many times before but I still find it interesting in this movie. The theme is dehumanization, it has been explored better and deeper, like in Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket'. Also 'Full Metal Jacket' has a much more punching power than this movie. But in 'Soldier' it was quite touching with Todd's character development (Although I like Joker's character development better) and its exploration to its theme. Whilst in 'Full Metal Jacket', we get to see the consequences of dehumanization and its effects on mankind in the end, in 'Soldier' we head in the other direction where our main character begin to act more human and regain his humanity. Kind of like the other side of the coin. But I honestly prefer 'Full Metal Jacket', I feel it is more honest. But 'Soldier' is still an above average action movie even though it is quite simplistic. I honestly feel this movie is worth watching over and over again. Oh, also Kurt Russell doesn't spend half of his time on-screen spitting out cheesy one-liners like you would normally get in its genre, which I quite like.I give the movie 7/10

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK DVD releaseActors: 6/10Plot/script: 7/10Photography/visual style: 7/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 6/10It is not widely known, but Soldier is actually a 'side-quel', set in the same world as Blade-Runner. It mentions a couple of details in passing which mark the connection. It is mainly notable, however, for being the follow-up of director Paul W.S. Anderson to the seminal Event Horizon.Anderson's career has become increasingly shaky, arguably deteriorating progressively from a high-water mark that was the eerie sci-fi horror film Event Horizon. Some of his output has veered dangerously close to outright B-movie fare.Soldier is, in some ways, a throwback to the 1980s, an era of bold, brash action movies with muscular male stars. It even has a couple of representatives of that period, in the form of star Kurt Russell and supporting player Gary Busey. They feed into a theme of old vs. new, mature vs. inexperienced, that I thought would be the entire backdrop to the story.It turns out that this was only a prelude. Russell's titular warrior loses heavily, and is cast out to survive in the wilderness, amongst poor scavengers. Here, it becomes clear that the skills and temperament that made him an excellent soldier, and indeed that were ruthlessly ground into him, are handicaps in any other context. This puts it in a field with the likes of All Quiet on the Western Front, Born on the Fourth of July, Full Metal Jacket, First Blood and right up to the much more recent American Sniper and Ender's Game. Admittedly, having said that, it is far from flattered by these comparisons, but it deserves some credit for tackling an issue, which is more than can be said for many of those dumb 80s actioners.Russell has always been a likable lead, and has only grown in experience. In Soldier, he needs every ounce of it, because his character is so laconic as to be practically mute. So much of his performance comes in the form of body language and facial expressions, constituting a hundred different gradations just of stoic determinedness and confusion/uncertainty. There's something... efficient about his performance that rather impressed me.Another thing that impressed me somewhat was the special effects. By today's standards, CGI from this period often looks very ropey. However, Anderson cleverly places these special effects shots in the background and doesn't draw attention to them, so that they enhance the far-future outer space setting without coming under excessive scrutiny.When it comes down to it, though, Soldier is first and foremost an action film. For all the other themes explored to a degree in the movie, by far the theme most explored is that of men fighting each other. But that certainly has its place, and has become Anderson's metier. I hear Pompeii is pleasingly daft and enjoyable, and if he is not going to go back to the tense, intense horror of Event Horizon, this will more than suffice.

SnoopyStyle 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.

krycek19 This movie is clearly inspired by Universal Soldier. But although Universal Soldier was a major B movie, at least it was fun. And it had better action and effects than this movie.Kurt Russel actually delivers a very good performance as a man who has been brainwashed since he was a small boy to be a motionless soldier. At one point in the movie he starts to feel emotions, not knowing why or how to deal with them. That's the only interesting scene in this movie and the only reason I kept watching, it was to Watch Russel break and become human. Unfortunately it never really happens. Athe the end of the movie he still acts like a terminator.But the plot makes no sense what so ever. Especially not when Russels former bosses sets down on the waste planet where Russel himself was dumped and decides to kill everyone there for no reason at all.It has some nice fights and explosions but the cgi that seems to be mixed with miniature models is awful and embarrassing even for a movie of that time.