Soldier (1998 American film)
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Soldier theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Paul Anderson |
| Produced by | Jerry Weintraub |
| Written by | David Webb Peoples |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Joel McNeely |
| Cinematography | David Tattersall |
| Edited by | Martin Hunter |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Box office | $14.6 million |
Soldier is a 1998 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Anderson, written by David Webb Peoples, and stars Kurt Russell, Jason Scott Lee, Jason Isaacs, Connie Nielsen, Sean Pertwee and Gary Busey. The film tells the story of a highly skilled genetically advanced soldier defying his commanders and facing a relentless and brutal rival soldier.
The film was released worldwide on October 23, 1998. Upon its release, Soldier received generally negative reviews but many praised the action sequences and Russell's performance. The film was a commercial failure, grossing $14 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million.
In 1996, as part of a new military training program, a group of orphaned infants are selected at birth and raised as highly disciplined soldiers with no understanding of anything but military routine. They are trained to be ruthless obedient killers, and all those considered to be physically or mentally unworthy are executed. The survivors are turned into impassive dedicated fighting machines with no exposure to or understanding of the outside world.
In 2035, at the age of 40, Sgt. Todd 3465 is a hardened veteran and the best soldier of the original 1996 infants, but his unit is challenged for replacement by a superior unit. Colonel Mekum, leader of the original project, introduces a new group of genetically engineered soldiers, designed with superior physical attributes and a complete lack of emotion, except complete aggression.
Captain Church, the commander of Todd's unit, insists on testing the new soldiers' abilities against his proven older ones. A new soldier, Caine 607, easily defeats three of the original soldiers, but Todd gouges out Caine's eye before he seemingly dies when he falls from a great height; the body of a dead soldier actually cushioned his fall, and he is simply stunned and knocked unconscious. Mekum orders their bodies disposed of like garbage, declaring them obsolete, while the remaining older soldiers are demoted to menial unarmed support roles.
Dumped on Arcadia 234, a waste disposal planet, Todd limps toward a colony whose residents crash-landed there years earlier; as they were believed dead, no rescue missions have been attempted. Todd is sheltered by Mace and his wife Sandra. Though they try to make him welcome, Todd has difficulty adapting to the community due to his extremely rigid impassive conditioning and their conflict-free lives. Todd develops a silent rapport with their mute son, Nathan, who had been traumatized by a snakebite as an infant, and watches upon the happy loving family with yearning in his eyes. When the child silently looks to him for a defense against a coiled snake, Todd refuses, demanding that Nathan face it down and strike back to protect himself. Nathan's parents intervene and disapprove of the lesson, unsure of how to deal with the silent soldier. Todd becomes disoriented by exposure to peaceful civilian life and soon begins to experience flashbacks from his time killing civilians and battling other soldiers. To make matters worse, he mistakes one of the colonists for an enemy when the fellow surprises him, nearly killing him. Fearful, the colonists expel Todd from the community. Apparently rejected by every society he has known, the military and the refugee civilians, Todd shows strong emotion for the first time after being expelled. Overcome by loss, he quietly cries. A short time later, Mace and Sandra are almost bitten by a snake while they sleep, but they are saved by Nathan's use of Todd's aggressive defensive technique to protect them. Now understanding the value of Todd's lesson, they seek him to reintegrate him into the community, regardless of the opposition of the others who fear him.
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