Subject: Review: Soldier (1998)

From: Homer Yen <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Nov 1998 03:37:45 GMT

A Battle-Weary "Soldier" 
by Homer Yen
(c) 1998

Sometime in the not-so-distant future, a new generation of soldiers
will be created.  Babies are conscripted right after birth and begin a
harsh training regimen that spans the entirety of their young lives. 
They are groomed to become ruthless, strong, and tireless fighting
machines.  Todd (Kurt Russell) is just one of many of these new breed
of soldiers.  During a training exercise, soldiers take shooting
practice where cardboard cut-outs of both innocent bystanders and
enemy troops move left and right.  In one particular instance, an
enemy soldier shields himself behind an innocent person.  While the
other soldiers-in-training freeze for a moment to contemplate their
shot, Todd, giving only a moment's hesitation, coldly pulls his
trigger.  The cut-out of both the enemy soldier and the innocent
person are obliterated.  As everyone else looks at him, he shows no
signs of remorse or regret.  This soldier will graduate at the top of
his class. 

There have been many movies that focus on the comeuppance of a soldier
and the bitter sacrifices that he makes in fighting for his country,
or in this case, his planet.  Here, it's not all that different,
although it takes place in the future where the weapons do
significantly more damage and the landscape seems eternally ravaged by
war.  Todd evolves into a lethal fighting machine whose emotion and
humanity have been stripped away.  When he is replaced by an even more
potent type of soldier and is subsequently discarded on a planet far
away, the story shifts gears and parallels the plight of the war
veteran with no place to go.  The fight continues inside of him, and
here is a person who can not be easily reintroduced into society. 
Falling upon a settlement on this planet, he is first taken in.  They
try to teach basic skills such as gardening.  Their attempt to
assimilate Todd back into normal society injects a little bit of
humanity, but Todd's aggressive behavior and alarming tenacity begin
to frighten the settlements' denizens.  It seems that the only way for
Todd to be appreciated is for some battle to take place.  And, (no
surprise here) an opportunity to show his fighting skills soon
presents itself, ironically with a landing party that consists of the
upgraded soldiers that replaced him back on Earth.  

"Soldier" doesn't break any new ground and could have been easily
named Rambo IX if it starred Sylvester Stallone.  Yet, for the most
part, the film was tolerable.  I liked the offbeat choice of casting
Kurt Russell as the aging war veteran.  And the film wisely decides to
keep dialogue at a minimum, allowing it to be a mindless thrill ride. 
The film's best part showcases a final 25-minute battle pitting the
veteran Todd against a platoon of next-generation soldiers.  Given its
limitations, "Soldier" is all that it can be.

Grade: C+ 

_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com