Subject: Review: Soldier (1998)

From: [email-masked] (Susan Granger)
Date: 25 Oct 1998 16:01:45 GMT

Susan Granger's review of "SOLDIER" (Warner Bros.)
        In this sci-fi thriller, Kurt Russell plays a New Millennium
mercenary, chosen shortly after his birth by nefarious, militaristic
government forces. He was psychologically programmed and brutally
trained to be a highly disciplined, emotionally dead fighting
machine. Raised with the credo - "kill or be killed" - he became a
lean, mean monster who subsequently proved himself in many galactic
battles. Then, at age 40, he suddenly becomes aware that he and his
colleagues have outlived their usefulness and are being replaced by a
new breed of test tube warriors who have been genetically engineered
to stronger and meaner. After losing a gladiatorial bout to one of
these psychopaths (Jason Scott Lee), Russell is unceremoniously dumped
like garbage on a distant planet and left for dead, but he's nursed
back to health by a pacifist space pioneers who were stranded there
years before. Predictably, when the new mercenaries, under a wretched,
villainous leader (Jason Isaacs), return and attack the settlers,
Russell defends them. The underlying theme of David Webb People's
script is not new. It's a sci-fi adaptation of the western, "Shane,"
just as the theme of "Star Wars" bore a striking similarity to "The
Searchers" and "Outland" was adapted from "High Noon." Unfortunately,
director Paul Anderson ("Event Horizon," "Mortal Kombat") is focused
on ballistic, video-game visuality rather than character
development. Kurt Russell has announced that this is his last action
movie, and his subtle characterization proves he's ready to move on to
other things. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Soldier" is a
brutal, blood 'n' guts 3. The trick is that it could have been a
treat.