Essential
Summary
Soldier has always been a little underrated in my opinion, but Arrow have given it the respect it deserves with some incredible special features and the film looks and sounds better than ever. A must have!
Plot: Sergeant Todd 3465 (Russell) is a veteran in a long line of soldiers raised from birth to become ruthless and remorseless killing machines. When the callous Colonel Mekum (Jason Isaacs, Armageddon) introduces a new line of stronger, genetically engineered fighters, Todd is judged obsolete and confined to the waste disposal planet Arcadia 234. Taken in by a group of humble colonists, Todd reconnects with his lost humanity, gaining their acceptance and their friendship. But when Mekum unleashes his new elite squad on the planet, led by the fearsome Caine 607 (Jason Scott Lee, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Todd must reawaken the warrior within to protect his newfound community.
Review: Soldier will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first DVD I ever purchased; I remember picking it up in Dixons in Glasgow which is now long since out of business.
The movie never got a theatrical release in the UK, so I had been curious to check it out. Widely derided at the time of release and a box office dud I feel that over the years Soldier is finally starting to get the respect it deserves.
Kurt Russell only says a few lines throughout the entire runtime as a soldier named Todd, trained since birth to become the ultimate killing machine. When he is replaced by a younger model (Jason Scott Lee), he is literally placed on a scrap heap and left to rot. He wakes up on a junk planet called Arcadia and nursed back to health by a kindly family led by Sean Pertwee and Connie Nielsen. After spending time in the small town Todd slowly begins to learn there is more to life than war and that discovers his long-buried humanity. During a routine planet sweep Todd’s old masters (Jason Isaacs and a surprisingly subdued Gary Busey) attack the peaceful town, so it’s now Todd’s time to shine and do what he does best.
It’s a great double bill with Universal Soldier with similar themes of rediscovery and both have awesome final fight scenes in the rain too. Kurt may not say much, but he is still believable as Todd making him tough but showing vulnerability behind the eyes. It’s an understated performance and although he doesn’t get to show his usual personality, I still really like Todd as a character.
Soldier is 90 minutes of action movie nirvana, especially the final 30 minutes with Todd being a literal one-man army. There are more explosions than you can count and there are awesome weapons, shoot-outs, and hand to hand combat scenes too. It’s great to see so much practical action and there are some fantastic set-pieces. Some of the early CG is a little dated, but it’s still better than some of we get today for some reason and the trash plant looks amazing.
The supporting cast includes Michael Chiklis, a young Wyatt Russell, Gary Busy and Jason Isaacs with Isaacs at his mustache twirling best as Colonel Mekum. Busey’s Church is more reasonable and believes his soldiers are still worthy. Jason Scott Lee deserved to be a bigger star as I loved him in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story as he showed real charisma.
The music score is suitably militaristic sounding and at times reminiscent of James Horner’s score for Aliens; it works perfectly for the move even if it isn’t all that memorable.
Soldier has just had a spectacular release from Arrow who I think have become the best 4K boutique company as they usually have hours’ worth of special features and Soldier is no different.
“I’m gonna kill ’em all, sir!”
Special Features:
- 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films approved by director Paul W.S. Anderson
- 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and stereo audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Archival audio commentary by director Paul W.S. Anderson, co-producer Jeremy Bolt and actor Jason Isaacs
- Reporting for Duty, a brand new interview with actor James Black
- Fire in the Hole!, a brand new interview with assistant director Dennis Maguire
- On the Front Lines, a brand new interview with associate producer Fred Fontana
- Designing for the Future, a brand new interview with production designer David L. Snyder
- VFX Before and After, a brand new behind-the-scenes look at how the film’s special effects were created with visual effects supervisor Craig Barron
- Weapons of Mass Creation, interviews with visual effects supervisors Craig Barron and Van Ling and miniature supervisor Michael Joyce
- A Soldier’s Journey, a brand new interview with Danny Stewart, author of Soldier: From Script to Screen
- We Don’t Need Another Hero, a brand new retrospective on the film with film historian Heath Holland
- Archival electronic press kit
- On-set interviews with cast and crew
- Trailers
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena
- Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by film critic Priscilla Page
The special features on this 4K are phenomenal featuring interviews with people involved in the film as well as fans like author Danny Stewart who wrote the awesome book Soldier: From Script to Screen about this very movie. There are sadly no new interviews with Kurt Russell, but we do get an archival interview where he talks about the character of Todd. So much time and care has clearly gone into this release and it’s maybe my favourite of this year. The picture and sound are faultless, so it’s a definite upgrade from my old DVD.
Overall, Soldier remains an underrated gem and this 4K is absolutely essential if you are a fan of the film; it has hours’ worth of new and archival special features making this well worth adding to the collection.