Kurt Russell is a soldier, bred for obedience and violence, who finds a new life awaits him in the off-world colony of a junk planet in Paul W.S. Anderson’s underappreciated 1998 sci-fi action film Soldier, now on 4k from Arrow Video.
The Film
Soldier was a project long in the mix for Blade Runner and Unforgiven writer David Webb Peoples, finally coming to the screen in 1998 after bouncing around for 16 years. Sadly, it bombed hard, earning back a mere 14 million on a budget of sixty. A shame, as it’s a fantastic space western with a solid performance by Certified Bad Ass Kurt Russell, well-done action scenes, and just an all-around good time. I lead in with this since Soldier is unfairly maligned thanks to that initial failure, a reputation that has been slowly reversing since release.
In many ways, Soldier is the classic Alan Ladd Western, Shane, in Space. (As often happens, I wrote “this is Shane” in my notes and then had it said directly in the supplemental materials.) As seen in many examples, such as Arrow’s release of Outland a few months back and across cinematography, tropes and tenets of one genre translate well into others; we all know samurai films and westerns are only a weapon away from another, as much as so much sci-fi is just a shift in setting and production design (and what wonderful production design Soldier has).
Soldier finds a stoic Kurt Russell leading as the titular character, pushed out of his element, finding himself. So stoic, I’m not sure if he says anything other than “yes, sir” and “no, Sir” in the first 28 minutes (where I wrote down, HE TALKS!). Okay, some of that is Sgt Todd’s life up to now as a forced recruit as a soldier at birth, and his training to be brutal, ruthless, and fully obedient by Gary Busey. One of the early Todds is Wyatt Russell, so Monarch isn’t the first time the dad-son combo shared a character. He might not talk, which is a shift from Russell, who often makes his characters stand out with peculiar ways of speech, but he loses nothing in the sheer awesome that drives the actor to the top of any genre fan’s beloved lists. Left for dead when he and two of his troops lose to one of Jason Isaac’s newer, stronger, better troops played by Jason Scott Lee, everything changes for a man who has always been told exactly what to do. BTW, those troops that may be Replicants, by the way, one of many connections that show Soldier takes place in Blade Runner’s universe, along with Alien and others.
Deposited on a planet used as a galactic garbage dump, not unlike Deadpool & Wolverine’s or Thor: Ragnarok, and representing how he’s treated by those who trained him, he finds a colony of spacefairers who crash landed a generation ago, making the best they can in the windy wasteland (several great sequences involve sand storms), with residents include several actors beore they became known: Dog Soldier’s Sean Pertwee, The Shield’s Michael Chiklis, and Gladiator’s Connie Nielson. Their peaceful existence is disrupted when someone bred for blood is dropped into their mix. Thus, he has unlearn what he has learned and become a real person.
This is all treated well, compelling in the strong, silent Russell shifting and learning. There are tensions, but it goes pretty smoothly in this incredible practical environment. Yes, it’s obviously set-bound as budget cuts turned the original planned location shooting to mostly soundstages. But this adds to the atmosphere, allowing a spectacle in the more controlled spaces. There could have been more meat in the shift from “melding into a new life” and “forced to return to old ways.” It’s a bit sudden, and it didn’t feel like the full arc was complete. There needed to be something to push it, a real threat on the planet, some more forward motion in the second act, lacking a stronger drive.
Anderson of the 90s had a great skill in action, and overall, “Oh, that’s cool.” Mortal Kombat and Event Horizon are absolute bangers at being exactly what they are. I’m sad it got dulled over the years of Resident Evil movies, taking any edge and care off to descend into bland action flicks like In the Lost Lands. Luckily, as this came after MK and Event Horizon (and just before Resident Evil), he still has that touch. From the chain fight early on to how Todd takes down the soldiers (the replicants, of course) when they invade the planet, Anderson moves it with an impressive clip with one “oh yeah!” moment after another. He has a real vigor in his methods. With mostly practical effects done in camera and impressive production design, it’s a treat to see. I miss this sort of largess, left for the then-burging CG (used a bit here too) after a time.
Soldier has often been unfairly maligned over the years, specifically coming out too close to misfires such as Virus or Super Nova and getting blended in. Instead, it should stick with films other than the late-90s films like Pitch Black, Fifth Element, or Anderson’s own Event Horizon.
The Package
Arrow presents Soldier as a single-disc 4k (no Blu-ray) with a close-up of the poster pressed on the disc. The disc sits in a black 4k plastic case with the booklet. A reversible sleeve has the original art on one side and new commissioned art by Orlando Arocena. The cardboard O-sleeve has the original art.
The Presentation
Arrow offers a brand new 4k restoration approved by Paul WS Anderson. It is striking, highlighting all the amazing set work that went into Soldier. Audio is English 5.1 with English subtitles.
The Features
Arrow loads up Soldier with Weapons of Mass Information with a mostly all-new set of features.
Commentary (archival)
Director Paul WS Anderson, co-producer Jeremy Bolt, and actor Jason Isaacs have a lively discussion of all the troubles and travails that came with putting Soldier together, but are also positive on what worked. A troubled production, but still plenty to love (as my review noted). Good stuff.
Reporting for Duty (new)
Actor James Black, who played soldier Riley, talks about starting small gigs at home and moving to Hollywood, and how that goes down, stories from the set, and Russell. Fun. (10m)
Fire in the Hole! (new)
Assistant Director Dennis Maquire gives great stories from the set in putting together such an effort. (13m)
On the Front Lines (new)
Producer Fred Fontana opens up to the troubles of bringin Soldier to the screen, all the background twisting and pulling with the studio and budgeting. A nice insight into the process. (10m)
Designing for the Future (new)
Production designer David L. Snyder digs into his career, working his way up from small work to production designing Blade Runner, Super Mario Bros., Demolition Man, this, and more. That career makes sense with how Soldier looked. I loved hearing him talk about working with what they need with budgets and crew, putting a big production on screen. Impressive. I wish I could hear and see more of his work and insight. (14m)
VFX Before and After (new)
VFX Supervisor Craig Barron shows how various aspects mix. Cool to see what was changing in the studios at this time as CG became more prevalent (5m)
Weapons of Mass Creation (new)
Barron, fellow supervisor Van Ling, and miniature supervisor Michael Joyce continue to talk about the production and all the clever and hard work used to bring the Soldier to life. With this and the production design, I love digging into the details of creation. (19m)
A Soldier’s Journey (new)
Danny Stewart, author of Soldier: From Script to Screen, talks about researching and writing his 2023 making-of book. (6m)
We Don’t Need Another Hero (new)
This retrospective by film historian Heath Holland has a nice depth and appreciation of Soldier over the years, where it falls in the pantheon and its influences. (12m)
Electronic Press Kit (Archival)
Made up of two parts, a 7m featurette with many talking heads, an overall look, and fifteen minutes of behind-the-scenes fly-on-the-wall footage. The featurette is a nice look into the production, albeit with an interest in selling the film, but the BTS is the draw for film fans, just watching them go about the creation.
On-set interviews (archival)
As broken down below, a series of short interviews of the EPK type.
Russell, 4m; Busey; 1 Lee, 2m; Chiklis, 1m; Neilson, 2m; Anderson, 4m; Producer Weintrab 4m
Trailers
Booklet
A bound 25-page booklet is included. Along with the standard photos and information, it has the essay “Fear and Discipline: Slavaging Soldier’s Todd 3465” by film critic Priscilla Page. Page explores the character in interesting ways, not just as a Western sort of hero, but across literary comparisons such as Frankenstein and more.
Final Thoughts
Arrow puts together a great set for Paul W.S. Anderson’s Soldier, one that gives love to an underappreciated flick. Abandoned in its time, not unlike Russell’s Todd 3465, it’s gained an appreciation over time. Check out this release, hopefully one that gains new fans and a better appreciation for long-time defenders.