Soldier (1998)

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Starring Kurt Russell, Connie Nielsen, Sean Pertwee, Jason Isaacs, Gary Busey, Jason Scott Lee, Mark Bringelson, K. K. Dodds, Michael Chiklis, Brenda Wehle, Paul Dillon. [R]

Futuristic action movie about a grim, taciturn soldier (Russell), developed since birth into becoming a militaristic automaton, who is made obsolete by a new genetically-enhanced breed. He is discarded on a garbage dump planet where he is taken in by a colony of refugees; then (of course) the new soldiers show up, ready to kill everything in sight. Obvious Shane homage and Western motifs aside, this overly derivative and simplistic time-killer is all about the hardware and body count, making the few attempts to humanize its hero embarrassingly amusing. Lots of rain and smoke and machine-gun fire and explosions (and, weirdly, snakes), often shown in slo-mo, rarely engaging. Russell is solid in a stoic, physical performance, but there’s little satisfaction in watching him lay waste to programmed opponents that are just following orders. Script by David Webb Peoples, co-writer of Blade Runner, so look out for a couple of references to the sci-fi-noir classic (Peoples claimed that the two films take place in the same universe).

40/100