Soldier



Soldier is a 1998 science-fiction action adventure film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Kurt Russell and Jason Scott Lee as a pair of futuristic soldiers who do battle on a decaying planet.

Sergeant Todd (Russell) was raised from birth to become a new breed of soldier, and leads an elite commando unit on Earth. Along with his fellow soldiers, Todd has received extreme mental and physical conditioning to become an instrument of war. However, his commanding officer, Colonel Mekum (Jason Isaacs) develops a new group of genetically-augmented soldiers with superior physical abilities and a complete lack of emotions. In the ensuing transfer of control to the new soldiers, Captain Church (Gary Busey) orders a contest between the "old" soldiers and the genetically-modified ones, led by Caine 607 (Lee).

Todd is seemingly killed during the ensuing test (but is actually unconscious) and his body is dumped on the surface of Arcadia 234, a waste mining planet. Although badly injured, Todd manages to make his way to a colony of humans who crash-landed on the planet many years earlier and built their own society. Todd and the colonists begin to work together to survive, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the genetically-modified soldiers, who are taking part in a training exercise and intend to kill the settlers. Together with the colonists, including healer Sandra (Connie Nielsen) and her son Nathan, Todd decides to fight back and protect his new allies.

The film was written by David Peoples, and was intended to be a sidestory/SpiritualSuccessor to Blade Runner (to the point that multiple references to Runner are seen throughout the film). The film was released to mixed-negative reviews, and only earned back $15 million (against a $60 million budget), but the film has garnered a better reputation in recent years for its association with the aforementioned Runner franchise.

This film contains the following Tropes:
"Rubrick: Crawler One, do you copy? Crawler Two, do you copy? Are any of you men out there? Can any of you men hear me?
 * Alien Sky: Arcadia has a dull, brown sky with two suns circling it.
 * Armor Is Useless: The genetically-modified troops are mowed down easily by weapons fire and melee weapons.
 * Awesome Personnel Carrier: The Crawler, which (at the time) was the biggest working vehicle ever constructed for a film. With the equipment on-board these vehicles, it might as well be a Military Mashup Machine.
 * Badass Boast: When Todd destroys Caine's Crawler during the bombardment attack, the ship's lieutenant radios for a status update.

Todd: Your men...are obsolete."

"Sandra: But you're one soldier...against seventeen. What are you going to do?
 * Badass Normal: Todd is one (absurdly prepared and mentally honed) guy against two dozen genetically-enhanced troops with better weapons and armor. He wipes the floor with all of them.
 * Blood From the Mouth: Todd suffers this when he's knocked backwards during a duststorm after arriving at the colony., and during the second fist-fight with Caine.
 * The Bridge
 * Bring My Brown Pants: Mekum soils himself when he sees the supposed-to-be-dead Todd standing in front of him.
 * Cat Scare
 * Chekhov's Hobby: Todd is listed on a computer as having ordinance training in BFG's. Later on, when the advance team attack the colony, Todd proves to be a capable shot with the dropped rocket launchers the genetically-modified soldiers were wielding.
 * Chekhov's Skill:
 * Nathan is taught by Todd how to kill a venomous snake soon after he arrives at the colony. Later on, after the colony has kicked Todd out, Nathan uses this lesson to kill a snake that was going to bite his father.
 * When he arrives on Arcadia, Todd immediately has to hold onto a pipe to avoid being blown away in the midst of a massive duststorm. In the battle against the bombardment troops, he comes prepared with equipment to tether himself down, while the soldiers who don't know what they're up against get blown away (and one gets impaled by flying debris).
 * Child Soldiers: The original Super Soldier squad. Later replaced by genetically-engineered troops, which the originals accepted grudgingly.
 * Continuity Nod:
 * The wreckage of a Spinner (from Blade Runner) can be seen in one of the piles of trash when Todd first arrives on the planet.
 * Todd's tattoos include a listing of all the major military campaigns he's participated in - the second-last entry on his arm reads, "Tannhauser Gate".
 * Cute Mute: Nicholas and, arguably, Todd.
 * Death From Above
 * Decoy Hiding Place
 * Dirt Forcefield
 * Dramatic Deadpan: When Sandra sees Todd loading several weapons before he engages the bombardment troops:

Todd: I'm going to kill them all, sir."


 * The Evil Army: Led by The Neidermeyer, Colonel Mekum.
 * Evil Brit: Colonel Mekum.
 * Eye Scream: Todd does this to Caine 607 during their first encounter.
 * Todd also stabs another Super Soldier through the eyepiece of his helmet. Later on, it's strongly implied that another Super Soldier is bitten in the eye by a snake.
 * Facial Markings: Todd and his fellow super-soldiers have tattoos detailing their major service history and personal information.
 * A Father to His Men: Todd to his unit. Once he reunites with them (as they're arming the Time Bomb), they immediately stop what they're doing, salute him and fall in line behind him. For the rest of the film, they follow his orders without question.
 * Faux Symbolism: The main genetically-engineered soldier's name is Caine.
 * Final Battle:.
 * Fingore: A mild version. Todd's cutting carrots, cuts his finger, and keeps cutting carrots.
 * Gas Mask Mooks
 * Gatling Good
 * Geo Effects: The junkyard planet has very intense winds.
 * Grave Clouds
 * Guns Akimbo: Played With. At one point, it appears that Todd is using dual SMG's to mow down several of the bombardment troops. The troops then launch a counterattack and move up on his supposed position (all while the guns are firing), only to find that he's rigged them up on the corpse of a dead soldier.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: Mekum and his lieutenants are left behind on Arcadia, along with the Time Bomb he gleefully asked to be activated to destroy the colony.
 * Hollywood Healing: Todd falls from a great height, then gets dumped from a ship at a great height, then gets flung several yards into a set of steps during a windstorm, and is no worse for wear after a day of rest.
 * Slightly averted: Todd is dropped onto the planet by a ship, and is later told that they visit the planet every 20 or 30 days. When told this, it is the first time that he has left the safety of the settlement (so about 3 weeks of recuperation) and still isn't fully healed.
 * Hollywood Tactics:
 * In the opening, the original soldiers are shown just charging into situations, making no attempt to find cover. Slightly justified in some situations, as most of the battles they are fighting aren't against trained military personnel.
 * Also discussed and averted later on. The next-gen soldiers are criticized as being powerful but untested, while the originals are battle-hardened and thus experienced. Indeed, the next-gen soldiers are summarily wiped out precisely because they are incapable of adapting to the guerrilla tactics of a single, well-armed, well-trained and experienced man.
 * Human Shield: Not so much averted as nuked from orbit. Todd excels in training by shooting through the "civilian" silhouette to hit the target behind, and then does it again for real in combat during one of the "flashback" missions.
 * I Like Those Odds: Mekum initially objects to Church's request for Todd to face Caine one-on-one. Mekum then asks Church to bring two more soldiers to face Caine, and Church replies that he likes the suggestion.
 * Impressive Pyrotechnics
 * Infant Immortality: Adults are gunned down mercilessly during the advance team attack and bombardment siege, yet no child ever suffers more than being frightened.
 * Invulnerable Knuckles: Todd repeatedly beats a steel punching bag for several hours straight, so exhausted that he is barely able to stand, and only gets mildly bloodied knuckles for his effort.
 * Just in Time:
 * Several of the bombardment troops chase Sandra and a group of children into a house while firing at them with miniguns and flamethrowers. One of the troops follows her up the stairs, and turns the corner to see her huddling with the group of children - and Todd wielding an RPG, which he promptly fires.
 * Played with at the end of the film. Todd and his troops leave Mekum and his two lieutenants on the planet with a Time Bomb set to detonate in a couple of minutes. The three officials run to the bomb and go to disarm it, with Mekum pulling away his female lieutenant when she can't remember the disarm code. Mekum enters the code and the machine seemingly acknowledges it....
 * Left for Dead: Todd, on a garbage disposal planet.
 * Landfill Beyond the Stars: The Movie
 * Lock and Load Montage: After the battle with the advance team, Nathan walks in on Todd loading multiple weapons and gearing himself up for battle.
 * Manly Tears: After the junkyard community casts him out, Todd - trained from birth to kill, oblivious to what emotions are supposed to be - is surprised to find a tear sliding down his cheek. He wipes it and frowns in astonishment, not sure what to think of it.
 * Neck Snap: Todd does this to Caine at the end of their final confrontation.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The official trailer included a short sequence that involved 20-30 starships doing battle around a planet. The final film features no such scene, and was apparently the remnant of a planned flashback that would have shown the Battle of Tannhauser Gate.
 * Nineties Anti-Hero
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now: The only reason Todd survives his fall during the first encounter with Caine is due to him falling on the corpse of his fellow soldier. He simply goes unconscious from his injuries and is presumed to be dead.
 * Not What It Looks Like: A serious example with Todd, Nathan, and the snake. Having failed to observe him teaching Nathan to kill it, only walking in when Todd is just standing there while it slithers up to Nathan, the colony decides he's too violent to fit in with them. Todd's own stoic nature and refusal to speak prevents him from rectifying the error.
 * Nuke'Em: What Mekum tries to do once the bombardment troops are wiped out.
 * One-Man Army
 * Only One: Justified. Todd is the only one who knows how the genetically-modified soldiers operate, what their attack patterns are and what the best plan for guerilla warfare is.
 * Outrun the Fireball:
 * Todd and Mace (Sandra's husband) have to outrun several during their escape from the advance force.
 * The military ship piloted by Todd and his lieutenant outruns the planetary explosion at the end of the film.
 * Papa Wolf: Mace is this to little boy, Nathan.
 * Punched Across the Room
 * Science Is Useless: Todd has the advantage against the genetically-modified soldiers due to his leadership and tactics gained from years of experience.
 * Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: A distance example - thanks to the constraints of the action sequence, the film depicts the military ship Todd pilots passing a mountain and immediately appearing in space, thereby skipping most of the ascent through the stratosphere.
 * Shirtless Scene: When Todd is being cared for by Sandra. Also results in The Reveal of his service history and scars.
 * Shooting Gallery
 * Shoot the Hostage: And how!
 * Shout-Out:
 * Todd has ordinance training in the MKIV BFG, the Illudium PU36 Explosive Space Modulator (used by Marvin The Martian in Looney Tunes) and the USCM Smartgun and M4A1 Pulse Rifle.
 * Todd's dossier (seen on a computer monitor) lists some of his commendations, including the Plissken Patch, MacReady Cross and O'Neill Ring Award.
 * Prior to the film, Todd fought in the Antares Maelstrom War.
 * The Trinity Moons are located in ZZ9.Plurl.ZA, located near the "Slartibartfast" system.
 * The garbage piles on Arcadia 234 include a trashed F-117X Remora and a piece of the Lewis & Clark.
 * The Siege: Against a peaceful village.
 * Soft Glass: Brings us a Super Window Jump.
 * Soldiers At the Rear: The West Point graduate leading the genetically modified super soldiers is a classic REMF.
 * The Spartan Way:
 * The original recruits are trained from a young age to act without emotion, to the point that they would have constant drills and incredibly difficult training exercises as children.
 * Mekum does this to demonstrate the capabilities of the genetically-modified soldiers when he pits them in a "someone dies tonight" competition.
 * Super Soldier
 * Third Time's the Charm: The first time Todd goes up against Caine, he gets the crap beaten out of him and is assumed to be dead. The second time, Todd destroys Caine's armored vehicle and assumes he's dead. The third time, Todd finally kills Caine after a protracted hand-to-hand battle.
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Todd's "Soldiers deserve soldiers" statement.
 * Time Bomb: And a nuclear one, at that.
 * Training Montage
 * Training the Peaceful Villagers: Subverted. Despite not having any opposition to fight against prior to the military landing on the planet, most of the adult villagers already have weapons and training (although they're barred by Todd from fighting the enemy because he considers it something he has to do himself).
 * Tyke Bomb
 * Untrusting Community: Justified. Todd shows up beaten and bloodied and can't explain what he's doing on the planet (due to his training). He has no social skills whatsoever, instead has deadly reflexes which almost make him kill a random guy. This doesn't do him any favors when the locals kick him out for teaching Nathan how to kill a poisonous snake, though they come around later once he saves them from the advance force.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Mekum once his soldiers start getting gunned down like animals. Once they're all dead, he goes into full-on "save my own ass" mode.
 * Wasteland Elder: Played with. The elder seems to share leadership duties with Mace, and distrusts Todd. She never changes her stance on him, and ends up being killed during the attack by the advance team.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Your Mileage May Vary on this one, but arguably the two lieutenants were acting under duress (the Colonel had just murdered their Commanding Officer and was still armed) and had otherwise seemed to act as kindly to the Veterans as their ranks and positions allowed them. Todd throws them on to the wasteland to be nuked without a second thought.
 * Worthy Opponent: When offered assistance in repelling the next-gen soldiers, Todd simply says "Soldiers deserve soldiers, sir." This is either a belief that soldiers deserve to be killed by other soldiers, not mere civilians, or that he didn't think the civilians had a chance in hell of winning.