Coming from Arrow in late April is SOLDIER (99 mins., 1998, R; Arrow), the 1998 Kurt Russell box-office bomb that cost nearly $75 million and returned only a quarter of that amount.
In spite of its dismal commercial performance and obvious signs of pre-release cutting (Warners dumped it into theaters without much fanfare in the middle of October ‘98), “Soldier” is fairly watchable and even entertaining in stretches for sci-fi fans. The film stars Kurt as a mostly-silent futuristic killing machine who finds himself stranded on a remote planet, where he ultimately battles the genetically-engineered, superior “super soldiers” (including Jason Scott Lee) who hunt him down, protecting the planet’s other survivors (Connie Nielsen among them) in the process.
Hot at the time given the over-performance of “Stargate,” Russell netted some $15 million for a role that required 79 total words (11 of which, according to Wikipedia, are “sir”), and perhaps in the hands of a director other than “Resident Evil”’s Paul (W.S.) Anderson, “Soldier” might’ve been the legitimate sci-fi epic that “Blade Runner” and “Unforgiven” scribe David Webb Peoples intended when he penned the screenplay. The film starts off badly with a jumbled first third and even a Loreena McKennitt song montage to cover over gaps in the script, but moderately improves as it goes along, with reasonably exciting action scenes and a decent Joel McNeely score to boot. While no kind of classic, the very western-like “Soldier” is better than its rep suggests, and even concludes with a strong McNeely orchestral flourish running under a memorable concluding shot.
Soldier’s remastered 4K UHD (2.39) offers Dolby Vision HDR and a robust 5.1 DTS MA soundtrack. Extras include an archival commentary and new interviews with actor James Black, assistant director Dennis Maguire, associate producer Fred Fontana, production designer David L. Snyder, VFX supervisors Craig Barron and Van Ling, plus miniature supervisor Michael Joyce, and fan/author Danny Stewart. There’s also a tribute from podcaster Heath Holland, EPK interviews, vintage interviews, trailers and booklet notes from Priscilla Page.