Kurt Russell stars in Paul WS Anderson’s sci-fi action film Soldier, new to 4K UHD, filled with special features and a 4K restoration from Arrow Video.
The Film
Were we all too hard on Paul WS Anderson’s Soldier?
It’s the question I posed to myself close to thirty years after its release upon rewatching it. The answer is a mild yes. I think the entire community was too harsh on Anderson’s B-movie Space Shane. The film, when killing bad space dudes and space snakes, is an effective, fun time. When it tries to make more out of Russell’s Todd 12345 (or whatever number it is), it becomes nonsense, mostly because of the star’s performance, consisting of possibly four words and a blank face.
The film proposes a future that has babies turned into super soldiers by subjecting them to various testing and conditioning. We meet Todd 12345 (played by multiple actors, including Russell’s son Wyatt) through these decade-long mental and physical experiments, all the while being pushed into battle in various environments on Earth and other planets. By the end, Todd 12345 is an old man (Russell in his late 40s, looking better than most stars half his age in 2026), and the space military seems fit to toss him out for a new model.
The face of space military played by Jason Isaacs (who in the future would go into the past to kill Heath Leger in The Patriot, a twist they should have flipped and had Mel Gibson killed, think about it … it’s a better more shocking choice and would have Ledger essentially handed the last third of the film to carry it as the star he was) and Buddy Holly himself Gary Buesy dueling figureheads. One wants the new-new models that are executioners with no personality (Isaacs). The other wants the old-old models that are executioners with no personality, also (Busey). The new-new model of Todd 1234 is actually Caine 5678 (played by an equally mute but damn near roided out Jason Scott Lee). There’s a brawn-off between Caine 5678 and Todd 1234 that doesn’t end well for Todd.
They think Todd is dead – without checking his pulse – and literally throw him out with the other space garbage, where he ends up on the space garbage planet (the writers of Thor: Ragnarok stealing from Soldier without credit isn’t cool). Todd has a rocky relationship with the space garbage people of space garbage planet, led by Sean Pertwee, who you think is going to end up being Isaac’s long-lost brother (bad joke, yes, but IYKYK). They are essentially space garbage planet hippies living in space Brooklyn trying to live the co-op life. So they’re not digging Todd 1234’s military vibes… that is, until of course, the space military comes a-knocking.
It all ends with another mano-a-mano fight between Caine and Todd on the space garbage planet, with Todd victorious and killing Issacs and the other space military guys, so the space garbage planet hippies can live happily ever after.
There is a very Italian knock-off cinema vibe to the entire enterprise, though Anderson doesn’t pull off the over-the-top overheated sweatiness the same way, say, Joe D’Amato or Enzo Castarelli would have. Anderson thinks he’s making high art when it’s anything but. That results in a film that isn’t half as fun as it is to describe. In fact, the film really only comes alive in the last third. It finds that right goofy tone of violence and uninhibited, gleeful stupidity that is almost impossible to pull off intentionally.
Russell is wasted here as the killing machine of a few words. Sporting the same blonde crew cut from Stargate, the acting legend beefed up for the role and decided he didn’t want any dialog. Some may be inclined to think Snake Plissken, but the performance isn’t that. Not even close. Todd is blank more than anything else. The same with Jason Scott Lee. Say what you will, but it isn’t easy to do what Arnold did in the first two Terminator films. It takes gravitas and charisma along with a director of Cameron’s talents.
This is more of a footnote of caution in the career of Paul WS Anderson. He would rebound once he was steadily in the Resident Evil franchise, finding how to balance B-movie stories with an arched tone and wit. It just took a stumble into the world of Soldier to find it.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K restoration by Arrow Films, approved by director Paul W.S. Anderson presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). Regardless of what one thinks of the film, the transfer is perfect, flawless work by Arrow. There isn’t a scratch or blemish throughout the entire runtime. The widescreen cinematography by Gale Tattersall is strikingly sharp with beautiful color reproduction in native 4K. Arrow’s work with Warner Bros titles continues to prove to be one of the best collaborations between a studio and boutique label.
The Extras
- Archival audio commentary by director Paul W.S. Anderson, co-producer Jeremy Bolt, and actor Jason Isaacs
- Reporting for Duty with James Black
- Fire in the Hole! With Dennis Maguire
- On the Front Lines with Fred Fontana
- Designing for the Future with David L. Synder
- Soldier VFX Before and After commentary by Craig Barron
- Weapons of Mass Creation with Craig Barron, Van Ling, and Michael Joyce
- A Soldier’s Journey with Danny Stewart
- We Don’t Need Another Hero with Heath Holland
- Electronic Press Kit
- On-Set Interviews
- Trailers
- Image Gallery
The Archival audio commentary by director Paul W.S. Anderson, co-producer Jeremy Bolt, and actor Jason Isaacs begins with introductions before diving into a relaxed conversational track. Some of the details include a breakdown of the opening sequence; the casting of Jason Scott Lee; issues that Kurt Russell breaking his ankle early in the production posed and how that affected the production; a discussion of the Ratings Board battle to secure an R-rating; the reasons why they shot on studio sets around Los Angeles; the ties to Bladerunner and references to the film; a larger discussion of the visual effects work done to achieve the trickier shots or set pieces; a breakdown of the various action scenes and how they were accomplished; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; the various studio locations that the production used in and around Los Angeles; and more. Note that Isaacs doesn’t show up until halfway through the track.
Reporting for Duty with James Black (9:31) – is an all-new interview with actor James Black, beginning with how he got cast in the film Zombie Cop, eventually leading to multiple lower-budget films and movies, leading to moving to Los Angeles, and eventually Soldier. Some of the other details include the casting process for Soldier; his time in the NFL helped with the role; working with Kurt Russell; and other stories from the production.
Fire in the Hole! With Dennis Maguire (12:38) – is an all-new interview with assistant director Dennis Maguire, beginning with his family’s history in Hollywood and how he got his start in first set building and eventually working as an Assistant Director. Maguire goes on to discuss how producer Weintraub vouched for him for Soldier as AD; working with Kurt Russell; changing the age of the child as originally written; the work he and Russell did with the child actor; the difficulty of shooting on a soundstage with complex sets; working with Anderson; and much more.
On the Front Lines with Fred Fontana (10:02) – is an all-new interview with associate producer Fred Fontana about how he became a producer for Jerry Wientraub throughout the 90s. Fontana discusses how arduous a production Soldier was because Weintraub was busy with other projects; working with Jeremy Bolt and Paul WS Anderson; the initial casting of Keanu Reeves and how they eventually landed on Kurt Russell; working with Kurt Russell; the difficulty of working on the production and the challenges they faced; the cult classic status of the film; and much more.
Designing for the Future with David L. Synder (14:07) – is an all-new interview with production designer David L. Snyder begins with how he started as an architect and eventually moved over to art direction in the 1970s. Snyder goes on to discuss the Oscars was his first true gig; how Bladerunner “type cast” him into a certain type of work that eventually led to Soldier; meeting and working with Paul WS Anderson; the challenges he faced during the production; and much more.
Soldier VFX Before and After commentary by Craig Barron (4:48) – is an all-new behind-the-scenes featurette/commentary breakdown by visual effects supervisor Craig Barron. By using finalized shots, behind-the-scenes footage, b-roll, and photos from the VFX plates are deftly edited together to show how various scenes were accomplished, with Barron explaining how this was done.
Weapons of Mass Creation with Craig Barron, Van Ling, and Michael Joyce (18:27) – is an all-new interview with visual effects supervisors Craig Barron and Van Ling and miniature supervisor Michael Joyce. Each interviewed separately discussed their beginnings in the industry and their respective responsibilities on Soldier. The trio goes on to discuss the various challenges that the work in Soldier posed and much more. This is one of the more fascinating set of interviews, as much of it is the technical aspects and hardware required to produced both practical and computer effects work.
A Soldier’s Journey with Danny Stewart (6:54) – is an all-new interview with Danny Stewart, author of Soldier: From Script to Screen, which begins with how he first saw the film, and the fascination with the film began a long journey in writing his book. Stewart goes on to discuss how he started his research and the structure of his book.
We Don’t Need Another Hero with Heath Holland (11:51) – is an all-new retrospective on Soldier with film historian Heath Holland. Holland begins his interview by proposing that the film was unjustly overlooked at the time of its release and goes on to discuss the reasons why he feels that the film has made a resurgence as a cult classic close to thirty years later.
Electronic Press Kit – there are two videos from the Press Kit that can be accessed through a submenu.
- Featurette (6:37) – sells the film heavily on the Bladerunner universe and Kurt Russell.
- Behind the Scenes (14:58) – raw b-roll footage from the making of the film that is presented without narration or context.
On-set interviews – the interviews can be accessed through a submenu. Each of these interviews is a very EPK-style video with short descriptions of the character, direction, writing, and tone of the picture.
- Kurt Russell (4:01)
- Gary Busey (1:06)
- Jason Scott Lee (2:29)
- Michael Chiklis (0:52)
- Connie Nielsen (1:39)
- Paul WS Anderson (4:28)
- Jerry Weintraub (1:59)
Theatrical Trailers – all can be accessed through a submenu.
- Teaser Trailer [Workprint] (1:52)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:03)
- International Trailer [with narration] (1:51)
- International Trailer [without narration] (1:51)
- International Trailer [short, with narration] (0:38)
- International Trailer [short, without narration] (0:38)
Image Gallery – the gallery consists of 211 pieces of poster art, concept designs, production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and cast photos. The gallery can be navigated by using your next and back chapter stop buttons.
The Final Thought
Arrow Video’s 4K UHD release of Soldier is an upgrade in every sense of the word. Recommended!!