4 Star

The Revenge of Obsolescence.

Sci-Fi fans rejoice, a cult classic makes it to 4K with this release by Arrow Video, as David Webb Peoples‘ (Blade Runner, Unforgiven, 12 Monkeys) story hits our screens in crispy clarity. Even though this film is full of top class acts, this film was a box-office flop. It has since become a Sci-Fi cult film, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Event Horizon, The Three Musketeers (2011)), who must have had a bad day directing this top class cast to make this story fail, but Arrow Video has seen this 1989 left on the shelf classic and brought it to us on 4K UHD. Wonderful.

In a futuristic 1996 the military roam the maternity wards of the lost, and select the best candidates for a military life. Orphans are then trained until they are seventeen years old, through all their traumatic training the one that comes out on top is Todd 3465 (Kurt Russell, Used Cars, Poseidon (2006)).

Through war after war Todd has the highest kill rate. Even when humans take their wars to the stars, Todd and his unit are at the forefront of the action, led by Church (Gary Busey, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon, Under Siege)

That is until Colonel Mekum (Jason Isaacs, Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Civvies) comes along with his new faster, stronger squad, he pits Todd against Caine 607 (Jason Scott Lee, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Back to the Future Part II) who shows that he is the match for the old bunch. However, Mekum is a megalomaniac and he wants to show off the power of his superior new squad, so he orders three of the old squad to take on Caine 607 in a fight to the death. Todd gives his best, and he is determined to take down Caine 607, the other two are quickly dispatched, but Todd is harder to remove, as the two fight Todd manages to injure 607’s eye before he too is left for dead.

You’re men are obsolete!

Mekum doesn’t want any evidence of this ‘training accident’ lying around so he wants the bodies dumped far away. This far away is the garbage disposal planet of Arcadia 234 and as the waste disposal ship P376 is about to dump its load Todd wakes amongst all the debris.

He survives the fall, and finds himself on Arcadia 234, a desert planet strewn with mounds of unwanted scrap, including CV 42 (USS Franklin D. Roosevelt), from atop a pile of scrap he spots humans, so there must be a village. As he searches he finds out that this desert planet is not so harmless, as he encounters a sandstorm. Which how he ends up in the small village of survivors of a crash-landing.

Are you a deserter Seargent?

Todd is allowed into the village by leader Hawkins (Brenda Wehle, Let Me In, St. Vincent), he is taken in and patched up by couple Mace (Sean Pertwee, Two Weeks to Live, Event Horizon) and his wife Sandra (Connie Nielsen. Sea Fever, One Hour Photo) along with their mute son Nathan (Jared Thorne, Volcano)

With his lifetime of training, and combat experience, Todd doesn’t fit in well with the villagers, and it is only made worse as he has flashbacks of his traumatic upbringing.

That is until his particular skills are required when Mekum takes his troops on a training course where any and all contacts are to be treated as hostiles.

It’s great to see this overlooked classic on 4K UHD. Thank you Arrow Video.

Soldier – Is on Limited Edition 4K UHD

 

 

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films approved by director Paul W.S. Anderson
• 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Archival audio commentary by director Paul W.S. Anderson, co-producer Jeremy Bolt and actor Jason Isaacs
• Reporting for Duty, a brand new interview with actor James Black
• Fire in the Hole!, a brand new interview with assistant director Dennis Maguire
• On the Front Lines, a brand new interview with associate producer Fred Fontana
• Designing for the Future, a brand new interview with production designer David L. Snyder
• VFX Before and After, a brand new behind-the-scenes look at how the film’s special effects were created with visual effects supervisor Craig Barron
• Weapons of Mass Creation, interviews with visual effects supervisors Craig Barron and Van Ling and miniature supervisor Michael Joyce
• A Soldier’s Journey, a brand new interview with Danny Stewart, author of Soldier: From Script to Screen
• We Don’t Need Another Hero, a brand new retrospective on the film with film historian Heath Holland
• Archival electronic press kit
• On-set interviews with cast and crew
• Trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Orlando Arocena
• Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by film critic Priscilla Page