Soldier
Short description
Sergeant Todd is a veteran of an elite military unit, trained from childhood to follow orders and suppress emotion. When his commanders decide that a new generation of genetically engineered soldiers is superior, Todd and his fellow veterans are considered obsolete. After a confrontation with one of the new fighters leaves his squad dead, Todd is gravely injured and left on Arcadia, a distant planet used as a dumping ground for waste. There he is taken in by a community of settlers whose ship crashed on the planet years earlier and who have built a quiet life for themselves. Their peace ends when the new soldiers arrive with orders to wipe out the colony, and Todd takes it upon himself to defend the people who sheltered him.
Paul W. S. Anderson directed the film, his fourth feature in a career of fourteen, following Event Horizon and preceding Resident Evil. David Webb Peoples wrote the screenplay, and Jerry Weintraub produced. Kurt Russell plays Todd, with Jason Scott Lee, Jason Isaacs, Connie Nielsen, Sean Pertwee and Gary Busey among the credited cast of thirty-eight. The production had a budget of 60 million dollars and returned 17 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds 6.1 out of 10 from around 63,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 out of 10 from roughly 995 votes, while a critics' score stands at 4.4 out of 10 from 53 reviews, placing it below the audience averages.
What's left behind the scenes
- Among the debris on the planet, one can notice the aircraft carrier “Franklin Delano Roosevelt”, the F-117X Remora from “Executive Decision” (1996), a spinner from “Blade Runner” (1982), a piece of the spaceship “Lewis & Clark” from “Event Horizon” (1997), and the Liberty Bell.
- Todd's service record includes: — battles for the Tannhäuser Gate and Orion's Shoulder (a reference to “Blade Runner” (1982)), — the Plissken Medal (a reference to “Escape from New York” (1981) and “Escape from L.A.” (1996)), — the O'Neil Ring Award (a reference to “Stargate” (1994)), — the Cash Courage Medal (a reference to “Tango & Cash” (1989)), — the MacReady Cross (a reference to “The Thing” (1982)), — Captain Ron's trophy (a reference to “Captain Ron” (1992)), — the McCaffrey Award (a reference to “Freejack” (1991)), — the Dexter Riley Award (a reference to “The Strongest Man in the World” (1975)), “Now You See Him, Now You Don't” (1972), “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” (1969)).
- In the scene where Cain 607 operates the combat vehicle, the navigational joystick for firing is a Saitek X36 PC joystick.
- According to David Webb Peoples, the film takes place in the same universe as 'Blade Runner' (1982), the screenplay for which David also wrote.
- The trailer features a large-scale space battle involving 20-30 ships. However, this scene is absent from the film.
- Todd is on screen 85% of the time, but speaks only 104 words.
- Among the weapons Todd is proficient with, one can find the “Illudium PU36 ES,M,” also known as the “Illudium PU36 Explosive Space Modulator.” This is the weapon Marvin the Martian threatens to use to blow up Earth in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. The list also includes the “USMC Smartgun” and “M41A pulse rifle” (a reference to 'Aliens' (1986)) and the “DOOM MKIV BFG” (a reference to the computer game 'Doom').
- Wyatt, Kurt Russell's son, played eleven-year-old Todd.
- The snakes we see in the film are Thai vipers, extremely poisonous.
- According to Paul W.S. Anderson, Kurt Russell worked out for three to four hours a day for 18 months to achieve the perfect physique. Filming was postponed for several months to allow Kurt to get into the physical shape needed to convincingly portray his character.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
