Soldier
Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
- science fiction
- action
- drama
The story
Sergeant Todd is a veteran soldier for an elite group of the armed forces. After being defeated by a new breed of genetically engineered soldiers, he is dumped on a waste planet and left for dead. He soon interacts with a group of crash survivors who lead out a peaceful existence. The peace is broken as the new soldiers land on the planet to eliminate the colony, which Sergeant Todd must defend.
What it’s like
Hard-edged and grimy, with murky industrial interiors lit in sickly greens and steely blues, and wide dusty wastelands under a washed-out sky. The camera is mostly restless: handheld jolts in the combat scenes, sharp cuts on impact, and quieter stretches of slow, low-key framing around a makeshift settlement of crash survivors where warm firelight and campfire faces offer brief respite. The score is a driving, percussive synth-and-orchestral pulse that swells into thunderous drums during the battles, with long stretches of wind and metal creaking in between. Its vibe is bleak, militaristic grit with a gruff, stoic edge, best suited to a late-night watch or a loud Friday with the lights off. The pace is steady and punchy rather than slow, and its emotional core is a hardened, mostly silent man slowly learning to trust and protect people he had written off. Intensity is high: frequent gunfights, explosions, hand-to-hand combat, and brutal injuries, with some bloody moments and a menacing, dystopian dread throughout; not gentle, and no sexual content. Made for viewers who want unrelenting action, lean dialogue, and a bleak sci-fi world with a stubborn, loyal hero at its centre.
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