History Film / Soldier

* InfantImmortality:
** On Arcadia, adults are gunned down mercilessly during the advance team attack and bombardment siege, yet no child ever suffers more than being frightened.
** Implied to be averted in one of Todd's flashbacks, when he recalls an instance where he had been shooting civilians, and had stopped to reload. We see a young girl kneeling by the bodies of (presumably) her family, and Todd looking down (again presumably) at her expressionlessly as he reloads. Once he gets the new magazine inserted into his rifle, he pulls the trigger immediately, aiming at whatever he had been staring at the whole time.
** Averted during the training montage, where one of Todd's fellow candidates ([[ChildSoldier implied to be 12 years old]]) can't keep pace with the others and is shot off-screen.

''Soldier'' is a 1998 science-fiction action adventure film directed by Creator/PaulWSAnderson and starring Creator/KurtRussell and Jason Scott Lee as a pair of futuristic soldiers who do battle on a decaying planet.

** Inverted in his relationship with Nathan, who cannot speak due to a childhood injury. It is arguably due to this connection between them and the manner in which Todd teaches Nathan to kill a dangerous snake that the boy is later able to save his family.

* BloodFromTheMouth: Todd suffers this when he's knocked backwards during a duststorm after arriving at the colony., and during the second fist-fight with Caine.

* SoldiersAtTheRear: The West Point graduate leading the genetically modified super soldiers is a classic REMF (rear-echelon motherf*cker). Exemplified by his spotless dress uniform (the other officers are wearing fatigues) and pearl-handled revolvers.

** The best has to when Colonel Mekum shoves Lieutenant Sloan out of the way when she can't remember the code to shut down the Planet Killer. He puts a code in with a SmugSmile, but her face is terrified. The EarthShatteringKaboom happens about two seconds later.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Todd is a professional soldier, which in this setting means a killing machine who was raised from early childhood to be devoid of hesitation, scruples, or remorse. In the opening moments of the story, it's made clear that Todd never questions orders and thinks nothing of slaughtering anyone who obstructs his mission. Yet he's the (heroic) protagonist of the story and the settlers' only hope of defeating the next-gen soldiers, who are morally even worse than Todd.

** Also discussed and averted later on. The next-gen soldiers are criticized as being powerful but untested, while the originals are battle-hardened and thus experienced. Indeed, the next-gen soldiers are summarily wiped out precisely because they are incapable of adapting to the guerrilla tactics of a single, well-armed, well-trained and experienced man.

** Adults are gunned down mercilessly during the advance team attack and bombardment siege, yet no child ever suffers more than being frightened. Averted in the opening sequence however, as a fat kid who can't keep up with the other child soldier trainees is summarily executed offscreen.

* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: Todd doesn't particularly care about [[NonActionBigBad Colonel Mekum]], but he does have a genuine rivalry with his opposite [[DragonInChief Caine 607]] for replacing him as the new soldier of the future. This feeling is mutual, as Caine hates Todd for [[EyeScream costing him an eye]] and making him partially obsolete.

* LandfillBeyondTheStars: The setting of the movie is a junkyard planet.

** The original recruits are trained from a young age to act without emotion, to the point that they would have constant drills and incredibly difficult training exercises as children.

* SuperSoldier: While the first generation of soldiers was all about training from the early childhood, the next-gen soldiers are directly genetically enhanced and bred like clones.

* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Todd's "Soldiers deserve soldiers, sir" statement.

* TragicVillain: Todd's nemesis [[TheDragon Caine 607]] is probably even more of a victim of the indoctrination of the future military as Todd himself is, as he was not only [[{{Tykebomb}} trained from birth to be a soldier]] like Todd himself but also genetically modified to be completely obedient. When Caine loses an eye in a fight with Todd and is dismissed by his commanding officer as almost useless now ("He has no depth perception! All he can do is walk point and take the first hit."), there are strong parallels with Todd himself being dismissed as a relic.
* TrainingFromHell: The Adam Project. It's strongly suggested to be special forces training done as regular, day-to-day routine, only with ''pre-teen boys'' instead. Any child unable to keep pace is summarily executed. Those who survive till the end of it years later are top of the line soldiers. And aside combat and endurance training, it also consisted of extreme doses of psychical conditioning to make excessive violence perfectly acceptable. Todd has a flashback where he brutally beats another kid into complete mess and then goes back to solving a test on the desk right next to him as if nothing happend, not even being winded.
* TrainingMontage: The entire opening sequence, starting with Todd being selected as an infant to participate in the Adam Project, and then shows all the gruelling training he went through in the first 20 years of his life.
* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Subverted. Despite not having any opposition to fight against prior to the military landing on the planet, most of the adult villagers already have weapons and training (although they're barred by Todd from fighting the enemy because he considers it something he has to do himself).

* UntrustingCommunity: Justified. Due to his training, Todd has no social skills whatsoever. It has been absolutely drilled into him never to speak unless spoken to, and even then he gives only curt responses. He doesn't explain why he's not with his unit until a settler directly accuses him of desertion, which makes him angry enough to choke out that he was replaced by newer soldiers. Moreover, several of the colony leaders are fully aware of the kind of training he went through, honed from infancy to be a remorseless and efficient killing machine. The breaking point comes when holding a gun makes him have a violent flashback, nearly killing a random guy with his deadly reflexes before coming to his senses. The colony leaders exile him by (more or less) politely explaining that they fear that his training and indoctrination have made him truly incapable of ever integrating in a peaceful society. The fact that their fears are entirely rational makes it hurt all the more for Todd. But the survivors come around when he saves them from the advance force.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Todd is a professional soldier, which in this setting means a killing machine rised from childhood and devoid of hesitation, scrupules or remorse. Before the proper story starts it's made clear he doesn't mind killing just about anyone on his way to the goal set by HQ and won't even think about questioning such orders. Yet he's the protagonist of the story and the best chance of the settlers to scrape through the fight with next-gen soldiers, who are even worse.

** Sergeant Todd was raised from birth to be a completely obedient, emotionless soldier. When he is left for dead by his superiors he tries to reintegrate into a small community, but ultimately can't due to his underdeveloped social skills. He barely talks and except for some fleeting moments is a paragon of stoicism and actually dangerous to be around, as his conditioning constantly triggers violent self-defense.

** The best has to when Colonel Mekum shoves Lieutenant Sloan out of the way when she can't remember the code to shut down the Planet Killer. He puts a code in with a SmugSmile but her face is terrified. The EarthShatteringKaboom happens about two seconds later.

* OnlyOne: Justified. Todd is the only one who knows how the genetically-modified soldiers operate, what their attack patterns are and what the best plan for guerilla warfare is.

* RatedMForManly: So manly it doesn't need words.
* ScienceIsUseless: Todd has the advantage against the genetically-modified soldiers due to his leadership and tactics gained from years of combat experience.

* SuperSoldier: While the first generation of soldiers was all about training from the early childhood, the next-gen soldiers are directly genetically enhanced and breed like clones.

* ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: Although constructing a thermonuclear warhead powerful enough to blow up an entire planet is a theoretical possibility (how feasible it would be -- that's another story), the device thus built would have to be much, ''much'' larger than this tiny ball they used in the movie. Basically, the strength of a thermonuclear warhead depends on how many phases of reaction are introduced. If we're talking about planet-killer power levels, it would require a huge amount of phases, too many to be crammed within such small device.

** Averted during the training montage, where one of Todd's fellow candidates ([[ChildSoldierimplied to be 12 years old]]) can't keep pace with the others and is shot off-screen.

* Jerkass: After the above mentioned incident, Mekum chastizes Caine for losing an eye in a fight against Todd and two other veterans.
-->'''Mekum:'''Do you know how much it costs to breed you, you big moron? To train you? To feed you? What good is this man now? He's got no depth perception! All he can do is walk point and take the first hit!

-->'''Sandra:''' [they're very scary, you're outnumbered]... what are you going to do?

%%* CatScare

* InsistentTerminology: When the usually quiet Todd speaks to any of the adult colonists, he calls them "Sir" due to spending most of his life in a military environment.

** Sergeant Todd was raised from birth to be a completely obedient, emotionless soldier. When he is left for dead by his superiors he tries to reintegrate into a small community, but ultimately can't due to his underdeveloped social skills. He barely talks and except for some fleeting moments is a paragon of stoicism and actually dangerous to be around.

* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Todd's "Soldiers deserve soldiers" statement.

** Todd's violence allows him to defend the community from the invading next-gen soldiers bent on eradicating them, and subsequently [[spoiler: lead them to the Promised Land]].

* MookHorrorShow: Todd doles this out to the invading super soldiers, slaughtering them without most of them getting a good look at him. By the end the people on board the command ship are thinking it's platoon killing their men.

Todd is seemingly killed during the ensuing test (but is actually unconscious) and his body is dumped on the surface of Arcadia 234, a [[LandfillBeyondTheStars waste mining planet]]. Although badly injured, Todd manages to make his way to a colony of humans who crash-landed on the planet many years earlier and built their own society. Todd and the colonists begin to work together to survive, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the genetically-modified soldiers, who are taking part in a training exercise and intend to kill the settlers. Together with the colonists, including healer Sandra (Connie Nielsen) and her son Nathan, Todd decides to fight back and protect his new allies.

* SoldierVersusWarrior: The creators of the new generation soldiers apparently focused so much on making them physically superior and obedient that they forgot to teach them any tactics. They opperate as individuals with almost no coordinatio, allowing Todd to pick them off one by one.

* StatingTheSimpleSolution: The moment that several of the new generation of soldiers are massacred by Todd, Church offers Mekum a simple counterattack plan that will take care of the enemy, no matter how many of them could be (they are freaking out so much that they say "for all we know it could be a couple of ''divisions'' out there!"): have the soldiers fall back, load up with the heaviest artillery they have on board, and bombard the "enemy base" to smithereens. The time it takes for the soldiers to do this is enough time for Todd to gather enough weapons and go on the attack himself.

* ArmorIsUseless: The genetically-modified troops are mowed down easily by weapons fire and melee weapons.
** Although they stand up pretty well against the civilian weapons.

* CuteMute: Nicholas is an innocent little boy that doesn't speak due to an accident in the past

* DecoyHidingPlace: One of the next-gen soldiers is chasing group of children. He enters the room, looking directly at a group of children and single female covering them. Then Todd blindsides him. With a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill rocket launcher]].
** Later, Todd uses this against Caine. After being severely beaten, he looks at a rusty sickle on the ground. Caine follows his gaze and decides to pick the sickle, since he's standing right next to it. Which Todd instantly uses for his real attack, as Caine positioned himself to get sliced with a chopper propeller.

* EyeScream: Todd does this to Caine 607 during their first encounter.

* HollywoodHealing: Todd falls from a great height, then gets dumped from a ship at a great height, then gets flung several yards into a set of steps during a windstorm, and is no worse for wear after a day of rest.
** Slightly averted: Todd is dropped onto the planet by a ship, and is later told that they visit the planet every 20 or 30 days. When told this, it is the first time that he has left the safety of the settlement (so about 3 weeks of recuperation) and still isn't fully healed.

* InfantImmortality: Adults are gunned down mercilessly during the advance team attack and bombardment siege, yet no child ever suffers more than being frightened. Averted in the opening sequence however, as a fat kid who can't keep up with the other child soldier trainees is summarily executed offscreen.

* NoSocialSkills: Sergeant Todd was raised from birth to be a completely obedient, emotionless soldier. When he is left for dead by his superiors he tries to reintegrate into a small community, but ultimately can't due to his underdeveloped social skills. He barely talks and except for some fleeting moments is a paragon of stoicism and actually dangerous to be around.

** Todd's dossier (seen on a computer monitor) lists some of his commendations, including the [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Plissken Patch]], [[Film/TheThing1982 MacReady Cross]] and [[Film/{{Stargate}} O'Neill Ring Award]].
*** Also an ActorAllusion, as those lead characters are all played by Kurt Russell.

** The garbage piles on Arcadia 234 include a trashed [[Film/ExecutiveDecision F-117X Remora]] and a piece of the [[Film/EventHorizon Lewis & Clark]].

* ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer: The basis of the UntrustingCommunity's perspective is based largely on Todd's background as a soldier, and that his violent tendencies are such that he cannot be integrated as a member.