YMMV / Soldier

• Alternate Character Interpretation: While they are undeniably complicit in various war crimes, it's possible to view Lieutenants Sloan and Rubrick as either cold-hearted Co-Dragons or Punch Clock Villains who feel trapped serving Mekum. They seem to be disturbed (or at least startled) by some of Mekum's orders and decisions. They also get along well with Captain Church, who is a fairly sympathetic character (albeit also complicit in some of Mekum's crimes).
• Complete Monster: Colonel Mekum commands the project to replace the older generation of indoctrinated Super Soldiers, raised from birth, with more obedient, genetically modified ones. Ordering his finest soldier, Caine 607, to kill several of these veterans as a demonstration, Sergeant Todd instead fights Caine to a draw. Furious that Caine has lost an eye because it reduces his effectiveness on the battlefield, Mekum orders Todd to be left for dead on a waste disposal planet. Mekum later arrives on the planet with his soldiers on a field exercise, using the shallow excuse that the planet is listed as "uninhabited" to order a massacre of the planet's hundreds of peaceful settlers, men, women, and children alike. Todd uses his skills to fight back and systematically disposes of Mekum's soldiers, which panics Mekum enough to arm a nuclear bomb to wipe out everyone on the surface. Mekum's willingness to sacrifice the lives of his men so disgusts Captain Church that he tries to put a stop to it, only to be executed by Mekum on the spot.
• Cult Classic: Despite its lackluster performance, it's considered quite a good film by some. Whether you love it for well-crafted late-90s action scenes, small tie-ins to Blade Runner, Kurt Russel's astonishing performance as Todd, or all of the above.
• Critical Dissonance: The film is disliked by many critics. Regular audiences are far more forgiving, and some called it one of Kurt Russell's best films. In particular, the way the soldiers (Todd especially) communicate a full range of emotion with very few words and variations on stoic facial expressions make it fascinating to watch.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Captain Church, the folksy Old Soldier and Combat Pragmatist who's A Father to His Men and is played by Gary Busey, is considered one of the film's most memorable and likable characters even though he's nominally on the villains' side.
  • Mace dies before the movie's 2/3rds of the way over, but he's well-liked for his caring, personable nature and the way that he ventures out into the wastelands to make amends with Todd after his banishment.
• Faux Symbolism: The main genetically-engineered soldier's name is Caine. He 'kills' his counterpart, Todd.
• Heartwarming Moments: At the end of the film, after stealing the military ship, loading up the stranded colonists, and setting course for where they originally wanted to go in the first place, Todd sees Nathan approach him. Wordlessly, Todd bends down and picks the kid up in his arms. His old squad look at him, utterly confused, and Todd gives them a look that can only be described as "You got a problem with this?" then walks off, still carrying the boy tenderly. Todd has learned to feel.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: This would not be the only time Wyatt Russell plays an American Super-Soldier after playing a Tyke-Bomb Child Soldier kind here.
  • It also wouldn't be the only time that they played the same character at different stages in his life.
• Retroactive Recognition: Michael Chiklis plays one of the colonists.
  • Wyatt Russell, Kurt Russell's son, played an eleven year old Todd on the firing range.
• Spiritual Adaptation: It's probably the closest we'll get to a BattleTech movie focused on Clan Warriors, and why the younger, "more advanced" generation isn't necessarily better than the older, more experienced one.
• Stoic Woobie: Sergeant Todd was forced to spend his childhood undergoing brutal training as part of a project to become the perfect soldier. When he becomes outdated he is thrown off on a wasteland planet. He spends the movie trying to cope with his purpose in life being taken from him and has no place among normal people due to his killer instinct and total lack of social skills. When Sandra asks him what he thinks about, he reveals that it's fear and discipline, every single moment.

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