Back in 1998, the legendary Kurt Russell teamed up with Mortal Kombat and Event Horizon director Paul W.S. Anderson for a sci-fi action movie called Soldier – which is considered to be set in the same world as Blade Runner, and also shared screenwriter David Webb Peoples with that Ridley Scott classic. But Soldier came and went without many movie-goers noticing, sputtering out with just $14.6 million at the domestic box office. It has earned some fans over the years, like JoBlo’s own Jake Dee (who wrote about Soldier for the Black Sheep series)… and now author Danny Stewart has put together the book Soldier: From Script to Screen to pay tribute to the film, dig into the story of its production, and try to draw in some new fans.
Copies of Soldier: From Script to Screen can be purchased on Amazon.
The book includes: – An examination of the evolution of the western into a whole sub-genre of films and looks in detail behind the scenes of Soldier, one of the most obscure, overlooked, and underrated science fiction films. – A discussion of Soldier’s legacy and how it drew inspiration from George Steven’s 1953 western Shane. – An Overview of the Career of Actor Kurt Russell. – An exclusive interview with the Oscar-nominated Screenwriter David Webb Peoples. – An interview with the Oscar-nominated Production Designer David L. Snyder. – Interviews with Oscar-Winning and Nominated Make-up Artists Steve LaPorte and Peter Montagna. – Guest essays by John Hansen, Mark Stratton, and John Kenneth Muir. – Afterword by Paul M. Sammon, the author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, Conan the Phenomenon, and The Making of Starship Troopers.
Anderson’s Soldier has the following synopsis: Todd has been trained since birth, through brutal conditioning, to be an emotionless killing machine. After 40 years, Todd and his comrades are deemed obsolete when Col. Mekum promotes a new breed of genetically flawless soldiers. Discarded on the trash-covered planet of Arcadia 234, Todd is rescued by colonists Mace and Sandra — but he’s soon forced to face his stronger replacements when the military seeks to wipe out the colony.
Russell is joined in the cast by Jason Scott Lee, Jason Isaacs, Connie Nielsen, Sean Pertwee, Gary Busey, and Michael Chiklis.
Are you a fan of Soldier, and will you be picking up a copy of Soldier: From Script to Screen? Let us know by leaving a comment below.