Soldier (1998)

"SOLDIER" OF MISFORTUNE Russell does Rambo

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Any cliche you can dream up for a futuristic action movie, any familiar big-budget epic you can think to rip off, "Soldier" has gotten there first. The "Terminator"-style, "good" killer hero (Kurt Russell, mute and beady-eyed) who protects a little boy? The "Rambo"fied maneuvers that allow one under-equipped man to fend off scores of "Star Wars"-inspired troops? The Western showdown between the hero and his stone-faced nemesis (Jason Scott Lee)? The galactic outpost of resourceful people, dressed in rags from J. Peterman's "Postman" collection and living with discarded "Road Warrior" furniture? The pretty blond woman who doesn't speak much (Connie Nielsen) but who shows a lot of skin and whose decent husband (Sean Pertwee), while strong, is not as strong as the hero played by the bigger star, and so dies?

Done, done, done, done, and done. And I haven't even mentioned the digital timer that counts down to bomb detonation. This mechanical, violent military-porn fantasy from director Paul Anderson ("Event Horizon") and overqualified screenwriter David Webb Peoples ("Blade Runner," "Unforgiven") is a waste of snappy set decoration; the pretty blond woman lives on a garbage-dump planet, but an ancient issue of House & Garden probably gave her the inspiration to hang CDs as a cheery bedroom mobile.