Soldier - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Soldier or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Soldier

[kyle]

An implication in the film is that the genetically-engineered soldiers meant to replace Todd and his fellow soldiers are in fact replicants, continuing a theme from Blade Runner. The 2017 short film 2036: Nexus Dawn, set in between the original Blade Runner and its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049, implies that Nexus-9 replicants were developed in 2035, the year in which Soldier takes place.

[linda]

The name of Todd 3465 belongs to director Paul W.S. Anderson's birth date, which is March (3), day (4), year 1965 (65).

[oscar]

Mekum wetting his pants when he sees Todd alive and well, and back to punish him, was not in the original script, it was improvised on set. The urine dripping out of Mekum's pants was actually pineapple juice.

[claude]

Director Paul W.S. Anderson admitted that the film did not turn out the way he had originally intended. He and screenwriter David Webb Peoples had always envisioned the movie as a classic western, a sort-of Shane (1953) set in space, and wanted to film in wide open environments and existing locations as much as possible, as opposed to using studio sets. However, Kurt Russell insisted on bulking up for the role naturally, without use of steroids, which pushed the production schedule of the movie back by several months. By the time that his lengthy training was finished and filming was about to commence, the 'El Niño' hurricane caused such adverse weather conditions that filming on the selected locations was no longer possible. There was no other option than scaling back the picture and shooting inside a studio, with all its limitations. Anderson stated that it sadly compromised the entire look of the picture; he named the shot where Todd arrives on the planet and walks through the abandoned spaceship as an example of "the kind of imagery I wanted to put onscreen and get more of."

[charlie]

Despite being advertised in UK cinemas, the film performed so badly on its US release that Warner Brothers decided not to release it theatrically in the UK and instead it went straight to pay per view video.

[kyle]

David Webb Peoples started writing the screenplay to Soldier while Blade Runner was being filmed. As the screenwriter of both films, he has long maintained that they are set in the same universe. Director Paul Anderson agrees, and says that if Kurt Russell's character were to go to Earth, he would have encountered Harrison Ford's Deckard.

[jim]

Todd's service record, displayed on a computer screen, includes the following: - The battles of Tannhauser Gate and Shoulder of Orion (references to Blade Runner (1982)) - Receipt of the "Plissken Patch" (reference to Escape from New York (1981) and Escape from L.A. (1996)). Receipt of the "O'Neil Ring Award" (reference to Stargate (1994)) - Receipt of the "Cash Medal of Honor" (reference to Tango & Cash (1989)) Receipt of the "MacReady Cross" (reference to The Thing (1982)) - Receipt of the "Capt. Ron Trophy" (reference to Captain Ron (1992)) - Receipt of the "McCaffrey Fire Award" (reference to Backdraft (1991)) - Receipt of the "Dexter Riley Award" (reference to The Strongest Man in the World (1975), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)) - Citations for the Nibian Moons Campaign, the Antares Maelstrom War, and the War Of Perdition's Flames, locations referred to in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

[addison]

While listing the weapons on which Todd is trained, you can see he is capable of using the "Illudium PU36 ES,M" otherwise known as the Illudium PU36 Explosive Space Modulator. This is the same weapon Marvin the Martian is always threatening to use on Earth, in his Bugs Bunny cartoon appearances.

[jesus]

According to Paul W.S. Anderson, Kurt Russell worked out three or four hours a day for eighteen months to get himself into the "pumped-up" condition he displays in this film. Anderson says the making of "Soldier" was actually postponed to allow Russell to do this, because Russell thought it was so important to Sergeant Todd's character; Anderson made Event Horizon (1997) in the interim, while Russell made no other movies during that time.

[norma]

Kurt Russell's paycheck for the film was twenty million dollars.

[gabriel]

One of the trashed items viewed in the junkyard (after Todd is kicked out of the refugee community) is a green AMC gremlin.

[charlie]

Freeze frame the "Trinity Moons" data readout display in the closing scene and you will find several references to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The "Top Archive Specifications" comes up with ZZ9.Plurl.ZA (the sector in which Earth is reported to be) which comes up in Zaphod mode. On the right under "Search Results" you can see "Slartibartfast" complete with an "HHG" reference number.

[violet]

Kurt Russell sustained a broken ankle during the first week of filming, and got a week off. When he came back, all of the scenes where he was laying down were filmed. They followed that with the sitting-down scenes, then the standing-still scenes. Finally, the action scenes were shot. The last scene filmed was the "running" scene between Todd and Caine 607 near the beginning of the movie.

[phyllis]

A false press statement was released, saying that Kurt Russell broke his ankle during a stunt, when in fact, he tripped over an ornamental cabbage during a break.

[jesse]

The actors who portray the couple Mace and Sandra both went on to portray DC Comics characters. Sean Pertwee would appear as Alfred Pennyworth in the TV series Gotham. Connie Nielsen would play Queen Hippolyte in the 2017 films Wonder Woman and Justice League.

[wesley]

The Trinity Moons screen near the end of the movie, also includes references to "Eminiar 7" from Star Trek: The Original Series: A Taste of Armageddon (1967), and "Kessel", possibly referring to the Kessel Run, mentioned by Han Solo, in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).

[wesley]

Clint Eastwood loved the original script and was attached to direct the film for a while.

[linda]

Writer David Webb Peoples has said that Soldier is a "side-quel" to Blade Runner (1982) (which he also wrote) because it takes place in the same universe, and in fact the vehicles used by the Blade Runners - spinners - are also used in Soldier. The premise of Soldier was actually based on an unused opening scene for Blade Runner, where a group of Replicants are dumped and left for dead on an Off-world colony. Both films were released by Warner Brothers, and both were box-office failures that gained a cult following after being released on home video.

[gerald]

Sylvester Stallone was offered the lead role, but was unavailable.