Poor Paul WS Anderson seems destined to live eternally in the shadows of his more acclaimed name-mate Paul Thomas Anderson, newly-minted Oscar winner for One Battle After Another. On the other hand, WS gets to come home to Milla Jovovich every night, so I won’t shed tears for his lot in life.

Unlike critic’s darling PTA, WS makes action flicks that usually veer into sci-fi. For another of these, we head to 1998’s Soldier.

Selected at birth to become a soldier, the year 2036 finds Sgt. Todd 3465 (Kurt Russell) as a relentless killing machine. However, now 40 years old, he finds himself on the verge of obsolescence because scientists develop genetically engineered combatants with even greater emotional detachment.

After a confrontation with this new breed, Todd finds himself left for dead on Arcadia 234, a waste disposal planet populated by peaceful inhabitants. When the younger crew shows up to eradicate the locals on Arcadia 234, Todd finds himself at odds with them.

A look over Paul WS Anderson’s filmography reveals that he regularly makes watchable sci-fi/action flicks without much to make them stand out from the crowd. That goes for Soldier.

Will the action bore the viewer? No, but neither does Soldier ever become especially exciting.

Soldier does get a boost thanks to the presence of Kurt Russell. In contrast to the limited talent and appeal of 1990s action stars such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal, Russell gives the tale more redeeming value.

The role of 3465 certainly doesn't require much acting ability and might become Russell's least challenging assignment. He really just needs to act mechanical and merciless as a character trained from birth to kill without conscience.

Throughout the entire movie, Russell only finds himself required to utter a handful of sentences. However, Russell manages to evoke genuine emotion and signs of humanity that the viewer could root for, something a lesser actor would not be able to deliver.

Soldier benefits from a solid supporting cast as well. We get seasoned pros like Jason Isaacs, Connie Nielsen, Gary Busey and Michael Chiklis to add impact to the proceedings.

As for the action, it can be best described as Rambo style with barrages of huge explosions, fire exchanges and climactic hand-to-hand combat sequences. The special effects and production design in creating the garbage planet work well.

Arcadia 234 seems environmentally hostile with unpredictable powerful sandstorms. It also comes littered with mountains of mechanical junk and the production design evokes these elements well.

Anderson manages to make Soldier look pretty good, and he brings decent action. However, like pretty much all of his movies, the end result never becomes anything special.

This doesn’t feel like a fatal flaw, as Soldier does come with decent entertainment. However, no one should expect anything especially memorable from this somewhat mechanical mix of violence and sci-fi.

Footnote: if the 11-year-old incarnation of Todd looks familiar, that’s because Russell’s son Wyatt – now moderately famous in his own right – plays the role at that age.

Soldier appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This Dolby Vision image worked pretty well.

Sharpness appeared quite good. A few shots could be a smidgen soft, though those instances usually related to visual effects shots, so the majority of the movie came across as accurate.

No issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes weren’t a factor. The transfer lacked print flaws as well and always came across as clean, with a light layer of grain.

Soldier used a fairly stylized palette that befit its locations. Segments in military domains opted for chilly blues and greens whereas the garbage planet went for a warmer red-amber.

These choices looked full and rich. HDR added impact to the colors.

Black levels looked firm and deep, and shadow detail was always appropriately heavy without any excessive thickness. Whites and contrast enjoyed a boost from HDR as well. In the end, this became a satisfying image despite a little softness.

I also felt pleased with the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, as it brought an extremely active affair that almost constantly kept all five speakers in action. The soundfield presented audio that was accurately localized and that moved cleanly from channel to channel.

Surround usage seemed very strong. The rear speakers provided excellent ambiance and also kicked in some fine split-surround effects.

Unsurprisingly, the combat bits offered the best rear channel activity. As a whole, however, the entire track worked well and it provided an involving auditory experience.

Audio quality also seemed terrific. Dialogue sounded natural and distinct with no edginess or problems related to distortion.

Effects were clean and realistic without signs of distortion, and they packed a serious punch when appropriate. These components often kept the subwoofer active as I heard some solidly deep and tight bass response.

Music sounded clear and bright, and it also portrayed good dynamic range. All in all, this is the kind of powerful, crisp soundtrack one expects of this sort of film, and the mix for Soldier worked well.

When we head to extras, we launch with an “archival” audio commentary from director Paul Anderson, producer Jeremy Bolt and actor Jason Isaacs. Note that Isaacs doesn’t appear until about 41 minutes into the film.

All three sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, influences and references to other films, cast and performances, sets and locations, photography and editing, effects, music and connected topics.

Recorded in 1998, this becomes a good track. Anderson does the heavy lifting and gives us a lot of insights related to the production.

Bolt and Isaacs bring less to the table but they still earn their keep. We find an informative chat here.

Video programs ensue, and Reporting for Duty spans nine minutes, 31 seconds. Actor James Black becomes the subject of this one.

Black discusses his foray into acting, his audition and his time on Soldier. The actor gives us a good collection of memories.

Fire in the Hole! runs 12 minutes, 38 seconds. It provides a chat with assistant director Dennis Maguire.

The AD looks at his career as well as aspects of his Soldier experiences. Maguire delivers useful remarks about the production.

Next comes On the Front Lines. During this 10-minute, two-second show, we locate info from associate producer Fred Fontana.

We get notes about his movies along with details connected to Soldier. "Lines" adds new details.

Designing for the Future occupies 14 minutes, seven seconds. Production designer David L. Snyder turns into the focus.

Like the others, Snyder provides some background on his career and then digs into aspects of Soldier. We find another worthwhile view of the topics at hand.

After this we head to VFX Before and After. It lasts four minutes, 48 seconds and involves commentary from visual effects supervisor Craig Barron.

As expected, we get a look at the ways the effects changed the original photography. Barron tells us about the work in this engaging reel.

Weapons of Mass Creation goes for 18 minutes, 27 seconds. It involves Barron, visual effects supervisor Van Ling and miniature supervisor Michael Joyce.

We again get some notes about their careers and then dig into their efforts for Soldier. This delivers another informative program.

With A Soldier’s Journey, we discover a six-minute, 54-second reel with film historian Danny Stewart as he discusses his book about the film. He gives us a few notes about the movie but mostly this feels like an ad for his work.

We Don’t Need Another Hero takes up 11 minutes, 51 seconds and presents a "retrospective" from film historian Heath Holland. He gives us his view of the flick and provides a smattering of insights.

In the promotional vein, an Archival EPK splits into a "Featurette" (6:37) and "Behind the Scenes" (14:58). The former involves Anderson, Snyder, producer Jerry Weintraub, weapons master Jared Chandler, crawler builder Robert Wilcox, stunt coordinator Dick Ziker, and actors Kurt Russell, Gary Busey, Sean Pertwee, Connie Nielsen, and Jason Scott Lee.

"Featurette" offers a few insights but mostly sells the movie. "Scenes" proves more compelling, as it gives us a lot of glimpse of the actual production.

On-Set Interviews with Cast and Crew span a total of 16 minutes, 34 seconds. We hear from Russell, Busey, Lee, Chiklis, Nielse, Anderson and Weintraub.

These clips come from the same sessions used for the EPK featurette. The remarks tend to seem bland, as they exist to promote the film.

Along with six trailers, the disc concludes with an Image Gallery that presents 210 elements. These cover movie shots, behind the scenes photos, publicity pictures and ads to become a nice compilation.

Though it comes with appealing production design and a good cast, Soldier seems mediocre at best otherwise. Kurt Russell tries his best to elevate his emotionally disconnected warrior but too much of the film feels derivative and without flair for it to really succeed. The 4K UHD offers very good picture and audio along with an extensive roster of supplements. This becomes a terrific release for a meh movie.