Soldier

Harlan Ellison's story Soldier is probably the best known of The Outer Limits one. After all Ellison sued James Cameron and ended up with a story credit for The Terminator movies.

The opening scenes in the battlefield of the future has similarities as well as two fighting soldiers getting transported back to Earth of the past.

Qarlo Clobregnny (Michael Ansara) is captured and put in a padded cell as he is too prone to violence. Tom Kagan (Lloyd Nolan) is the linguist expert who comes to understand that Qarlo is speaking an evolved form of English. That he has been bred from war and is from Earth of the future.

Tom wants Qarlo to understand about humanity and love, not war. Tom even persuades his superior Paul Tanner to let him take Qarlo to his house. All the time the other soldier is also somewhere in Los Angeles.

There are some interesting concepts but it is stuck with limitations of 1960s television. It was odd how Tom offers Qarlo a cigarette and lighter when they first meet. Apart from giving this potential alien a cancer stick. I kept wondering what if Hannibal Lecter was there instead of Tom. Just how he would had used a lighter and a lit cigarette as a weapon. That is before a killing machine is taken to Tom's home and perfect family.

Much of the concepts remain unexplored as the story comes to an abrupt end.

The famed Sci-fi writer and crank, Harlan Ellison, wrote this story as well as one other episode of "The Outer Limits"--"The Demon With a Glass Hand". Both are among the very best episodes of a great series and both are very worthy of your attention. Interestingly, the concepts in these two shows have some similarities to "The Terminator"--so much so in Ellison's mind that he sued to have his name listed on the film's credits. I am not sure whether or not he had a valid case--all I know is that you've got to see these two shows.

The show begins in the far future. Two soldiers are somehow his by lasers at the same time and one is sent into the distant past of today--the other remained in limbo for much of the show. When the one soldier (Michael Ansara) arrived in the 1960s, he was ill-equipped to fit in, as he knew absolutely nothing but war and killing. It turns out he was actually bred for this purpose and getting along with others was NOT his strong point! Not surprisingly, he's soon taken into custody after his arrival. Heck, they think he's a nut and he's placed in a straight-jacket in a padded cell! Not knowing what to do with this guy, they assign a philologist (like a linguist) to work with the soldier (Lloyd Nolan). Very slowly, they begin to learn to communicate and form a bit of an understanding between them. Not exactly a friendship, the soldier at least understands that the man is NOT an enemy. In an odd twist, eventually the soldier is taken home to stay with the family of his new 'friend'. I could easily say more--but it wouldn't do the show justice and the twists that result you should just see for yourself.

All in all, while the idea of a super-soldier being magically transported to the past is crazy, it's still a great story because of the writing. You really care about the characters and Ansara and Nolan manage to do a lot with the script as well. Unusual, fascinating and well worth your time--it's a shame Ellison didn't write more for this series. I assume this is because "The Outer Limits" ended soon after he wrote these two shows but it also might have had something to do with Ellison's personality, as he is notorious for alienating himself from authority. Still, a heck of a writer...

Among the many accomplishments of Harlan Ellison was SOLDIER, his anti-war war story about a soldier from the future cast into the Past (our Present) and pursued through Time by an enemy soldier. Riveting stuff, Then and Now, and one of the many highlights of THE OUTER LIMITS (the original series). Ellison may be gone, now, but his Words (and DEEDS) will live Forever: he always took the Moral High Ground and never flinched, never gave an inch, even in the face of seemingly unbeatable odds. In a world where 90% of the Earth's population breathes polluted air (and drinks polluted water and eats tainted food) and 7 Million people die every year from breathing that pollution, Ellison was vital to our Understanding of what it is we should be standing for (and standing firmly AGAINST). He was and always will be an Inspiration to those of us whose voices mostly go unheard.

Soldier is directed by Gerd Oswald and written by Harlan Ellison and Leslie Stevens. It stars Lloyd Nolan, Michael Ansara, Tim O'Connor, Ralp Hart and Jill Hill. Music is by Harry Lubin and cinematography by Kenneth Peach.

Season 2 - Episode 1

A soldier named from the far future Quarlo (Ansara), conditioned from birth to be a killing machine, is teleported back to present day 1964. Psychiatric linguist Tom Kagan (Nolan) is assigned the near impossible task of getting to the bottom of who Qarlo is, and where has he come from? As some headway is made and things begin to unravel, another soldier from the future arrives to kill his enemy, Quarlo.

Written by expert science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, Soldier became famous for being the episode that saw Ellison charge James Cameron with plagiarism when he wrote the screenplay for The Terminator. The subsequent legal battle saw Ellison receive a writing credit on later prints of The Terminator. Regardless of that, what we have here is superb start to series 2, a smart thought out sci-fi story with tense sequences and spiffy sci-fi visuals to aid the viewing experience. 8.5/10

A soldier from the future appears in 1964.

I like the opening few minutes when the "soldier" is in the future and then in the streets of 1964. The very ending is also cool. But I can't say I am the biggest fan of what happens in the endless cage scenes. It just seems to go on and on a bit. However, I am sure the whole hour was a knockout in 1964. Season two has several wonderful episodes and this is not the best season opener to me.

My views of season two are a bit different to many other posters. I actually like the "William Shatner going frozen episode" and the "Killer Weeds episode". In fact in my view at least, the season only had two stinkers and the rest of the shows were okay or fine. However, The Outer Limits requires repeat viewings, there have been many cases where an episode sucked to me in the 1980s but is rather cool today.