Universal Soldier [Blu-ray]
Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 11/04/2008Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day)fortunately brings some crackle to this otherwise unexciting sci-fi drama about two once-dead, biologically-regenerated soldiers (Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren) who turn against one another when Van Damme’s character has memories of his previous life. Emmerich is typically only as good as his scripts, and this one is pretty flat. The two stars do exactly what you’d expect them to do and nothing more. –Tom Keogh
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars A Good “Soldier”, But Not Really “Universal”
Maybe I waited too long to see “Universal Soldier”: I had been hankering to get my hands on the Van Damme/Lundgren Package ever since I heard of it, but couldn’t get around to buying it until recently. When I finally did sit myself down in front of the TV for those action-packed 103 minutes, my expectations were at an all-time high…but when it was over, they had only been met halfway. While I’m partially to blame for venerating a movie I hadn’t seen before based solely on its premise, I really can’t believe how little Van Damme, Dolph, and director Roland Emmerich (”Independence Day”) made of this unique opportunity.
“Soldier” is the post-mortem story of Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren) - two soldiers who killed eachother in Vietnam but were chosen for a top-secret military program that reanimated them as part of a squad of elite, remote-controlled super soldiers to defuse extremely dangerous situations. After foiling a terrorist plot to take over the McKinley Dam, Luc begins experiencing memory flashbacks that disrupt his conditioning to follow orders. When a young newscaster (Ally Walker, “Profiler”) is put in danger for investigating the program, he overrides his directive entirely and attempts to rescue her, and is thus followed by Scott, who is also experiencing flashbacks of his most violent days…
In short, “Soldier” may very well be the most definitive opus of late-80s/early-90s American action cinema. Gunfights? - out the butt. Car chases? - make that prison bus chases, headed towards a canyon. Explosions? - better hope you have 5.1 to experience the full blast. Martial arts? - not as much as I’d like, but inserted in the right spots. One-liners? - “You’re discharged, sarge!” Right on.
Some folks have charged the film a “Terminator” ripoff, though this isn’t an accurate statement: “Universal Soldier” is a homage to just about every action movie that had preceded it. The “Terminator” influence is there, sure, but the movie also stylistically alludes to “First Blood”, “Die Hard”, “Mad Max”, “Commando”, “Missing in Action”, “Bloodsport”, and a slew of other films that boast big guys with big guns delivering big thrills. There really is no better way to describe it: if you enjoy action cinema from this specific time period, “Universal Soldier” will be your wet dream, from the moment that Lundgren throws the first grenade to Van Damme’s final flying kick.
With that being said, I need to take the edge off of any excitement you might be building right now: it is a good movie, with good action and a few good jokes…but it is not great. The action is big and bad, but it’s not the biggest and baddest there is - pretty much all of the films that I mentioned before give better offerings where the respective gunplay/car chase/kickboxing is concerned, so if you’ve seen any or all of them, your awe will be limited.
Also, like I mentioned earlier, the Van Damme vs. Lundgren card was not played to its fullest extent. At the time of its release, both men had proven themselves verifiable action heroes, with Van Damme famous for films like “Kickboxer” and “Double Impact” and Lundgren known for “The Punisher” and “Showdown in Little Tokyo”; it would have made perfect sense to unleash the two upon eachother and built the film around their various encounters, from shootouts to fully-fledge karate contests. However, this is hardly the case: we get one mano-e-mano encounter at the end of the movie, but for the rest of the picture, it’s all about Van Damme running from Lundgren and the two of them proving their mettle on others, not eachother. While it’s entertaining to see Deveraux beat up a restaurant full of attackers, it would’ve been a hundred times more fulfilling to see him take the fight to Scott more often.
When they finally do fight eachother hand-to-hand, it’s hardly what you’d expect from two legitimate martial arts champions: Dolph throws Jean-Claude around a bit. Van Damme kicks and punches Lundgren a couple times, to no effect because the Swedish Superman is juiced up on muscle enhancers. Eventually, “the muscles from Brussels” gets his hands on some of his own, and dominates “that Russian guy” until the end of the fight. Lundgren shows next to no karate moves while Van Damme does the same stuff we see him do in every movie - only less of it. Trading punches, matching spinning kicks, reversals and counter-holds are all exempt. This is hardly the encounter you’d expect from two proven action heroes.
The acting is a mixed bag where all characters are concerned, though this is of less consequence in this kind of movie: Van Damme, Lundgren, Walker, and Jerry Orbach (”Law & Order”) all have their respective high points and low points, but nothing really stands out. Van Damme plays well in the beginning as a soft-spoken amnesiac, but once he livens up, it’s back to the act that critics like to bash him for. Lundgren as the depraved postwar villain is infinitely more interesting; it’s nice to see him play a bad guy - and such an extreme one, at that - but even he gets a bit carried away with some of his lines to the point that he surpasses “crazy” and turns just plain silly. Ally Walker’s performance is a bit embarrassing, so it’s good to know that she moved on to better things. Jerry Orbach is simply Jerry Orbach.
Is “Universal Soldier” good? - of course. Is it great? - no. Is it a highlight of the careers of Van Damme and Lundgren? - definitely. Is it worth owning for fans? - most likely, for those willing to trade in B-movie adventures for big budget works for a while. Is it worth plunking down a few extra dollars for the special edition? - yep. Should I buy it now? - maybe not now, but don’t wait too long, or you’ll end up giving it a three-star review!
4 Stars Universal Soldier - Blu-ray Info
Version: U.S.A / Region Free
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
VC-1 BD-25 / Advanced Profile 3
Running time: 1:43:45
Movie size: 20,16 GB
Disc size: 24,78 GB
Average video bit rate: 19.00 Mbps
Number of chapters: 24
Subtitles: English / English SDH / Spanish
DTS-HD Master Audio English 4379 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4379kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
#Out of the Blu - pop up trivia track
#Audio Commentary
#featurettes
–Making-of
–Alternate ending
4 Stars “You’re discharged, Sarge!”
A long while ago Jean-Claude Van Damme was a top film action hero, during which his shi+ had no stink. Time was when dude got me pumped when a movie of his came out. I dug his earlier stuff - Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart, Death Warrant, Nowhere to Run, HARD TARGET, TIMECOP (Van Damme Action Pack Quadruple Feature (Timecop / Hard Target / Street Fighter / The Quest)) - and also this one, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER.
Okay, Van Damme isn’t known for his great acting - there’s a reason his nickname is the Muscles from Brussels. But what he does, he does quite well, which is flex those pecs and abs and throw those helicopter kicks. He found himself in trashy plots, regurgitated from one picture to the next, and his characters were normally cardboard cutouts. So Van Damme knows the scope of his skills, and he (or his handlers) are smart enough to stick to his purview. In its time, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER featured two of Hollywood’s hottest action movie stars: Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren (who got his cred playing Ivan Drago in Rocky IV). And this pairing was enough to turn the movie into a moderate box office success. With all that in mind, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER does entertain, even when one factors in the weak dialogue, two male leads not known for acting, and the typical dumbing-down of the storyline.
The concept is actually pretty cool. Deceased soldiers are revived thru modern science and engineered to be counter-terrorist agents. Two of these Universal Soldiers (or UniSols) are Private Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Sergeant Andrew Scott (Lundgren), two Vietnam-era G.I grunts who share a vicious history. Twenty-five years ago, deep in the Vietnam War, Sgt. Scott, kind of a sadistic tool, has gone loony in the jungle and is committing acts of atrocities against innocent Vietnam villagers (he’s also shot up most of his platoon). Louisiana farmboy Pvt. Deveraux’s tour of duty is almost over, but he tries to stop the psycho sergeant anyway. The confrontation results in the two soldiers killing each other. Which is when the story really gets going.
Cut to present day, and the Hoover Dam has just been taken over by terrorists. The mysterious Universal Soldiers are deployed and are impressive in taking out the terrorists. Two of these UniSols turn out to be Deveraux and Scott, the dirty little secret being that they’ve pretty much been zombified, mindwiped and rendered super-strong and quick-healing, their resuscitation somehow involving the constant cooling down of their core temperatures. But Deveraux begins to override his zombie programming, starts to have Vietnam flashbacks. He garners enough self-will to go rogue and make a break for it. And naturally there’s a beautiful girl in tow, a tough-talking TV news reporter played with grit and feistiness by a very game Ally Walker (the best actor in this movie). So off they go, and hotly pursued by the implacable UniSol units, including the erstwhile Sergeant Scott who is also shaking off his UniSol programming.
A poor man’s TERMINATOR 2? Yeah, probably. But, boy, did I like UNIVERSAL SOLDIER when it came out in ‘92. It’s a neat concept, and the writers really should’ve developed the story more, instead of strictly sticking with the Man On the Lam schtick. But if you’re in a popcorn mood and disinclined to ponder deep thoughts, then this’ll do ya. Van Damme! Lundgren! In the late ’80s, early ’90s, these two cats may not have had the pedigree of Schwarzenegger or Stallone, but they were the next best thing (okay, fine, throw Steven Seagal in there, too). And, unlike Jet Li and Jason Statham in the disappointing WAR, when Van Damme and Lundgren faced off, they faced off, brother! Van Damme’s forehead knot has never looked more ferocious!
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER was craphammered for the acting, but this is probably Lundgren’s best acting job. He does a pretty awesome over-the-top psychopath, and is a dang scary mofo in this movie. Lundgren’s character is a good foil for Van Damme’s good guy hunk. Van Damme himself isn’t too bad. He seems to be able to channel this certain puzzled innocence into his performances, and that quality is onscreen again here. Of course, my saying that Van Damme “isn’t too bad” has to be weighed against the fact that he plays a robotic semi-zombie for parts of this flick. And, okay, Van Damme again displays his nether cheeks. For de ladies, that alone may trump the acting.
This Special Edition DVD contains the following special features: audio commentary with Van Damme, Lundgren, director Roland Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin; “Guns, Genes and Fighting Machines” - the 19-minute-long Making Of segment; Tale of 2 Titans - Van Damme and Lundgren respectively talk about their backgrounds, their big acting breaks, and their individual film careers; a depressing alternate ending; and trailers. The bonus stuff is actually pretty decent, with maybe the most interesting thing learned being that Lundgren actually had a Master’s degree in chemical engineering and was headed for MIT before the movie bug bit him.
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER is loud and violent and action-packed. Action highlights include the rapid rappelling of the Hoover Dam, an amusing diner brawl with Van Damme quizzically taking out the rubes whilst scarfing his meal (”I just want to eat.”), and the big Van Damme-Lundgren showdown at the end, where things get really chippy. I do wish, though, that Lundgren was given a chance to demonstrate more of his martial arts skill. Between Dolph and Jean-Claude, Dolph was actually considered the more credible martial artist. Anyways, memory association with this film prompts images of gross ear necklaces and big scary honking needles. On the Blink-Fast-And-You’ll-Miss-It front, there’s the pseudo-science explanation of the UniSols (something about hyperaccelerating the bodies, transforming dead flesh into living tissue).
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER made enough cheese that it birthed two awful and Van Damme-less sequels: UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 2: BROTHERS IN ARMS and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 3: UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Universal Soldier 2/ Universal Soldier 3 (Double Feature)). Van Damme came back in the lame Universal Soldier - The Return. Word is that filming is currently going on for UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE NEXT GENERATION, in which Van Damme reprises his Luc Deveraux role. There’s a bunch of good will out there right now for Jean-Claude, what with his getting rave reviews for his latest flick Jcvd (in which he plays himself). Who woulda thunk that, after all these years, he had it in him to become a relevant modern day pop culture icon? Take that, Steven Seagal!
4 Stars Kudos to LionsGate on UniSol!
Universal Soldier blu-ray [LionsGate]
As any other movie, I won’t delve on storyline or plot as they’re rather subjective but I have only this to say:
I’m pleasantly surprised on how good the picture quality of UniSol especially for a low budget and being a 16-year old movie like this one. It’s hard to see any grain anywhere, sharpness is dead-on even on darker scenes, very good transfer… brilliant work LionsGate! I also noticed most of Roland Emmerich films have good picture quality transfer on high definition, look at The Patriot & The Day After Tomorrow. Other studios should follow LionsGate footstep on their older catalog title releases on high definition.
5 Stars Simply Wow
I’ve always loved this movie, so I thought it was cool when I found out in was in HD. For a film of its age, I was very impressed with what Lionsgate did with this catalog title. Blu-Ray is the only way to really watch this movie, great video and good audio, I can’t wait for more Van Damme classics to come home to Blu.
Filed under: Blue Ray Movie Reviews