Customer Reviews

Universal Soldier (Widescreen)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in the same movie... (screams of torture). This movie is unbelievably average and you would think director Roland Emmerich of "Independence Day" would have come up with something better than this movie. Van Damme doesn't speak much, that's a plus. Lundgren talks too much and needs to put a sock in it. Awful.

Universal Soldier realeased in 1993 is one of the best action flicks from Jean Claude Van Damme.

In fact, this film was done during Van Damme's increasing popularity.

Van Damme and Dolph play two 2 vietnam Vets who kill each other during the Vietnam War.

Actually the scene in Vietnam are intense and well directed.

Dolph, plays the psychotic and vindictive Staff Seargeant from the Army who wants to kill any Vietnamese (guilty or innocent) in path.

When Van Damme, tells the Sergeant that it's time to pull out , the crazy Sergeant sees him as a traitor and proceeds to beat up his comrade while Lungren tries to save the innocent Vietnam girl the Sergeant is holding hostage.

Eventually all of them die, or so we think.

The military eventuallys finds the dead bodies, but instead sends the Sergeant and Damme into a secret biochemical, regenerative expirement in which dead military soldiers are being revived as security soldiers known as the "Universal Soldiers".

The project at first is a success, but when Van Damme, starts recalling memories from his past, he remembers how his bloodthirsty Sergeant kills and all hell breaks loose.

It also reminds of the Robocop movie with Peter Weller, in which a dead cop is resurrected as a crime busting machine, but as the machine stars recollecting his past memories, the machine starts becoming more human.

The film has so many big budget stunts and fist fights and kickboxing action that you'll have to watch it a couple of times to appreciate the full value of this great sci fi film.

The other's film stars is the beautiful and sexy Alley Walker, who plays the reporter who joins Van Damne on his fight against the Universal Soldier.

Great critics like myself, remember Alley Walker from the great crime drama show "Profiler" on Nbc which lasted about 5 years.

Alley's character is great to watch, here character is very beautiful and has alot of humor and pizazz.

First of all, if the viewer is looking for a deep, sensitive film, keep looking . . . this is pure action with a dose of sensitivity thrown in to make the main character more appealing. The premise is clever: Technology creates a new breed of supermen to be soldiers to spare the lives of the regular populace. These Unisols are powerful, tireless and self-healing, with neither conscience nor free will to get in the way of being the perfect fighting machines . . . until something goes wrong. Two soldiers who died as mortal enemies---Van Damme's Luc and Dolph Lundgren's Scott---regain their supposedly purged memories and go haywire. Luc simply wants to go home, and enlists a reporter to help him. Scott wants Luc dead, and he'll destroy anyone or anything that gets in his way.

This is a surprisingly good movie, given the genre. Its major weakness, amazingly enough, is not the acting; it's the writing, which leaves some holes in the plot big enough to drive a truck through. The process for creating the Unisols from dead men is glossed over and technically quite weak, especially since this is supposed to be a science-fiction movie. Things are a little too simplistic, with the military predictably the bad guys and the crusading reporter a bit too self-serving and self-righteous.

However, its flaws are minor and are easy to overlook in light of the movie's good qualities. The action sequences are well-choreographed and the special effects are solidly done. One such effect was the removal of body hair from the men playing the artificially enhanced soldiers, which gave them a plastic appearance. The blood, wounds and explosions are all quite realistic and definitely not for the squeamish. By far, the best aspects of this flick are both the special effects and the acting. Ally Walker is both tough and funny as the reporter who helps Luc in his quest for information and his journey home. Dolph Lundgren is creepy and convincing as the psychotic Andrew Scott, with a healthy dose of black humor thrown in with his cruelty. Quite surprisingly, Jean-Claude Van Damme does an excellent job of conveying Luc Devereaux as a vulnerable, almost childlike man emerging from a long nightmare. Since there isn't much dialogue, he uses his facial expressions, particularly his large eyes, and his body language much more effectively than his words. The rest of the cast is also effective and believable in their roles, even the other big hulks they cast as the rest of the soldiers. Like in Terminator, the amount of dialogue is kept to a minimum and therefore the actors' shortcomings are not put on display.

We aren't big Van Damme fans, but found this movie very enjoyable and quite entertaining. It had some humorous moments, and was more intelligent than most of his movies. This DVD was well worth its money in entertainment value.

Universal Soldier(released July/92)starring Jean Claude and Dolph Lundgren is certainly one of Van Damme's best films to date and did boffo box office business that year.Van Damme was the new action kid-on-the-block at the time with the reigning stars being Stallone and Schwarzenegger.The producers hired Lundgren to give the movie some fine menace who was more than well known from Rocky 4 as the Russian whom Stallone trounces in that famous fight-to-the-finish battle.The film also boasts some pretty impressive fight scenes,battles and explosions of its own and I find it still holds up well today after 18 years on(!).
The story opens in the jungles of Vietnam where Pfc.Devreaux is checking out a fleeing comrades rants that a Sgt.Scott has gone rogue.When he arrives in a nearby village he does indeed find that Scott has not only killed almost every civilian there but his own soldiers who failed to go along with the massacre.Both men end up shooting each other and "dying".Fast forward 25 years and Scott,Devreaux and other ex soldiers have been regenerated to life in a top secret US Government program as a special tactical forces team;pumped up by on going drug injections and mind controlled by a mobile group of scientists and on-hand military personnel.
In their first real test they are sent to Hoover Dam to free hostages taken there by a group of terrorists.With drill like precision they complete one step after another until the hostages are freed.Standing beside the hostages Devreaux starts to get flash backs to Vietnam and his ex sergeant's abhorrent behaviour from that time.The soldiers all return to the mobile truck from which the raid was staged and while there a snoopy reporter Ally Walker(Veronica Roberts)sniffs around taking pictures.The alarms sound,she returns to her car with another reporter at the wheel and they flee for their lives.Ex-Sgt.Scott and Devreaux lead the retrieval and as they eventually get both reporters in hand,Sgt.Scott suddenly shoots/kills Ms.Walkers' cohort,for no apparent reason .This causes another painful flash back for Devreaux and he stops him from killing Walker.
On the run Deveraux and Walker at one point stop at a gas station.Having followed them there the Uni-Sols(Universal Soldier-team)converge but Devreaux has it rigged so the entire station blows up.It takes a few of the soldiers with it and just as the Colonel in charge is assessing the situation he receives a call that the project has been canceled,so he recalls the left overs.Scott is among them and he shoots the Colonel dead then decides to take over the mobile truck and pursue the reporter and Devreaux himself.
Day five of the film finds Devreaux and Walker back at his home in Louisiana and reuniting with his parents.It's a touching reunion but it's not long before Scott has tracked him down and takes his parents and Walker as hostages.Walker is tied to a spiked thrasher and Scott attempts to shoot her in the head but his gun is out of ammo.She manages to free herself and as she runs Scott throws a grenade and she disappears in the resulting explosion.It is here Scott and Devreaux have their final showdown as the action goes back and forth,from one Uni-Sol to the other.Finally Devreaux gets enough strength to high kick Scott and impale him onto the spikes of the trasher.As he says:"You're discharged-sarge",Devreaux turns on the thrasher and we say goodbye to Scott.In the final moments Devreaux checks on Walker to find she hasn't died and the explosion just knocked her out.They embrace and the movie fades to black.
Van Damme is certainly in a good acting groove throughout the film and he maintains a good and consistent emotional quality about his character.Lundgren is wonderfully menacing and throws in alot of wide-eyed gloating/humour into his role which enhances his characterization also.The supporting cast is solid and the direction and writing is spot on all the way.This was director Roland Emmerichs first big States side movie and after this he went on to do the highly successful Stargate and then onto the even more successful Independence Day;not a bad start,no?
There are several humorous moments but one in particular is a scene at the gas station where reporter Walker and Devreaux are in a room alone.Devreaux strips and we see Walker knelt behind him facing forward through his legs.He is asking her to look for and take out a tracking device implanted somewhere in his body."Look for something hard",he says,very straight laced.
Technically the movie in this special edition has been remastered very well and is in its' 2:35:1 aspect ratio in either Dolby 5.1 or 2 sound.There is a commentary track,a very interesting alternate ending and two featurettes about the movie and its' making and newer interviews with Lundgren and Van Damme about their careers and Universal Soldier.
This is a recommended DVD and the movie itself along with its' remastering and extras,add up to a winner all the way.Get out the popcorn for that perfect Saturday night action flick!

This movie doesn't proclaim to be anything more that what it actually is, a leave-your-brain at the door action flick starring two of the biggest b-movie tough guys the 90s had to offer. Granted nobody is going to win any acting awards for this film, but Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are fairly believable in their respective roles (although Van Damme's southern farm boy roots were less than convincing). Since practically everyone knows the plot involving two deceased Vietnam soldiers brought back to life as part of a covert super soldier program, no further exposition is necessary. What is worth noting is that if one accepts this film for what it is, then it succeeds on almost all levels. There are plenty of explosions, well choreographed fight scenes, appropriately placed one-liners, and intermittent dark humor to keep any action movie fan entertained. Dolph Lundgren, who plays the villain, provides a lot of the films jokes as he morbidly delights in inflicting pain on others. Van Damme once again plays the underdog, but he is earnest in his desire to make his way home so one can't help but root for him.

The 'Special Edition' has some nice bonuses including commentaries by the two leads, the alternate ending (why this bizarre ending was filmed is a mystery), a making of documentary, and a look at Van Damme and Lundgren's backgrounds. This was perhaps the best featurette because it revealed all sorts of fascinating tidbits about the two stars. For instance, Lundgren went to M.I.T. on a Fulbright Scholarship for chemical engineering! Who would have guessed? In closing, the inexpensive price and entertaining special features definitely make this film a suitable addition to any action fan's arsenal.

this movie really impressed me.it's clever,well written,and funny.it
also has some great,memorable one liners.oh,there's also a ton of
action.putting Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in the same
movie really works.add in the beautiful bombshell Ally walker and you
have a really,really great film.this is so far my favourite Van Damme
film.i really had a blast watching this thing.Van Damme even shows some
acting ability.some of the expressions on his face and his deadpan
delivery were very funny.Lundgren had quite a few funny one liners,and
did OK in the acting dept.Ally Walker was also funny at times.some of
the fight scenes are pretty good,too.normally,i don't expect a lot from
a Van Damme flick,but i have to give the filmmakers credit for this
one.they crafted a great movie..it's
just so entertaining.maybe i'm crazy,but "Universal Soldiers" gets a
5/5 from me.

I like this movie. Roland Emmerich turns out decent work when he starts with a decent idea.

And this movie is based on an extremely cool idea: a secret government project to use the reanimated corpses of dead soldiers as 'UniSols' ('UNIversal SOLdiers'). They're like killer combat zombies -- equipped to receive commands remotely, impervious to pain, quick to heal, and pretty much unstoppable although they tend to overheat if they stay active for too long.

The plot: Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren were in Viet Nam together, Lundgren wacked out and started killing innocent civilians, Van Damme tried to stop him, and they wound up killing each other. (This is all in the first five minutes of the film.) Their corpses were packed in ice and shipped off to the UniSol project, and after the opening credits roll, they're on an antiterrorist mission as part of a S.W.A.T. team from hell. But a few things start to jog their memories, and it isn't long before the two of them are at it again . . .

You don't have to be a particular fan of the Muscles from Brussels to enjoy the concept here, but Van Damme is actually pretty effective in his role. At any rate the story is briskly paced and about as believable as stuff like this ever gets. It's nicely done if you like this sort of thing (which I do).

Ally Walker does nicely here too, as a newswoman who winds up accompanying Van Damme in his, um, travels. If you enjoyed her in _Profiler_ (as I did, and I stopped watching the show after she left), you'll like her in this.

An entertaining action-SF flick, then, and a cut above the usual 'B-movie' fare. This probably isn't Emmerich's best work (it seems to me to try a little too hard to be _The Terminator_), but it's well done.

Universal Soldier is one of the most awesome movies i've ever seen about 2 soldiers in the vietnam war played brilliantly by jean claude van damme and dolph lungren who both kill eachother but are bought back to life years later as UNI SOLS who are programmed to deal with hostage situations, any way after a while van damme starts to regain his memory of who he was when he was human and leaves the UNI SOL camp, the head of the UNI SOL corporation sends all the UNI SOLS out to find van damme, after a while dolph lungren starts to regain his memory as well and takes over the command of the project and commands the UNI SOLS to seek and destroy Van Damme.
With awesome fight scenes and many memorablelines and good special effects Universal Soldier is an explosive action packed ride thats enjoyable from start to the awesome climax of the film. Dolph Lungren is awesome as the evil psychotic sergent.
highly reccomended to buy on DVD with a few extra features like trailers, multiple sound options and a bonus music clip entitled 'body count's in the house' , great song played at the end of the movie.

It came as no suprise that the critics panned "Universal Soldier" upon it's original theatrical release. I always have hated Roland Emmerich films, this being the only one that I hadn't seen in theaters. But I did want to see it now, and the reson was Ally Walker.
I always liked the television show "The Profiler", which aired for sveral years in the mid 90s, and it's re-runs are on today. I always liked the actress who played "Sam", the main character.
Her name is Ally Walker. She hasn't been in many films, but "Universal Soldier" was one of her first, and most well-known.
... For some reason, the huge movie store in my nieborhood had lost thier copy of it, so I bought it on Amazon.com. I was pleasently suprised by the film, and I wish I would have reserved my judjement.
I give it a solid 3 out of 5 stars. This is because not only is Ally Walker great in it, but Van Damme and especially Lundgren are, too. Dolph Lundgren isn't exactly a great actor, but he does well here. For me, Lundgren's bad guy is the most memorable aspect of this film.
The action scenes are solid, and at times quite unique. The main problem with the film is that there is no real explanation of how or why these UniSols were created. How exactly did they do this (bring the dead back to life)? The answer in the film was too brief and simple.
This film will never be a favorite of any film critic. But, if you are looking for a fun Action-Adventure film with three good performances, look no further than "Universal Soldier".

Van Damme and Lundgren are two vietnam soldiers who kill eachother in the war and are later resurrected as military cyborgs, but then start to get flashbacks and are soon trying to kill eachother again. Van Damme is good, but Lundgren steals the show as the psychotic seargant, who would have thought he was a good actor? Director Roland Emmerich (Godzilla) directs this film beautifully, if only he'd gone on to make more good movies like this. Overall this is a very entertaining flick and definitely on of the best action movies ever, although the sequel I thought was one of the worst ever... Great movie, highly recommended