Customer Reviews

Universal Soldier: The Return

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

The movie is definately rated two stars, but more important is the info below:
Once again from Amazon.ca I received a Full Screen copy even
though they have it listed as a 'Widescreen/Full Screen' version twice on their website.
This has been happening way too often when I order directly from Amazon.ca!
To Amazon.ca, please send what you describe, or upate your site accordingly.
This is the fourth time in recent months and I'm getting really pissed off!
You waste my time by wanting me to print out a return label etc. I'm losing my trust in Amazon.ca as a source for DVDs!

Universal Soldier-The Return(released August/99)is certainly an underrated sequel to the first Universal Soldier.The film is filled with lots of action and suspense mixed with a nice on going sub plot concerning the value of family and love.Van Damme is certainly on top of his acting game in this one.
The story concerns the Uni-sol project and Luc Deveraux(Van Damme)who this time around is a consultant and trainer for the project.His wife has passed on and he is a single father who has one daughter Hillary(Karis Bryant)who he dotes over lovingly.One day the overseeing General Radford(Danile Von Bargon)informs the project team that he has to pull the plug on the project.It has become a liability and the government won't stand for anymore mishaps.SETH,the artificial intelligence that runs the computer systems including commanding the Uni-sols themselves,decides this is against protocol and initiates a defensive posture.He takes over total control of all systems and instructs the soldiers to clear the facility in preparations for a total assault on the outside world.
Luc possesses the code which would be able to terminate SETH and with his help the General tries repeatedly to shut things down but without success;with much loss of military life in the process.In the meantime SETH has gone from a computer based intelligence into a human host(Michael Jai White).He also kidnaps Luc's daughter from her hospital bed and holds her as a bargaining chip.In the finale of the film Luc and SETH battle toe to toe until Luc manages to turn on the cryo freezing unit which turns SETH into a human popsicle;this in turn enables Luc to give one last high flying kick which disintegrates SETH into pieces.As Luc runs from the building he shoots and ignites explosives which destroys both the building and the remaining Uni-Sols.The film ends with Luc reunited in his daughter's arms.
As I mentioned above Van Damme was definitely on his acting game in this one and it is especially evident in his on screen relationship with his daughter.He emotes all the right feelings at just the right moments throughout and this is one of his better moments on the screen in that regard.Michael White makes for a very menacing SETH and ex football player/wrestler Bill Goldberg makes a fine antagonist to our hero Luc.Fine acting,supporting and lead,all the way through makes this an enjoyable action romp.Once the action starts there is no let up.
Technically the film has been transferred well and the picture is crisp and clear.There is a little inherent graininess now and again but nothing major.This DVD is a dreaded DDD(double sided disc) so be very careful re scuffing and scratching.One side has the widescreen version and the other the full screen.The film is also available in Dolby 2 and 5.1 sound.Extras include the trailer,talent files,an almost 4 minute look into the work out routine of Mr.White,a making-of featurette and a look at some of Van Damme's other film product for Columbia Tri-Star with comments by Van Damme on them and his career.
In conclusion I do recommend this film/DVD.A very nice fast moving action packed sequel to the original,with Van Damme on top of his game.

At Most I enjoyed this movie, Bill Goldberg ( Romeo,UniSoldier) at his Grid Iron tackling Best, But the movie was spoilt by one of the female leads,(The TV News Anchor ) by her rather corny over-acting, But was more " into it " in the ending sequences, The movie Plot at the end of the movie got lost in hyper drive, as the 2nd female lead that was looking after Luc Deveraux's Daughter at the hospital and suddenly appeared at the end of the movie as a uni soldier herself, Poor Plot line there :

The fight i been waiting to see all my life,and it finally happen.The fight was pretty good,Van Damne coudnt keep him down.I ask all my friends what Van Damne movie they like the best and they say this one,I agree with them but my fav is Kickboxer.This movie may be short but its good

Having seen the first movie, and finding it a little tame in comparison with others, I purchased this DVD expecting more of the same, and was impressed by the good performance that Jean-Claude Van Damme brought. Bill Goldberg (as UNISOL Romeo) provided some scene-stealing moments both humorous and a little exciting. Although the plot is a little thin, and some back-story was incomplete(e.g. Devereaux's late wife), I thought this sequel was better than the original.

I cannot believe this movie is getting such low reviews as i enjoyed it as did everyone that i know did aswell.

this movie was mostly fast paced action and excellent fight scenes with scary villans, not much about the story as the first one but it was also funny like when van-damme says "i'm leaving, no violence" then he beats the beats the bouncers up. overall the movie was very entertaining and i think the flaws was the movie's lower budget and lack of creative stunts & locations. but if your a van-damma or action movie fan you will enjoy it.

I am a Van Damme fan and still hold out for the day when he makes a return to the big screen. I bought this recently and now wish I hadn't. Unfortunatly with this entry it seems Van Damme has decided to self-destruct what remains of his career. I hope he made this during his drug addiction years, if not, then I think he has received one to many kicks to the head and should consult a doctor. Very predictable throughout which by no means is a bad thing if only the film was enjoyable and didn't treat its audience as if they were 10 year olds. Logic seems to have been thrown out the window along with the two page script. Rent this before parting with your hard earned cash if only to see the fight scene in the lapdancing club! Almost as bad as Double Team, almost!! Van Damme has shown some glimmer of hope with Desert Heat and Replicant but I think the good old days of Kickboxer, Timecop, Universal Soldier and Sudden Death are long over.

This film is a mess. The title and story is nothing but a cash-in on the first movie. That being said, I'm happy Dolph didn't star in this film, there is no disguising the fact this movie really stinks! Rent the original Universal Soldier for a good action flick.

Goldberg is the greatest actor and wrestler that ever lived period end of story

This film marked the end of Van Damme's theatrical release career and started him on the road to being forgotten, finding parts in only direct-to-video flicks. It's a shame, really. Van Damme was actually getting good, but this flick doesn't show it. Full of cliches and silly action, not helped by an appearence from wrestler Bill Goldberg, this film is too short to pick up any real momentum, and too stupid to give the viewers anything more than a childish plot. I give it a two simply because it was watchable. I'm being very nice.