Way back in '92, this action star was already a legend.
Jean-Claude van Damme He finally made his jump into big-budget Hollywood with a massive sci-fi action spectacle.
Universal Soldier Many people used to call him the "budget Terminator." Plus, Universal Soldier actually served as his big Hollywood breakout.
Roland Emmerich Which one’s actually going to win people over later?
Independence Day I'm here. What's up?
StargateAnd a bio is here too, obviously. It's essential.
Dolph Lundgren He delivers one of his best performances here as the psychotic Sergeant Andrew Scott. The movie was a massive hit, pulling in about $100 million worldwide, which kept van Damme in big-budget productions for a while. That lasted until the mid-90s, when his ego and substance abuse started tanking what was once a killer career. Desperate to get back to the top, van Damme filmed Universal Soldier: The Return in 1999.
Universal Soldier: The Return Directed by the stunt coordinator and Gibson's double.
Mica RodgersI'm not sure what you're trying to say there. You lost me.
Michael Jai White Playing the villain. Even with two DTV sequels already under his belt, they couldn't stop him from being cast in the next van Damme follow-up.
Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms I'm here. Ready when you are.
Universal Soldier II: Unfinished BusinessWhatever, the "official" sequel flopped at the box office, barely pulling in $20 million. Aside from the title and having van Damme lead the cast, it had almost nothing in common with the original. He ended up stuck in the Direct-to-video circuit pretty quickly after that, and even die-hard fans count Return as one of his absolute worst.
Just when you think the whole saga is finally dead and buried, ten years later in 2009, van Damme decides to jump back in for another sequel.
Universal Soldier: RegenerationVan Damme only agreed to this one because he backed out of a different project the producers had already signed him for—he basically did this to avoid getting sued. He fought to keep his screen time minimal, so he's only in it for about 30 minutes. Even Dolph Lundgren shows up for a bit, but mostly they just handed the lead roles over to some MMA fighters.
Tim Kennedy I'm here. What's up?
Mike PyleThis time, the guy behind the lens was...
John HyamsYeah, without much more of the big names.
Peter Hyams Which director has already teamed up with van Damme twice for his movies?
Timecop I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What's on your mind?
Sudden DeathSurprisingly, Universal Soldier: Regeneration actually became a hit. It even wowed people outside the genre, which is wild considering it was a Direct-to-video release. Because it did so well, John Hyams quickly got the green light for another sequel, which he also wrote and directed this time around. van Damme only has a small role here—even less screen time than last time—and Dolph Lundgren is back, despite basically dying twice already in this franchise. This time, the lead role goes to a rising action star.
Scott Adkins, who you probably already know from flicks like
El Gringo,
Assassination Games,
Ninja, and that killer fight movie
Undisputed III: Redemption, is back. This actually marks his fourth outing with van Damme and his second alongside Dolph Lundgren. All three even shared the screen in
The Expendables 2, where Adkins played van Damme's right-hand man. This sequel carries an $11.5 million budget, was shot in 3D on locations in Louisiana, and has already hit the circuit at festivals like Fantastic Fest in Austin. Surprisingly, critics are actually digging this one; it’s sitting at a solid 80% on
Rotten Tomatoes—granted, that's only based on four reviews so far, but still!
Crave Online called it
intense, brutal and beautiful all at once with an 8.5/10 rating.
Variety describes the vibe as a
deliberately paced mashup of noirish mystery, splatter-movie intensity, first-person-shooter vidgame and "Apocalypse Now"-style surrealism. Meanwhile,
IGN.com says it's a
very different kind of Universal Soldier movie...
with intriguing stuff, with shades of Frankenstein, Blade Runner, Total Recall and even Apocalypse Now thrown into the mix...
ranking it right up there with The Raid as the best of the year.
Indiewire isn't holding back either, calling this UniSol
One of the Best Action Movies of the Year!
Most people agree this is way more than just some cheap DTV action trash. It’s actually brave, mixing in horror, thriller, and noir elements. You can definitely see influences from Carpenter, Lynch, and Cronenberg, which director John Hyams has cited as his inspirations. A lot of reviewers are also drawing parallels to Coppola's Apocalypse Now, calling it a gutsy move for a franchise like this. Sure, there are some haters, but they're easily outnumbered by the positive buzz, which is pretty rare for this genre.
The US premiere hits VOD platforms on October 25, 2012, followed by a limited theatrical run across America on November 30. It’ll be hitting home video overseas later in December.
IMDBOfficial siteOfficial Facebook PageTRAILER RED BANDTRAILER 2PLOTSurvivors Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) have to fight through total chaos to establish a new world order run by Unisols, completely off the grid. It’s all about purging the weak and forcing the strongest warriors into savage, do-or-die fights. Luc is now running the Unisol Church of Eventualism—basically a support group for rogue Unisols who were being used as secret, remote-controlled sleeper agents by the government. He's on a mission to break those programmed memories and expose the lies the feds shoved into their heads.