Universal Soldier: Regeneration
Universal Soldier: Regeneration
R | 01 October 2009 (USA)
Universal Soldier: Regeneration Trailers

When terrorists threaten nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl, the world's only hope is to reactivate decommissioned Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux. Rearmed and reprogrammed, Deveraux must take on his nemesis from the original Universal Soldier and a next-generation "UniSol" that seems almost unstoppable.

Reviews
Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!
Supelice Dreadfully Boring
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com When the first Universal Soldier (1992) film came out, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren were very much in their prime of popularity. Both had been in their fair share of widely known movies and were often included into the same category as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. It was also the movie that had one of the earliest collaborations between the big name action stars aside from Rocky IV (1985). Later on the series went underground to TV sequels but did not fair well financially due to the lack of star power. A few years later, Van Damme came back to the series in Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) but it too failed horribly. The poor writing in general and silly nature of the end product felt nothing like the first movie. With that it was no shock that the franchise remained dead a good decade before producers thought maybe another film could be made. When they did, it was met with open arms but also rolling eyes. It was passable at best but not good.Instead of being a third story time line to the original, one could consider this the first real sequel to Universal Soldier (1992). The reason behind this being that it completely ignores the events of Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) and has a more serious tone. The Ukranian Prime Minister's children have been captured by terrorist leader Topov (Zachary Baharov) and held in Chernobyl as ransom. Special forces are developing a plan to get them out but are stuck because Topov has teamed up with scientist Dr. Colin (Kerry Shale) from the UniSol project now known as Black Tower. On their side they have the next generation UniSol or NGU (Andrei Arlovski), an emotionless killing machine. After a few attempts it is decided by Dr. Porter (Gary Cooper), another scientist from the Black Tower project, to bring back Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme). However Colins has a backup and that's having Andrew Scott's body (Dolph Lundgren) on standby if a problem arises.For a continuation of the original story, the writing is average at its greatest. Yet there are still a lot of unanswered questions. So what did become of Veronica Roberts (Ally Walker)? How is Andrew Scott's body intact after the finale of Universal Soldier (1992)? Again, the UniSol project was only known by a select group of scientists so where was Dr. Colins and Dr. Porter? These questions just begin to add up over time. Written by Victor Ostrovsky (in his only credit ever), the only thing in the script that is relatively untainted is the fact that Deveraux has been in rehabilitation since the end of Universal Soldier (1992). But as for development very little of what Deveraux feels is explained and his reconvening with Scott only triggers old memories. Nothing is explained as to how both of them feel. It even seemed at one point that Scott was thinking about something but he ends up getting cut short. Why throw in something that might work only to completely negate it?There's also appearances from others like Corey Johnson, Mike Pyle, Emily Joyce and even son of the star himself, Kris Van Damme. Directing this feature is John Hyams, the son of director Peter Hyams. Hyams Sr. was the man behind 2010 (1984) and would later direct End of Days (1999). The direction here by John Hyams isn't that impressive. It's very linear in story structure. However when it comes action, the stunts and sequences are well staged. Much of the action that occurs throughout the running time are energetic by default and are very lively. The types of violence ranges from hand-to-hand combat, shootouts to improvised weapons. Also the interactions between Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme are noteworthy to view. Since these two characters share a history together that boils both their blood, it's interesting to have the two meet in a situation that is very familiar to them. Andrei Arlovski as NGU is a competent fighter too but since his character has very few words, not much can be said.Camera-work was managed by Peter Hyams, which was unfortunately disappointing. Seeing that Hyams Sr. has had previous experience in doing cinematography, it's surprising that here the look to this picture is so unappealing. With credits to movies like 2010 (1984), Running Scared (1986), Narrow Margin (1990) and Timecop (1994), the visuals to this film should've look at least okay. Instead many scenes have dull colors and the backgrounds look to much like everything else surrounding it. Music was another problem when viewing this sequel. Composed by Kris Hill and Michael Krassner, the music is just as forgettable. Featuring only a few different cues, much of the sounds are just electronic clicks and warps. There's really no main theme and the cues for various sequences are about as anonymous as they get. As far as it's known, not even an official release of the music has been announced. So it's even harder for a fan of the music to really enjoy it. Although it would be hard to say whether it's worth it or not.Stepping up from the previous sequel, the script attempts to connect to the first film. Yet only a couple places does it actually work. Camera-work and music aren't that good but Dolph Lundgren and Jean- Claude Van Damme are fun watch on screen again and the action is good too.
ivo-cobra8 *SPOILERS* Universal Soldier: Regeneration in my opinion is the worst movie sequel, reboot or whatever. I just don't get the hype or why everyone loves this movie? This movie has nothing to compare to the original classic movie 1992 Universal Soldier. Is not a Universal Soldier at all. This is not a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. For the first 17.mins. he is not in the movie. Than he shows for 2.mins and than again he is not. I think this movie is a yawn, and deserved to be direct to home video. Much, much better than the 2nd in the franchise, but that's not saying much, as I consider it to be the worst movie ever made. It was low paced, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren had a cameo scenes and they had a screen time. In this movie Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski is the star of the film not Jean-Claude Van Damme! The second movie might suck for a lot of people I thought it was a good sequel. Because it was Van Damme film, it was filmed in the 90's and it was shot in USA. This film is not American Film at all! It was shot in a abandoned cold meal steal in Europe Bulgaria and not US. JCVD does look weird in, his eyes look dead and he doesn't exactly exude personality but that is the character, I guess. Luc is now quite difficult to sympathise with as he has practically lost all of his humanity; the scene where he beats a stranger nearly to death is pretty disturbing and really made me think "What the hell happen to you, Luc?" After all the mental turmoil he goes through though, he still comes out a hero in the end after some spectacular battles. Very lifeless, boring & depressing sequel that doesn't deserve all the love it gets. I am probably the only one who just doesn't like this movie. Sorry fans but in my opinion this movie is a Pile of crap with a horrible plot, a snail pace, Zero Likable characters, NOTHING about the score sounded like Carpenter and nothing about the score was like Dredd either...I don't get that at all , the actors sucked. I will never understand the praise this film gets. Van Damme is barely in it, Dolph is in a horrible cameo scene, forgettable & worst bad guys, it's a really boring, and I hate this movie with a passion. Even the fights were poor. Getting on the ground and 'punch punch punch' is not exciting to me. To each their own, but I'll never understand it. And it's barely even a Van Damme film when the guy is only in it for like 15 minutes...and just acts like a wooden zombie with nothing at all to his character. Like i'll say again, to each their own. I hate this and Day of Reckoning with a PASSION.At first, the story was going somewhere then as it went on, it just did not make any sense anymore. Without spoiling, the timeline just doesn't make sense and you wonder what the characters are exactly doing in the story. Furthermore you wonder what the hell they are doing there in the first place - there are simply no explanation. There are some great action sequences but even in an action film (or sequence) you get a sense as to why a particular action is made; often in this film you do not. Hence I was very disappointed in this film. The only things I like in this film is the ending tough, that Van Damme Killed NGU on the end. Even tough Van Damme fought with NGU, he did not beat him. The fight with Van Damme and Lundgren was horrible and it wasn't epic. That one long shot with Van Damme running through the snow killing people and knifing people was pretty sweet, though. The rest suck, bunch of army soldiers were killed. Two kids were hostages in this movie and they did not even speak at all. Most of actors had a terrible dialogue or they did not talk. I don't get why people like this movie so much. I was bored to death, I fall a sleep by the end of the film, were Van Damme was fighting with Lundgren. I am sorry but I don't like this movie, I watch it three times in the row and I still don't like it! In my opinion Day of Reckoning is much better movie than this at least for me.I am giving this movie a 3, I liked the score tough and I like Van Damme surviving on the end and running away which he was free. I am glad if you like this movie you can put down my review I don't care. I love Universal Soldier and Universal Soldier: The Return I don't like this one! Universal Soldier: Regeneration is the third official installment in the Universal Soldier film series. The 2009 sequel reunites original Universal Soldier stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. The film was directed by Jonathan Hyams, the son of director Peter Hyams. A fourth film in the series, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning was released in 2012.2/10 Grade: E Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Starring: Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski, Dolph Lundgren, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mike Pyle, Garry Cooper, Corey Johnson, Kerry Shale, Aki Avni Director: John Hyams Producers: Craig Baumgarten, Mark Damon, Moshe Diamant Screenplay: Victor Ostrovsky Based on Characters created by Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch and Dean Devlin Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 37 Mins. Budget: $10.000.000 Box Office: $844,000
callanvass I enjoy Universal Soldier immensely. It's one of my favorite Action films. Even Universal Soldier II: The Return was fun in an extremely cheesy way, but this tends to suck the life out of everything. They completely ignore everything that happened in Universal Soldier: The Return and I can sort of understand that. It was fun, but it's not exactly a worthy sequel, but neither is this. Van Damme is stuck doing counseling sessions for the majority of the first half. I actually enjoyed that portion. Van Damme trying to become humanized was fairly riveting stuff and he pulled it off like a champ. My problem with the direction of Van Damme is that he is merely a supporting character here. Van Damme himself is solid, but I felt they underutilized him. He's still the hero, but now the reluctant hero. He's worn down, cynical, and ridden with guilt. I dug that part of his character, but there wasn't enough for my liking. Dolph Lundgren is even more wasted than Van Damme. I do like Dolph, even if he tends to make a lot of mediocre DTV films. He's always had presence, and here is no different. He has 20 minutes or so, here approximately. He was fun as Sgt. Scott, but it felt like a fun nostalgia act than anything else. Andrei Arlovski felt like a circus attraction. He was physically imposing, menacing, but he wasn't all that for me. The supporting crew did what they had to do well, but nobody really stood out. Now, the fight between Van Damme and Lundgren is where I give the film its main praise. It's a tad longer than the one in the original and they have more to play with; I won't spoil it for you but it gets downright vicious. In the end; this fails due to not having Van Damme & Lundgren at the forefront of things, and the inconsistent pacing. Final Thoughts: I didn't hate it, but it was disappointingly mediocre. I fully grasp that Van Damme is no longer what he once was, but he still has the it factor. I simply wasn't interested in the happenings when Van Damme & Lundgren were off screen. A few moving scenes, and the awesome fight between Van Damme & Lundgren is not enough for me to make a recommendation. It won't ruin your life if you watch it, but you'll most likely be a bit saddened by it. I know I was.4/10
Scarecrow-88 A group of Pasalan rebels occupy the abandoned Chernobyl, rigging the nuclear reactor within the city with explosives, in turn threatening to send off a radioactive cloud that would be far worse than the A-bomb in Japan. Pasalan Commander Topov, the son of a general killed in battle for the liberation of his country, demands the release of political prisoners or else they will set off the bombs and kill Prime Minister Musayev's son and daughter in the process. Topov hires a scientist, Dr. Colin, a genius in cloning and once part of the Universal supersoldier program known as White Tower (an extension of the first program known as Black Tower), with ulterior motives—in particular, the desire to create an army of "NGU" Universal Soldiers—who has designs on advancing beyond supporting a small, insignificant militant terrorist group taking two children of a country's leader hostage as a rallying cry against their people's imprisonment. The NGU is superior to the original Unisols because of a new gene therapy Colin discovered during his cloning research through DNA "shots" creating a soldier better in "every physical capacity". All of this ultimately matters little because the film's bread and butter is seeing two (or three, as the movie has Jean Claude Van Damme engaged in combat with two Universal soldiers at the end) Universal soldiers going at it within the ruins of a decaying city where a community once lived, skeletal buildings and homes, especially the warehouses which surround the nuclear facility containing the reactor 3 which has the bomb attached to it, furnishing a plethora of walls and windows, among other objects, for powerful, practically indestructible human killing machines to explode through.This movie really rockets right out of the gate with a thrilling chase scene, mostly shot within the vehicle that transports the hostages of Musayev's children while the police attempt to stop Andrei Arlovski (whose name in the movie is simply NGU) who is equipped with the capabilities to withstand multiple bullet wounds, even a protruding bone from his elbow, wiping out a number of them because they are helpless to stop him. That sets the stage for another exciting gunfight as American soldiers try to go into Chernobyl to rescue the hostages with help of resurrected Unisols but Arlovski's NGU pretty much dispatches the whole lot of them. This is when, out of desperation, Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is selected as a last resort, a last ditch effort to infiltrate Chernobyl, engage the enemy, and get the son and daughter out of harm's way. I damn near had an orgasm when cinematographer Peter Hyams (allowing his son to direct the movie) shoots a lengthy sequence where Van Damme, after being "juiced" by injections which allow him to forward ahead against not only Arlovski and Dolph Lundgren( more on him later), but also Topov's (Zahary Baharov) limitless supply of human targets to obliterate, goes into Chernobyl, guns blazing, bodies ripped asunder, machine-gun mayhem at its finest. Oh, and it doesn't stop when Van Damme loses his guns, out comes the killing knife and boy howdy does it spill and spray some blood! Arlovski sure gets showcased in a fashion straight out of the 80s—he is the unstoppable force of nature that Van Damme has been known to battle in tons of action films from the past. As for Dolph Lundgren, I'm awestruck that a scientist like Colin (Kerry Shale), who understands the malfunction of his Andres Scott from the past, would even dare attempt to resurrect him. Colin is genuinely surprised that Scott doesn't adhere to his commands, and his being victimized because of an ill-advised decision to return Andres from the dead should have been expected by someone supposedly brilliant. Anyway, it allows Dolph and Van Damme one last chance to rip into each other, and they give us (or, at least their stunt doubles) quite a slobberknocker. The result of their fight puts the icing on the cake.Bulgaria and other Eastern European hotspots have become a mecca for low budget action featuring heroes from the 80s, and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION takes advantage of the areas where a director, stunt coordinators, and action choreographers can be turned loose to run rampant, with lots of buildings to blow up and extras to take bumps. I'm honest: I like to see debris, shattered glass and wood, scores of baddies falling from high positions or being taken apart by seemingly unkillable heroes, rounds and rounds of ammunition just annihilating everything in sight, not to mention, gladiators demolishing each other, their feats of strength and the blows they withstand preposterous. This movie follows those lines and after it was over I was happy. It isn't about performances or a strong storyline, it's about flesh and blood.With a nice part for Mike Pyle as Captain Kevin Burke, who goes into enemy lines to bring the hostages out, his bravery no match for Arlovski's superhuman prowess. Corey Johnson is Col. John Coby, leader of the task force behind the rescue of the hostages and preventing radioactive fallout. Garry Cooper is Dr. Porter, the head scientist of the White Tower project, who prepares Luc's body for the abuse it will take once he is sent in to achieve the objective he's programmed to accomplish. Emily Joyce is the only one Luc trusts, a scientist who was futilely trying to rehabilitate him to reintegrate into society.