Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux is back. Jean-Claude Van Damme gallantly attempts to resurrect interest in his tepid career with this action-riddled roller-coaster ride. Set in the not-too-distant future, Deveraux has been employed by the government to oversee the new UniSol project. What is UniSol? It's a military plan to turn dead soldiers into invincible fighting machines (see the first
Univeral Soldier for more details). It's also the scheme that went horribly wrong when the soldiers turned psycho, killing the scientists who created them. Not deterred by this early setback, the government replicates the project. This time they figure that they can control the soldiers through a supercomputer called SETH (kind of like HAL in
2001, but smarter). But, as we all know, machines frequently break down. Pretty soon the computer comes to the conclusion that it's superior to humans and therefore it must destroy them. Uh oh.
Van Damme to the rescue. The muscles from Brussels heroically leap into action confronting the dangerous soldiers led by Bill (WCW) Goldberg and Michael Jai White (last seen in Spawn). The action is impressive and the stunts are engrossing. Goldberg is charismatic as the cartoonish villain who sneers and snouts while muttering macho things like, "I'm gonna kill that guy." Van Damme looks more at home in a production that he is not directing, and for once he lets his fists do the talking. Ironically, the movie is missing the gloss and big-budget pathos of its predecessor (created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich), making the original decidedly better. --Jeremy Storey
1 Oh the humanity!
There are bad movies, and then there are BAD movies. "Universal Soldier: The Return" is a cosmically bad movie, a movie so poor in every aspect of its execution that one would have to look to "Manos: The Hands of Fate" for comparison. The first "Universal Soldier" film was a moderately entertaining shoot 'em up flick starring action stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and "Rocky" refugee Dolph Lundgren that essentially accomplished what it set out to do: people perished in violent ways, stuff exploded, and Van Damme and Lundgren beat each other into bloody pulps at the end of the film. Even the presence of the charming Ally Walker as Van Damme's female sidekick greatly helped the film. The movie garnered enough attention and fans to merit the release of a special edition DVD some time back. It unfortunately also garnered enough attention and fans to merit this unredeemable piece of trash sequel. The second, and one hopes final, installment in a franchise that should never have become a franchise achieves such heights of utter banality and stupidity that I sat in open-mouthed awe watching it. I think I can safely say I am less of a person for having sat through this atrocity. Expect to spend a few days in a coma after the credits roll.
Van Damme returns as Luc, the reanimated soldier who triumphed over the forces of government sponsored evil in the first film. On this outing he now works for Dr. Dylan Cotner (Xander Berkeley), a scientist who reconstituted the universal soldier program with the help of his supercomputer S.E.T.H. Luc, with his female sidekick Maggie (Kiana Tom), helps design and run training missions for a new batch of super soldiers. The film opens with what the filmmakers hope is a pulse-pounding jaunt up a river, a jaunt filled with explosions, stunts, gunfire, and the briefest glimpse of Tom's incredibly fit form. As the mission grinds to a halt we learn several important things: Kiana Tom is incredibly hot but can't act her way out of a paper bag, Luc has a daughter named Hillary (Karis Paige Bryant) who you just know will get into trouble at some point, and the only soldiers we must pay attention to are Romeo (Bill Goldberg) and the one played by Michael Jai White. Frankly, turning off the film immediately after glimpsing Tom's amazing physique is probably a good thing. Everything that follows is dull, predictable, and so full of plot holes as to defy description. "Universal Soldier: The Return" feels like eighty minutes of dental surgery rather than an action film.
Sure enough, Cotner's computer goes on the fritz and unleashes the killing power of the universal soldiers. In the resulting conflagration S.E.T.H. implants its consciousness in Michael Jai White, Luc and his loved ones flee from the compound, and the military swoops in to contain the problem. An extraordinarily untalented actress named Heidi Schanz also pops in as nosy reporter called Erin who is interested in exposing the government's latest shenanigans. Predictably, Van Damme and Schanz team up to track down...er...well, track down something to defeat the supercomputer. I think they need some code to shut the system down, but in the meantime the film takes them all over the place so that a wisecracking Romeo can follow them around while absorbing all the abuse Luc can hand out. Even throwing in a few scenes set in an adult's only club can't make this turkey fly. It's dull, folks, and painfully so. By the time the film grinds to its inevitable showdown between Luc and S.E.T.H. back at the shattered compound--with an injured Hillary's life balancing precariously in the background to serve as motivation for an overwhelmed Luc (Geez, what a surprise there!)--I knew I just wasted far too much of my life with this car wreck. How bad can it be, you ask? Read on...
Plot holes in this film are innumerable, as uncountable as grains of sand on the beach or acne on a teenager's face. For example, Luc explains to Erin that he was once a universal soldier just like Romeo but Cotner "cured" him by restoring him to life; he no longer needs injections or ice or any of the other devices used by the soldiers. What the heck are we doing marveling at this amazing supercomputer when Cotner just performed a miracle of biblical implications? He brought someone back from the dead! How exactly did he accomplish this feat? We don't find out from Van Damme, who simply smirks his way through a few lines of dialogue that simply boggle the mind with their monumentally idiotic implications. I could go on, but let's discuss the performances instead--or the lack thereof. I should say I adore Kiana Tom; she's a drop dead gorgeous babe with a body that could stop the earth's rotation, but watching her stumble through dialogue is like having your appendix taken out through your mouth. Another problem is the lumbering Bill Goldberg, whose "funny" lines are anything but. And the more I think about Heidi Schanz, the less I think of her. You have to wonder about a film where Jean-Claude Van Damme is the best thespian in the cast.
You might think a movie this foolhardy shouldn't contain any bonus features on DVD. You would be wrong. Trailers for this film, "The Return," "Double Team," "Desert Heat," "Knock Off," "Maximum Risk," and "Nowhere to Run" showcase the dubious career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. A making of feature, a Van Damme career retrospective (Ha!), a Michael Jai White feature, and talent bios round out the disc. My advice to those viewers thinking of renting "Universal Soldier: The Return"? Run, my friends, run far, far away and don't look back.
2 Van Damme still has it
This film, though not a hit, proved to people that Van Damme was back in shape and could still the Van Damme thing. Which is kick people's asses. I know this was not his best acting but it was a pretty entertaning flick, I really wish it had more success at the box office. Oh, and on another note to ROB NILE, Mario Van Peebles WAS NOT in this film. It was Michael Jai White.
3 Not Bad........But
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 :
4 Van Damne vs Goldberg
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
5 Pretty decent sequel
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.
6 very entertaining movie
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.
7 Why did they bother.....
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! 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.
8 Misses Lundgren
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.
9 Goldberg Rocks
Goldberg is the greatest actor and wrestler that ever lived period end of story
10 A Real Letdown
The original Universal Soldier film was not a bad movie, but this one is. There was a half decent cast, but a terrible story and plot line.
I was really looking forward to this sequel, but was disappointed big time. Van Damme was getting towards the end of his action career, but still was able to give an ok performance. Michael Jai White was an ok support role, but not quite enough to play the major villain alone (did anybody else notice that he played a soldier in the original film?). Bill Goldberg was a risky choice for his first movie roll, but he seemed to do well in the intimidating character he played.
The story line was terrible. The whole film takes place inside one warehouse in about 3-4 hours of elapsed time. It is just not enough when considering the plot and the characters. A bad plot combined with an ok cast is a script for doom.
This movie could have been so much better. It fell short in many ways. The first film had a decent story line with a change of scenery every now and then, this had none. This is the kind of film you'd expect to go straight to video. It didn't look like it cost a lot to make. If you're a heavy metal fan you might like this film's music, if not you won't care much for it.
11 Stupid "sequel" fails for the most part...
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.
12 Worthy Sequel
The 'Unisols' are back led by Simon (Michael Jai White). They have taken over the secret base and are taking no prisoners. A beastly brute named Bill Goldberg is the most awesome force to have hit the big screen since Dolph Lundgren! Jean-Claude Van Damme does everything he can to stop the almost immortal zombies. A memorable scene in this sequel had Goldberg giving spears to all of those fat security guards at a hospital. Immense! Then Simon kicked an old man in the face at the speed of light. What a gesture! The movie's plot is thin, but is genius to my standards. Van Damme delivers more jumpkicks, flashkicks and horizontal spin kicks. Oh yes! More heaven in a movie.
13 ANOTHER COOL SCI-FI/ACTION FILM!!!
ONE OF VAN DAMME"S BEST FILMS. GREAT FIGHTS, EXPLOSIONS, WEAPONS MAKE THIS AN EXELLENT EXPERIENCE, DEFINETLY WORTH A WATCH. ...IT'S ON TBS SUPERSTATION JUNE 22ND,02. I RECOMMEND IT!!! ...
14 Black Body Beautiful
Like Other reviewers before me, I must say the movie's plot isquite weak. The individual one on one battles are interesting tho so the flick isn't a total waste. But for me, awesome blackmuscle is a real turn-on & that's what we get from Michael JaiWhite. They just don't come better sculpted than this & I zero-ed in countless times on his 'picture perfect' pecs & washboardabs, before turning my undivided attention to the BONUS 'workoutfeaturette.' This cat's physique will absolutely mezmorize you.For those of you simply into 'body watching, it's a no-brainer. Van Damme isn't exactly 'chopped liver' but Mr. White always manages to 'showcase his goods' to the 'absolute max' in all his flicks.Yeah he'll no doubt whip you into shape if you can keep your mind on the exercises but my guess is all his stretchin' & flexin' will put you into a trace & have you wondering just how you can get your hands on him- then keephim close by your side!
15 Van Damme rules again
Universal Soldier: The Return is the ultimate pinacle of all action movies. Featuring quite possibly the greatest cast ever assembled: Van Damme (1999's "Legionnaire"), Bill Goldberg, Michael Jai White ("Todd McFarlane's Spawn", 1997) and Kiana Tom (Kiana's Flex Appeal).
Van Damme was snubbed for an Academy Award yet again, surprisingly enough.
The soundtrack features Megadeth's Crush 'Em.
16 Universial Soilder - The rerun
This film is just bad. It feels cheap. It lacks impact and plot. The only character I liked was Romeo. Overall it just falls short of the mark in almost every catagory. Some of the fights are ok and that is the movies only redeeming quality. Give it a miss.
17 Ruining the universal soldier tradition..
Man, this movie is just as bad as the universal soldiers that were made for hbo except for it had Michael Jai White, Van Damme, and Goldberg..I like Goldberg but man, he had the most idiotic lines in this movie..White makes a good bad guy and having Van Damme back was the reason I wanted to see it but whoever wrote this needs to be shot! Even the extra's were horrible..at least in the first one they had some pretty big believable unisols but they got like, 50 something year old guys that are balding playing these cool unisols..plus van damme wasn't super buff like he was in the other one ;) White got chumped in the final fight scene, no where as cool as Van Damme and Lundgren. It just totally dropped WAY short of Universal Soldier..I was upset I payed to see it in the theatre..same with my buddy..Stay Clear of this even if you are a big Universal Soldier fan!
18 Awful.Just awful.
Well,I've given every other one of Van Damme's movies a try,so I thought,with a little bit more apprehension than usual,how about this one.Well,I wish I had trusted my instincts and not gone near it with a bargepole,for this film simply took the biscuit.Universal Soldier:The Return is a mind bogglingly awful disaster,full of atrocious acting,utter predictability,cardboard characters,dated action,laughable special effects and boring martial arts.It's blissfully short,but sadly,it's so dire,it feels like it's going on forever,thanks mainly to stuntman turned director Mic Rodgers's unprofessional direction.And it's kind of freakyish how Jean Claude Van Damme was programmed mechanically in the first film,but now just seems to have returned back from the dead Frankenstein style here.For every reason imaginable,one to steer well clear from.
19 A great comedy!
This movie is soooooooooooooooooo bad you'll laugh till your abs hurt. I had to stop the movie several times to stop the tears from all the laughing.
The story of a Demon Seed style computer (for those that remember that film) with ambitions to take on humanity because it's funding had been cut is funny in itself but combine that with totally unbelievable action sequences, disjointed one-liners, gratutious bra shots, and absolutely abysmal acting and you've got a winner!
For those of you that liked Commando, you'll probably like this film.
20 Utterly Pathetic. So Bad it Defies Belief.
I have seen some Bad Action movies in my time, but nothing could have prepared me for "Universal Soldier - The Return". It makes your average Straight-to-Video Action film look like "Die Hard".
Once Again, Van Damme Surrounds himself with Poor Actors so he looks All the Better. Only Michael Jai White Stands a Cut above the Rest as the Super villain. Goldberg's is one of the most Moronic, Annoying Performances I've Ever Seen in my Entire Life. Every time he Opens his Mouth, a Plethora of Crap Dialogue and Horrendous Acting follows. Some may blame the Dialogue, but many films in this genre have Bad Dialogue, it`s the Actors Job to make it sound good, Sadly, Goldberg is No Actor.
"Universal Soldier 2 - The Return" has, on the surface, Everything a By-the-Book Action Flick Needs, the Obligatory scene at a Strip Joint, (here they have to go there to use their Computer... Try to Stomach That) The Love Interest (an Exact Copy of the Love Interest in the Original, but Far more Aggravating) and Plenty of Action... (one such scene includes a Wrestling match with Goldberg against 2 Hospital Orderlies that are Bigger and more Muscular than Van Damme and Goldberg Combined) It's a Shame that the Action is Poorly Shot, Poorly Edited, Poorly Conceived, Poorly Timed, Poorly Choreographed, and Poorly Performed.
If you've Seen the Film, you know what I'm Talking about, If you Haven't seen it; you haven't the Faintest Idea what I'm Talking About. There is No Reason I can Think of to Recommend this film to Anyone, except maybe people who like to Torture themselves. But Average Joe's like Me, if you are Listening... Run, Run Away from this Movie, Don't Even Look at the Cover... If it's One your TV, Smash your TV, if a Friend Hires it, Get New Friends, If Van Damme Himself Pleads with you to Watch it, Chastise him for me and Every Other fan of the Truly Classic Original "Universal Soldier", a film that will Never be the same Again.
21 Can a movie get any worse?
Talk about how poor double team was ''DAMME'' this was a bad movie.Everything was bad the acting the story everything some of the fighting scenes were ok but thats about it.Van Damme at his worst don't buy this movie or rent it.The movie got so boring i felt like turning it off and stomping on it (but i rented it i couldnt do that)so i decided to watch more of it and when i woke up from falling alseep on my chair i saw the very end of the movie where van damme was fighting seth that was the best fighting scene in the movie then i turned the movie off and went to sleep the next day i found out that i didn't miss anything while i was sleep but some more bad acting and bad love scenes goldberg was pathetic in that movie it wasn;t even funny and his jokes didn't make me laugh.I took that stupid movie back i almost felt like breaking it while i took it in blockbuster i was so mad i wanted my 2 bucks back really really really REALLY bad i didn't think it was a movie then i thought it was a person who decided to torture us with bad acting.Don't ever see this movie its a waste of your time if you do youll be like ''dang he told me not to watch it'' don't beileve any of ''the movie was ok'' that movie........... bad i don't feel good when i think about it this movie was that bad.Theres only one way to buy this movie if you have an enemy who you dont want to hurt physically you could always tell them to watch the movie (thats if you really want to waste your 2 bucks on trash)i dont even feel like typing this and i dont feel good now it brings back the memories of how bad this film was i just wish a scientest would just erase this film out of my memory it was so bad i dont even want it to be in my brain for the rest of my life Literally
22 One of these gulity pleasure sequels, you enjoy.
The Plot:After 13 years. Luc(Jean Claude Van Damme) is having an normal life, he has a twelve year old daughter, a job for the military and he more human than ever but he lost his wife from the first film. Everything is about to fall about when Seth(Micheal Jai White), a supercomputer controlled warrior, has control another Unisols to save and defend themselves. But they are dangerous, will be anything sent they goals. But Luc how to stop them, because he was the original Unisol. Bill Goldberg steals the film, when he appears in a scene, he gives an outrageous entertaining comic performance as Romeo, he`s one of the Unisols in the film.
DVD`s has a good anomorphic widescreen(1.85:1) transer and Pan & Scan is also alivable. Excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround with Strong .1 Lfe Bass just like Original Universal Soldier DVD. Including 3 Different Feaurette and Theatrical Tralier.
23 I have some concerns
The first movie was a neat action flick with a simple plot. This is garbage. NO... the fight with Mario Van Peebles was good the fight between Van Damme and Bill Goldberg (playing re-animated corpes based cyborg Romeo) that fight was okay, but using terrible camera shots to make it look like Goldberg could throw a high sidekick, which no one really expects him to do. That's bad. or kicking a super-soldier into a dryer and turning it on rendering him powerless. That also is bad.
Or the fact that common hospitol security looks like navy seals built like Goldberg and are allowed to work without sleeves and show off their tattoos, or here's a good one... Van Damme's charicter (he is alive in this one) is held in the air by his neck from a reannimated soldier, in a dying effort he grabs hospitol shock pads, and while the soldier is still holding onto his neck he with 3,000 volts, SHOCKS THE SOLDIER!! Van Damme's charicter is fine. The soldier who is supposed to have unlimited pain tolerance is stunned and lets go only to stand still and wait for blows. It's subtle things like these that concern me about this movie.
It is not charming, or cool. All the fights except the final two are jokes. The robotic charicter of the blank soldiers is lost as these cyborgs make wise cracks, check out the ladies and hold grudges. Not the traumatic life into death type of grudges but the "he beat me in the simulater game room and I want him to know that Im better" type grudges. This also concerns me.
If I could grade only mario van peebles's performance (one fight) I'd say five stars. but with all of these additional concerns I cant lawfully give it more than two.
24 VAN DAMME THIS SUCKS!
I bought this garbage thinking it would be a decent film to watch , i was very wrong .the things the characters say and do are so lame , predictable, stupid, example:when the computer called SETH goes haywire they try to cut the power by flipping the GIANT on/off switch,I laughed so hard i was crying.you would think the director would have some cool stunts up his sleeve since he worked on lethal weapon 4 recently, but, no such luck here.
25 40 minutes of great action!
"Universal Soldier: The Return" isn't what you think it might be if you saw the original Universal Soldier movie that starred Van Damme. Jean-Claude Van Damme is not one of the universal soldiers in this movie, he's a human going up against many evil universal soldiers including wrestling star, Goldberg, and Seth (martial artist, Michael Jai White).
"Universal Soldier: The Return" isn't really a good movie, but it does have a lot of good special effects, and fighting sequences. The first 50 minutes of the movie isn't that great, but the last 40 minutes of the movie is some of the best action and fighting sequences I've seen in awhile. If you like Van Damme movies or movies with some good action, I recommend seeing "Universal Soldier: The Return."
26 Below one star
If you are a real Universal Soilder fan don't be tempted with this dissapointing sequel. Bad acting, bad special effects, bad humor and just about bad every thing. Not good, but a good Van Dan movie. Just not the Universal Soilder movie. Not as nearly good as the first.
27 This is NOT Universal Soldier 2
I would like to clarify that this is NOT UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 2. Many reviews mention that this is US2 but they are wrong. There IS a US2 which does not include Van Damme - but this is not it.
28 A Good Action Movie!
This was definitely a beyyer movie than the original Universal Soldier. Van Damme plays the role of the hero very effectively. Michael Jai White plays the role of Seth in a human body to the point of being scary. Bill Goldberg ia also a very effective villain in his role as Romeo. This small army of super soldiers are turned bad by Seth the super computer. The main killer soldier, played by Goldberg, wreaks havoc. Seth the super computer takes on a human body and openly begins a manhunt for Van Damme because he has the secret computer code that Seth has to have. After battles all over the landscape Van Damme finally prevails. This is a good action movie with entertaining actors. See this film for entertainment purposes.
29 Good Action, Bad Plot
I enjoyed the original Universal Soldier, but like most sequels, this one has much to be desired. I'm a big wrestling fan, so it was fun to watch Goldberg attempt to act out of the ring. He's about as talented actor as Van Damme himself (heh). The movie has a lot of action, so it gets some high points there, but the story line really isn't that good. It's an entertaining movie, but the original is far superior.
30 Gee.
Gee. Universal soldier II! Just what the world needed. I didn't hate the first one. It was an okay film, entertaining anyhow. So, I got Universal Soldier II because I figured that it'd be better. You know, since movie-making skills and visal affects have somewhat gotten better since 1992. I was dead wrong. Jean-Claude had his usual constipated frog expression on his face the whole time; all of the bad guys are pro wrestles. (Enough said) And one, I like this one in particular, Romeo, made Hulk Hogan's acting look like Humphry Bogart. Plus, every time when Jean-Claude and Romeo would get into a tizzy, Jean-Claude would say: "You never liked me, did you?" And then they'd punch at each other for a while, and then Jean-Claude would somehow knock him down and run Romeo over with something ("He'll be up soon, it will only slow him down" warn Jean-Claude) and then Romeo, after everyone is gone will move his hand and say, "I hate that guy." It isn't every day that a movie with classic dialogue comes out.
Universal Soldier II also holds close to the old action-movie maker: If you shoot stuff, including cardboard it'll blow up. So, lots of that!
And there's also a scene in a strip club with nude women. It somewhat reminds you of some low-bugdet 1970s movie.
There's also a supercomputer that talks. And we all know that THAT makes a good movie!
So, my warning is to not watch this movie. The only reason i'd watch this is if you like WWF or WCW or whatever it is that half of the actors were catered in from.
31 UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: PLEASE DON'T RETURN !
Holrrible. Van Damme lost its way forever. It's luck for him and the producers that there atill are Van Damme's die-hard fans all around the world, so he can keep releasing this low-budget trashes and still makes money!
32 A UNIVERSALLY STUPID MOVIE!
This should have a minus rating, easily Jean Claude Van Dammes worst movie, (took a lot to take Street fighter off the number one spot! , Im amazed! )
Believe it or not I dont happen to hate Jean-Claude, on the contrary I enjoyed his earlier work though not great, is very watchable. Unfortunately Universal Soldier 2 falls short, lack luster performances, and too many obnoxious scenes that make this movie too ridiculous to watch!
I hope you will find yourselves something far more entertaining, like cutting your toenails its better than this, believe me! So try some of Jean-Claudes earlier work like No retreat no surrender or Bloodsport certainly better and more interesting that what is on offer!
33 AN INSPIRATIONAL EPIC TALE OF HEROISM
This movie can only be compared with classics like A Clockwork Orange and Lawrence of Arabia.It is the epic story of the heroes..It has inspired many moviemakers including Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg..What a great use of photography.With its dream- like scenario, Universal Soldier 2 is THE MOVIE. :)
34 I feel dumber for having seen this movie...
This is one of those few, select movies which I actually feel stupider for having wasted my time watching. I can't imagine what the producers were thinking putting money into the project. It was plotless, brainless, full of bad action, bad jokes, stupid no-brainer one-liners from one of the least menacing bad guys I've ever seen. It's so pitiful that they have a huge fight scene in which the enemies are the bouncers at a strip club. Definitely do not waste your time or money on this movie. Where the first was a decent, neat, somewhat thoughtfully made movie, this is just a blemish to be ignored or erased.
35 No Way Jose
I am a big Van Damme Fan. Simply put, this movie stinks.Bad acting and ending.Buy Desert Heat for real Van Damme action.
36 Awesome Movie
I thought this movie was awesome. It had great action and a great story line. I don't care what anybody says. This movie is a must buy.
37 Don't be fooled, the best thing here is the movie poster!
The film does not have great action at all from the protagonist who plays Luc Devereaux [Van Damme-Jean Claude Van Varenberg]The whole film focuses alot on all the other evil soldiers. There are too many of them. I feel that the film should of had 5 soldiers against Van Damme. There would have been more fighting scenes. Their are some cheezy nude scenes that really dont belong there at all[Women at a strip club-nude dancing.] WCW wrestler Goldberg also acts in this motion picture. He does an okay job. His role was limited. He played Romeo. He did not even fight Van Damme in the film. The whole picture is a flop, Really it is. The best thing about this film is the poster you see here. I am not being a liar here. You want too see great Van Damme film-go watch Cyborg, Maximum Risk, & Double Impact[Double Impact has a very pretty blonde! Great body! Hot babe! ] Van Damme should make a Universal soldier part 3 and he should model it after his popular film "CYBORG." Tons of fighting scenes, and in the end wins the battle and conquers the Beautiful girl. You never know Van Damme might get Charlize Theron for his next motion picture. . .
38 universal soldier the return
I bought this movie cause I wanted to see some good action of Jean-Claude van Damme. And I did see good action stuff. So why the hell does everyone thinks this movie is so bad. It is a good action movie.
39 A great movie
This is a good movie which lives up to the famous first one. A must have. There is action and drama on overtime here. And of cause Van Damme. He is always worth looking at. A fantastic movie. Buy it now!
40 Van Damme plays a tree !
I brought this DVD thinking it would be pretty cool ! However, the movie will now join others in my DVD collection as one that I probably wont watch again EVER! This film just does not deliver, it has 'A-team' violence (loads of bullits flying and explosions but knowbody actualy getting hurt!) , stupid characters (most of them seem to have come from WWF or something) and I have to say Van Damme plays a block of wood, I also got the impression that I was watching Sunset beach or something with every simple aspect of the film being explained out for me, like the audience were retards. Its a 'watchable' film if you aint doing anything interesting but I wish I had not spent the money on buying it. Save your dosh and buy something cool.
41 good movie but...
This is a pretty good movie but although my copy says it supports widescreen it was reformatted to full screen onboth sides of the disk. This could have been an isolated case where it only affects my copy or some small number of copies.
42 Universal soldier2:the return
This is a movie to see once.It has great action but it is missing something.Luc Deveraux is trying to stop the controller of the soldiers.The soldier turn bad and whoever gets in their way to kill Luc will die.Jean-Claude Van Damme has great kicks and strong punhes.But if you like Jean-Claude Van Damme you might like this movie
43 Universal Soldier2 doesn't cut it.
This was supposed to be part 2 of the original Universal Soldier with Jean Claude returning as the hero. Note that there was already a low budget knock off of #2 and #3 previously released without Jean Claude. Unfortunately, this low-budget sequel had none of the ambiance or realism that the original movie contained. In fact, if not for the title, you would not have known that this was the second part. Nothing from this movie linked the first movie (except for an occasional flash back). The weapons and outfits were poor. The premise was weak and and the special effects were either poor (as in bullets bouncing off car windows) or non existent. The only thing that carried over from the last movie (and all his other movies) was Jean Claude getting beatup through-out the movie in spite of the fact that he was supposed to be a "Universal Soldier" hinself. We were are pretty dissappointed with this one. It was a comedic ripoff of a good film.
44 Not A Great Film
This movie is not just bad it's real bad. Van Damm is washed out and you see it here. With Goldberg as a co-star you know this will not be exactly the greatest action flick and it isn't. Michael Jai White was in Spawn and if you saw that film and have seen how bad that way then expect much of the same here. Nothing great in this film, just a bunch of b/s running for an hour and a half. If your so eager to see it then rent it.
45 Action, Action,and more van damme action!
Part 2 of universal soldier(universal soldier-the return)this movie is about one man fighting against tons of unisol soldiers, that are 2.5 times stronger then any man. The main computer goes out of control. I won't go into detail, cause i don't want to ruin the movie, but Jean-Claude Van Damme Pulls out some awsome martial arts foot action in this movie. The best fighting scene yet of jean claude is in this movie. This movie has some comedy scenes,as well as action. Bill goldberg does an outstanding job in this film. I just don't see how this didn't become a big hit in the movie theaters. I rent movies qite often and i think jean claude movie gets so underated. If you u were to pick out the latest top 10 movies, jean claude movie should be atleast a 3 on the top 10 list. so if you want a great hit, this movie is a must see.
46 Co-Star Kiana Tom from Flex Appeal was GREAT!
I am a big fan of Kiana from ESPN2 and thought it was fantastic that she co-starred with Jean Claude. She did a terrific job and I would love to see her do more action films! Keep up the Good job!
47 Better than the original
Universal Soldier is one of the best new DVDs out. It contains many entertaining features such as interviews with Van Damme and White. There is nonstop action in this movie. Even though, there are some absurd scenes it's still a must buy for everyone that enjoys action movies.
48 A great movie!
As good or maybe better than Universal soldier. A great and entertaining action movie. I think everybody will love this movie!
49 Universal Soldier 2 was HORRIBLE!!!
This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It was very dissapointing, for me being a big fan of Van Damm's and Goldberg's. Some great action, but unneeded nudity and thoughtless storylines make this a movie that does not need to be see. Get the first one.
50 Made the Original one look entertaining!
I have to admit. I just wanted to see Goldberg! After his brilliant (?) performance with Kevin Nash on the Love Boat, it seemed like it would be quite a stretch to see him perform as an out-of-control killing machine. This movie is just awful, Van-Damme is terrible - and the plot is ridiculous. The computer terminal takes over and materializes into a soldier? That sure makes sense. Watch Nitro instead - at least Goldberg wins there and that's more believable!!
51 Short running time causes sequel to go down in ashes
"Universal Soldier" was a half decent action film and one of Van Damme's first half decent pictures. This sequel was a good idea for Van Damme, as he is starting to head back into straight to video territory. The sequel is pretty much a rehash of the original, except it's not as interesting and it is too damn short, just as it starts to get going it ends. Luc Devearaux (Van Damme) use to be a UniSol (as they nickname them) and now he is forced to take on the new breed, who get out of control. There's Seth (Michael Jai White)and Romeo (Bill Goldberg) posing the biggest threat. some action scenes in this are quite good, especially the opening one where there is a cool speedboat chase. But I ask myself, why wouldn't original co-stars Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Ed O'Ross or Jerry Orbach want to do the sequel? it must have been a dodgy script. Action fans may find something of interest here. may I say.
52 Jean-Claude Van Damme
He is one of the best star. :
53 saw the movie at the theater ...
there was a short recall of some scenes from the original universal soldier movie to connect to this sequel, but not enough background on the events that led to luc devereaux's wedding and becoming a father. i think the newsreporter's character was a waste of time in this movie since all she did was get in the way. the action was not lacking in this film though it could have used more of the humor from the original movie. i guess i expected a continuation of the original characters as the made for tv movies (universal soldier II & III) did.
