Universal Soldier: The Return Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Prepare to become obsolete
Universal Soldier II continues the story of Luc Deveraux, who has survived his experiences as a Universal Soldier, recovered, and is now working as a technical expert on a government project to revive and improve the Universal Soldier training program. When S.E.T.H., the supercomputer controlling the Soldiers, goes haywire and takes over, Luc is the only one who can battle this elite team of deadly, near-perfect warriors.
| Jean-Claude Van Damme | Luc Deveraux |
| Michael Jai White | S.E.T.H. |
| Xander Berkeley | Dr. Dylan Cotner |
| Justin Lazard | Captain Blackburn |
| Daniel von Bargen | General Radford |
| James Black | Sergeant Morrow |
| Bill Goldberg | Romeo/UniSol 2500 |
| Brent Anderson | Technician #2 |
| Brent Hinkley | Squid |
| Woody Watson | RL Gate Guard |
| Sam Williamson | Hillary's Doctor |
| Dion Culberson | Drag Queen |
| Josh Berry | Radioman |
| Mark Dalton | Lead RL Guard |
| Roger Hamilton | UniSol |
3.20 out of 10 (7237 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A must see for fans of the series!
posted on 07 Aug 2009In this fun sequel, LUC DEVERAUX & a female partner of his, must take on the evil S.E.T.H. played by MICHAEL JAI WHITE. When S.e.t.h. who was a computer, decides to wage war on the human race & turns the recently re-animated soldiers evil & finds a body for himself, now not only will Luc have to rescue a little girl from S.e.t.h's. clutches, but he must take on his entire team of soldiers & S.e.t.h. as well! UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 4, seems to ignore Parts 2 & 3 altogether, none of the plot points nor his brother who was in both films is mentioned in this sequel, it does not pick up after three, but nonetheless UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN managed to beat out the last two entries & VAN DAMME has replaced MATT BATTAGLIA as Luc, the action scenes are awesome, there's plenty of suspense & good acting on hand & the direction is great, recommended to fans of the series.***1/2 stars
Fast Moving DISASTER Of a Movie
posted on 10 Jul 2009I've been a Van Damme fan for a while,and I hoped something new might show up with this realease,Well I was Wrong! This is the Worst mis-mash of special effects I have EVER seen! Its All Totally Predictable..You know what the ending will be within the first 15 minutes...B-movie,made for Video...Do Not Take A Date to This One!! She will drop you Quick,and who can Blame her?
Very good sequel
posted on 27 May 2009Universal Soldier II: Brother's in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business were two unofficial sequels that made it to TV and are not very popular. Universal Soldier: The Return was made as a official sequel and was sent to the Cinema.Jean-Claude Van Damme returns in his role as Luc, a former Universal Soldier who is now working with a friend of his on the new UniSol units that are more powerful. Luc also as a Daughter from the Reporter who helped him in the first movie.S.E.T.H a super computer is linked to the base and has control over everything. Taking control of the Universal Soldiers they begin to attack everyone, so Luc and a few soldiers go inside and try to fight them but fail.Luc escapes from the base and with the help of a new Reporter they try to stop S.E.T.H, but he downloads his brain into the ultimate Universal Soldier body and then go on a search for Luc and the Reporter.Universal Soldier: The Return is a good sequel with some good action sequences.
Garbage
posted on 23 May 2009Do yourself a favor and don't rent this piece of trash. The first Universial Soldier was pretty good. It had Van Damme, Dolph Lungren, and a plot! This piece of garbage has no story-line what-so-ever, not to mention horrid acting! I could have died when I saw Goldberg do wrestling moves on two nurses. The two nurses were huge wrestler types that looked like they weighed about 300 lbs each. When the hell do you ever see 300lb nurses at any hospital? This also didn't tie into the first one at all. I thought that Van Damme was an undead soldier? Now he is a normal person with a kid? Huh? Hello?
Late night TV movie
posted on 21 May 2009There are really only 3 reasons to watch this: Michael Jai White has some quality screen time; Kiana Tom is quite gorgeous except for her dismal second incarnation, and this film has the most hilariously gratuitous T & A sequence since Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder hid out in the poledancing club in Stir Crazy.Actually I quite like Van Damme - he makes martial arts look attainable. You can go to your classes and think "I'll never be as good as Jet Li, the guy's superhuman. But I might just get as good as Van Damme someday."
Shouldn't have bothered on making a second one...
posted on 07 May 2009Like a great amount of movie sequels, this one didn't get even close to the first movie. The movie's plot is terribly confusing, with loads of "cliched" stuff and actions. It has no comparison with the first movie, very original and good. So unless you've got less then an hour and a half to spare, consider watching something else!
I'll never get that $7.50 back...
posted on 07 May 2009The original Universal Soldier did not raise the bar too high for its successor, but having just sat all the way through it I would say that number two perhaps only just scrapes over.Although the production values were impressive, including some "explosive" pyrotechnics, the storyline was fairly lame and I came out of the movie with the rare feeling that I *wished* I hadn't spent that money on that movie.Hardly a Kubrick ... Universal Soldier 2 gets my generous vote of 2/10.
The bottom for Van Damme in a lifeless film based on a dull story.
posted on 11 Apr 2009Mr. Van Damme hasn't been worse in recent memory. A doubtful victory. All the talent is in the production design. The look of the film is sometimes the one and only part of it above average. Worst of all (apart from the acting), is the script, dull and lifeless.
simply a Nice Action Movie
posted on 13 Jan 2009What do you want from an Action MovieIt has what you want.and don't forget the type of movies That Jean plays on them .He is a powerful actor.specially in Thriller and action movies .and his abilities in fighting and sports causes you will like his Movies. It is an old movie but is a good one yet. when i compare this movie with 2007 or 2008 movies , I can imagine how much it was hard to making such film in 1999.in fact you will find that new movies don't have anything better than this one. although the technology raised during 1999 to 2008.
You gotta be f**king me
posted on 07 Jan 2009Holy cow, this movie is really weak. There's no other way to describe it. You can't call it crap or garbage because there simply was no effort put into it. It's just weak. I can't believe it got a theatrical run, I thought that B movies go straight to cable or video. I can't believe it was actually made. It was made for no apparent reason at all other than to promote Goldberg as a badass and sell Kiana Tom videos. It looks as if it's intentionally bad! There is no plot at all. I knew that it would be bad after I saw the trailer but it simply goes too far! At least the original movie held on to some drama, like Luc's journey home, but this film is a pure stunt show. Is Van Damme trying to fade his already dim star?????
Enjoyable Tripe
posted on 18 Nov 2008Until Jet Li released 'The One' this was unquestionably the most enjoyable tripe there was on offer. Trust me, I watch a lot of tripe. Jean-Claude Van Damme's sequel to his earlier smash hit on paper should be one of his worst films but it turns out to be one of his best. There's no dithering around trying to explain a weak plot it goes straight into the action. It's half way through before you even think about the fact you haven't really understood a bit of the film as Jean-Claude keeps fighting, the loud rock/metal soundtrack blasts away in the background and Heidi Schanz runs around maintainingg her lovely hair style.This film was never going to win any awards for being quality, yet it is still one of the most enjoyable films you'll see. Switch your brain into neutral mode and get ready to enjoyable the biggest load of tripe, enjoyable tripe, you'll likely to watch for ages.
Good Lord, this movie was awful!
posted on 13 Sep 2008Universal Soldier: The Return is not the worst movie ever made. No, that honor would have to go to a film that attempted to make some sort of statement or accomplish some artistic feat but failed in a pathetic or offensive manner. However, perhaps no movie I have ever seen has tried for so little and succeeded so completely as did Universal Soldier: The Return. This film is a sci-fi/action travesty that has virtually nothing to recommend it. The acting is as bad as any movie I've ever seen. The plot is terrible and predictable. The special effects are pathetic. In short, anyone even remotely connected to this film should be ashamed of themselves.
US: The Return makes previous Van Damme fare seem like groundbreaking cinematic masterpieces. Some movies are so bad, they're good. Believe me when I tell you that this is not one of them. I'm really not sure what else to say here. I doubt many people were considering seeing this movie if they hadn't already, but just in case: don't.
Whoops
posted on 30 Aug 2008This is the minute Van Damme officially became a pariah in the Hollywood film industry, and can you blame them for treating him this way? The film had a $40,000,000 budget, it made about $10,000,000 in total back at the box-office and on DVD and Video rentals - let's face it, there is no easy way of putting it, it's a bomb, not on the scale that 'Waterworld' was a bomb but it may as well have been. I mean, what the hell did they spend $40,000,000 on? Who actually gave these people $40,000,000 in the first place? Did they really think this would be a huge grossing film? Where does Bill Goldberg fit in?.This film fails on so many levels. The first film was absolutely brilliant, it was probably one of the best and last of the steroid-infused, homo-erotic, beefcake Republican-financed era films, so what has changed? First of all, Van Damme is looking pretty good for a 70-year old. If you think about the entire continuity within the first film, you don't really have that much to stand on because without the 'magic serum' and ice, the Uni Sol's could not possibly survive, but here is Van Damme complete with a daughter, running around beating up professional wrestlers who can't act worth excrement. I totally ignored the made-for-TV sequels so maybe there was something in them which explained how he could actually survive, what with being dead and all. Secondly, the dialogue in this film is absolutely terrible, it's not even borderline comical and it fails to meet the mark on just about every single level. Third, the action sequences are crap. The first film was brilliant because at least it had a director, production company and script worthy of containing a lot of high-adrenaline action and also a lot of sublime political leanings. This film is absent of all of that. When it comes to the action sequence, the director of this film must have said 'right, OK, blowing things up makes a film good, so let's blow stuff up in just about every single scene', not even the fights are great. When you have two people like Dolph Lundgren and Van Damme in the same film, you are almost guaranteed at least some major ass-kicking, in this you have Michael Jai White playing God/a computer and Van Damme playing a dead guy - how much action can you expect? Fresh off 'Spawn', which even I will admit was a fairly cool movie (especially the director's cut), you'd expect Jai White to be able to stand up to Van Damme and actually make a film out of this, wouldn't you? You couldn't be more wrong. Fourth, the soundtrack. When it comes to a lot of modern films, the music soundtrack is usually incredibly oppressive, it's one of the reasons why I disliked 'Ocean's Twelve', and it's also another contributing factor into why I dislike this film. Whenever things get blown up, you can almost guarantee that it will be accompanied by some guitar driven Heavy Metal song. Now, don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with Heavy Metal music but where are the days of actual film scores in action films (think 'Predator')?.I have absolutely no idea how or where they got the $40,000,000 to make this film, I mean, what the hell did they spend it on? Did they use it to secure the rights to the z-quality music alone? Did they spend it on Megadeth? Did that machine they use to implant the chips into the Uni Sol's cost $20,000,000 to make? I mean, they couldn't possibly have spent it on the cast because there isn't one, the entire cast (save a few) were just picked up from Gold's Gym, put in front of a camera to see if they looked good with a gun and then put on film. Where the hell did the money vanish?.
If you had to choose between this and Soldier....I'd recommend Soldier
posted on 06 Aug 2008STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsI finally decided to see this ,because I was in the mood to see a Van Damme movie after becoming tired of all the regular calibre movies.Plus I quite enjoyed the original,which had the ingenious casting decision of Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren,and I had never seen Van Damme in a sequel before.I wish I'd just stuck to my original instinct,and never seen the wretched thing.Never before ,in all my years of movie watching,have I seen such poor character and plot development.The whole thing is so carelessly and revealingly contrieved it's unbelievable.Even Van Damme himself seems to know he could do better.Heidi Schanz's bitchy ,self obsessed TV reporter, and the shootouts played out to fast paced heavy metal music erk some interest,but again,these are too hopelessly pieced together from inspired ideas from other,much better films to evoke any true sense of inspiration.Spawn himself Michael Jai White and hit WCW wrestler Bill Goldberg are ideal for their roles in this film,and,strangely enough,can this actually be possible,they are wasted in their trashy,B movie great roles.Following on from a rather confusing opening,at the end,just when it seems a true piece of inspiration can be viewed in this otherwise ploddingly cliched mess,it just reverts into a grindingly tiresome game of When Will Bill Goldberg die?after he's been killed at least 3 times already.I'm more glad I saw this than Knock Off(I take back that film's two star rating)but all the same I wish I had'nt.Come on,when's Fortress 2 coming out,I'm starving to see that now.*
"Kiana's Flex Appeal: The Movie" would have been more thrilling.
posted on 11 Jul 2008Contains slight spoilers, folks.While most action stars manage to do at least one good-ish film (even Dolph Lundgren managed it with "I Come In Peace"), I have never seen a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie that qualified as worthwhile, and his first sequel continues this "fine" tradition. An unasked-for big screen followup to "Universal Soldier" (I refuse to count the two TV movies), this has our hero going up against a sentient computer in charge of the Universal Soldiers... you're groaning already, aren't you?This is amazingly shoddy for a major studio movie (unlike the original from the now-defunct Carolco, this was both backed and released by TriStar Pictures); for all Roland Emmerich's faults he's a better director than Mic Rodgers. The action scenes are dull and cheap-looking (note the obvious dummy used in the opening riverboat chase), and the insistence on backing up all the shootouts with bad heavy metal songs isn't a help. The synthesiser score by Don Davis also plays a major part in making this seem like a crappy cable TV movie (he can do far better when he has a real orchestra - see "The Matrix" or the "House on Haunted Hill" remake). Check out the shoddy mismatch of the foley effects when four UniSols march out at one point.As if that wasn't bad enough, the script by William Malone and John Fasano is actually worse than the one used for the first movie - it's thin, idiotic, predictable and so uninspired it even harks back to other Van Damme epics (our hero gets involved with a reporter AGAIN, as in "Bloodsport," "Street Fighter" and the original movie) in addition to ripping off everything from "Demon Seed" (the computer occupying a human body) to "Demolition Man" (the big showdown). Mr. Van Damme is one of the producers, and even allowing for some of his other choices I can't believe he actually thought this didn't need a LOT of rewrites.The acting doesn't help to raise the level of the proceedings; I was wondering who Bill Goldberg was until I found out he was a wrestler, and unfortunately everyone (except Michael Jai White) is at that level of believability. Which brings us to Kiana Tom, fondly remembered by me from ESPN's "BodyShaping" and "Kiana's Flex Appeal" - epic "Double Impact" gave another ex-"BodyShaping" member, Cory Everson, her first major movie role, and Kiana at least can act better than Miss Everson (and she's prettier too - a shame she pays the ultimate price in the climax). Then again, so can Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen.Jean-Claude Van Damme has made worse movies ("Cyborg," "Street Fighter," "Kickboxer"), but this is still one to avoid. His guest appearance on "Friends" remains the pinnacle of his career.
Van Damme's worst (and that's saying something)!
posted on 30 Apr 20081992's "Universal Soldier" was an exciting, fun and interesting action picture. This "sequel" is junk. It contradicted the first picture more times than I cared to count, had lousy acting (no shock there), a stupid plot (a computer taking over a military installation--wow, how original), and action scenes that were so badly directed I couldn't tell who was shooting here. By the end of the movie I didn't care. They try to cover this by playing ear-splitting rock music during every action sequence. All it did was give me a headache. Only 82 minutes but seems like 3 or 4 hours.
Also it's very sad to see Michael Jai White reduced to this. He was very good in "Spwan(sp?)" two years ago. Then he did "Ringmaster" (anybody remember that one?) and now THIS? The poor guy deserves better. Also, I feel sorry for Van Damme. He can't act, but neither can Stallone or Schwazenegger and look how popular they are! A lousy, sad movie. Here's hoping White and Van Damme make something better next time.
Attention all wrestlers: STICK TO WRESTLING!!
posted on 17 Mar 2008Another bad Van Damme movie, made worse by the wrestler slash "Actor" (I use actor in quotations, more like quasi-Actor) Goldberg. I have some advice for movie producers and directors: if you think your movie is going to be better using wrestlers (eg. Hulk Hogan, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, Rowdy Roddy Piper..etc)..then please do us the viewing public favor--DON'T. Some advice for people thinking about seeing this movie---DON'T (save the $8.50 or so!)g-bucks
Perhaps the Worst Van Damme FIlm Ever Made!
posted on 29 Aug 2009I am a Van Damme fan... and own a number of his films on DVD. The original Universal Soldier is great, as is Time Cop and so many others. This film is a bona fide TURKEY. It's dreadful! The sets are great. The cinematography is first rate. The music is good and I find no fault with the special effects.... BUT... the story is absolutely lame.... AND this is some of the WORST direction I have ever seen in a major film... the action is totally pointless and the female newscaster character is so distasteful, stupid and wooden, I was hoping Goldberg would terminate her at the earliest opportunity. I would have been happy if Claude had just turned around and punched her out. At least that would have been authentic. Honestly, the direction is what really destroyed this film. NO ONE has emotion in this bomb... everyone walks through their parts. This could only be enjoyable if you were a stuntman in training and wanted to see the basic moves stunt men make... over and over and over again. Oh, Goldberg looks great, but he just can't act to save his life.. of course, his character is rather robotic, so I don't fault him. Don't bother with this one. I did not see the whole film... just the first 45 minutes or so and decided (along with my other 2 action film fan friends) that we really didn't care what happened to the characters... so we shut it off and watched "True Lies" once again. The DVD I bought of this film will be my newest coaster.