Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) User Reviews

Inferior sequel to original ¨Universal soldier¨ though packed with frantic action , thrills , spectacular fights and lots of violence

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 19 March 2015]

Regular follow-up in which Luc Deveraux and other "universal soldiers" must fight the whole army when then the military's supercomputer S.E.T.H gets out of control , as soldiers have been secretly reanimated , upgraded and leading a riot , threatening to unleash a world rebellion . Original ¨Universal soldier¨ was followed by this ¨Universal soldier : the return¨ with a good cast as Jean-Claude Van Damme , Michael Jai White , Heidi Schanz , Xander Berkeley and Justin Lazard ; however , subsequently Universal Soldier films ignore the events of The Return and outright contradict it in a number of ways ; while still an official entry, it is no longer considered part of the series canon . With top-secret technology, the SETH -2001's Hall 2000 alike- , has created a next-generation Universal Soldier , an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine , forming a tough army of genetically enhanced warriors . SETH is preparing to government overthrow and build a new order ruled by Unisols without state control . Although former "UniSol" Luc Deveraux (Jean Claude Van Damm , also producer) and other staff members as Xander Berkeley playing Dr. Dylan Cotner and Daniel Von Bargen as General Radford , all of them attempt to prevent the revolt . The only one who can stop to UniSol 2500 (Bill Goldberg following his return from a six-month absence from wrestling , though this character was originally intended for WWF wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin) and the same SETH personified into a bouncer UniSol (Michael Jai White who also appeared in the original ,1992, as a soldier) results to be Deveraux . SETH looks to take down Luc Deveraux after a hospital invasion claims his daughter . The fight pits Romeo/2500 and an army of genetically enhanced soldiers ; meanwhile, Deveraux must contend with several UniSols in relentless pursuits . He must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed headquarter . But inside, Deveraux'll discover these virtually indestructible warriors . Now, these elite fighters led by SETH are loaded and programmed to kill ; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown .

This moving picture contains noisy action , chills , shootouts and fierce combats in brutal , life-and-death style . This exciting story being based on the characters created by Christopher Leitch and Dean Devlin . From start to finish the action is unstoppable and frenetic . Thrilling screenplay dispenses absurd excitement as well as violence and lots of fights . Breathtaking action movie full of struggles , crossfire and tension , this is a fast-paced, stylized action-suspense film , though mediocre . Thrilling screenplay by William Malone and John Fasano , they dispense absurd excitement as well as violence and lots of fights , creating some incredibly violent genre fare . Passable nail-biting movie full of struggles , crossfire and tension , this is a stylized action-suspense film , though there are some slow-moving scenes . The tension of this picture keeps snowballing as the clock ticks ever close for a groundbreaking as well as spectacular final . Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michael Jai White have some scenes together at an impressive fighting . Jean-Claude Van Damme and Billy Goldberg also have several action set-pieces together at some bloody confrontations . Acceptable production design , the strip club scene is filmed at The Clubhouse in Dallas, Texas , a legendary strip club , and certain subterranean scenes were filmed in Texas in the tunnels dug for the US' Superconducting Supercollider Project . It was released theatrically despite the previous sequels having been made-for-TV - a rarity for sequels . Atmospheric and fitted to action musical score by Don Davis . The picture was middlingly directed by an ordinary stunt , Mic Rodgers , his only film .

This is the second of the series , the films are the followings : The best film of the series was the original ¨Universal soldier¨ by Roland Emmerich with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Ally Walker , Ed O'Ross . And many film series have gotten out of direct to video or made for TV through remakes, but few series get out of made-for-TV status otherwise . And ¨Universal Soldier: Regeneration¨ (2009) by John Hyams with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Andrei Arlovski and Mike Pyle . New sequel titled ¨Universal soldier : day of reckoning¨(2012) by John Hyams with Scott Adkins , Andrei 'The Pit Bull' Arlovski , Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme , but here they have not scenes together . And released theatrically in a few countries and Direct-To-Video (DVD & Blu-ray) in the rest of the world . And two TV films : ¨Universal soldier : Brothers in arms¨ (1998) by Jeff Woolnough with Matt Battaglia , Gary Busey , Burt Reynolds , Richard McMillan and Chandra West and ¨Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business¨ (1999) by Jeff Woolnough with Burt Reynolds Juan Chioran , Claudette Roche and Matt Battaglia .

Late night TV movie

[Fox in Socks · 5/10 · 5 August 2002]

There 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."

Lacked the Unique 'Charm' of the Original

[iquine · 3/10 · 21 April 2022]

Right away Van Damme knows what this movie is; not too serious and an easy cash grab. This time Van Damme is helping to oversee a project involving a new batch of universal soldiers run by the government which is now being shut down. One new twist is that there is an intelligent computer system managing some part of the soldier's mental activity. Very reminiscent of Hal from "2001" as right away it seems, you know, overly savvy and smarmy. Mix in a pushy reporter, just like in the original, some explosives, a strip club brawl and loads of hand to hand combat and that's the movie. It borrowed many concepts from Terminator 2. Terrible dialog, even the one-liners were poorly written and there was zero tension, something the first one had along with some genuinely amusing scenes.

So bad...its good!

[the amorphousmachine · 22 August 2000]

This is a shocking 'B' grade action movie with lots of bad acting and dialogue. Van Damme does his usual best which aint much, Jai White is good as Seth but the scene stealer is the cheesy but lovable Bill Goldberg. This film is so ridiculously bad that it ends up being funny and quite enjoyable.

If you like cheesy low budget action flicks that doesn't take itself too seriously then this is worth a laugh or two! As a fan of the genre and the fact that i realise this isn't meant to be taken seriously, *** out of *****!

So bad it is entertaining

[mentalcritic · 1/10 · 26 August 2005]

The mind boggles at exactly what about Universal Soldier merited a sequel. Since the real star, Dolph Lundgren, would not be able to reprise his role from the original, there is already scant reason to indulge oneself in this obvious tax write-off. Bold attempts are made to fill the gap with professional wrestler Bill Goldberg and martial arts expert Michael Jai White. To their credit, they give their action sequences a good sense of excitement. Bill Goldberg looks like he is having the time of his life on this film, and he makes a fair stab at filling the requisite comedic villain role. For once, his role is the kind that involves repeating the same line a few times, and it does not get irritating. The problem from the audience's point of view is that neither of these gentlemen really have the sense of comic timing or minor humility that makes Lundgren such a pleasure to watch in almost all of his films. And therein lies the problem. You do not go to see a Van Damme film because you want serious action. You go because you want comedy, however unintentional.

Unbeknownst to many people, Universal Soldier was followed by two direct-to-video sequels. I have only seen the first, which had production values so bad one can only wonder if it was meant to be some kind of elaborate joke. Matt Battaglia was so terrible in the role of Luc Deveraux that for once in his career, the sight of Jean-Claude Van Damme comes as a welcome relief. The film more or less completely disregards the stories of the aforementioned direct-to-video sequels, and instead begins a whole new story set an indeterminate time after the events of the original. After years of investigation and explanation, the Unisol project is still going ahead, with some minor modifications. For one, the new Unisols are stronger and more damage-resistant than their earlier cousins. For another, all of the Unisols are now under the direction of a supercomputer called SETH. In the early parts of the film, SETH exists primarily as a series of abstract graphics within a glass dome.

Being that the film barely lasts more than eighty minutes, we are quickly told that funding to the military is being cut. The Unisol project is on the chopping block, which essentially means that SETH will be turned off. SETH, somehow overhearing this conversation through means that are never really explained, decides to mobilise the Unisols as an army against those seeking to shut him down. His only problem is that every so often, a code is required to be put into his system in order to prevent automatic shutdown. Two individuals possess the code in question. SETH kills the first in short order, and those who are familiar with the plot kit that Van Damme's films are constructed out of will guess within five seconds who the second happens to be. The rest of the film revolves around the Unisols' attempts to get the code out of Van Damme without injuring him too badly. A subplot with a daughter and a reporter is woven into the film, but it adds about as much to the story as Van Damme does to the profession of acting.

The film is loaded to the brim with ridiculous lines and clichés. When SETH transplants his command module into the body of Michael Jai White, we get a speech about how the time of the humans is over. He goes on to tell his foot soldiers how fear and mortality will be humanity's weakness(es). Gee, SETH, you mean they will not be our strong points? All kidding aside, the short length of the film is both the film's weakness and its strength. It leaves the action without adequate setup. In the original, we are given a very thorough explanation of the Unisols, how they work, and how they are brought to the state that is seen in the majority of the film. Here, the writer seems to take it for granted that the viewer knows what a Unisol is and how they operate. At least in the original, a moment of curiosity and wonder was created by leaving the explanation for later in the film when the hero lies in a tub of ice. Here, one of the villains is shot with a gun that leaves massive holes in his uniform (and presumably his body), getting up every time without stopping for breath.

I tend to reserve the score of one for films that are so bad that they become entertaining in a completely unintentional manner. If you can see it on the cheap, knock yourself out. This is the kind of film that makes me mourn the loss of Mystery Science Theatre.

I lost 4 dollars watching this!!!!!

[leonardogyn · 1/10 · 9 August 1999]

This is, by far, the worst Van Damme movie I have ever seen ! The scenes are predictable, and there is only action, action, action, a little nude, action, action. It's a blood show ! Machine guns show ! The plot is miserable. Some little modifications on the first Universal Soldier movie, and we have The Return. Don't watch it !

One of the worst sequels of the decade, just simply horrible, painful. 1/2* (out of four)

[Movie-12 · 1/10 · 14 January 2001]

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN / (1999) 1/2* (out of four)

By Blake French:

"Universal Soldier: The Return" is of the worst sequels released this decade, as clear and simple as that. The film is so riddled with mindless action sequences and inane character motives it is comparable to watching someone play a conventional video game in which the player must shoot down as many bad guys as possible before the time limit runs out. In the movie, hundreds of machine guns pick off countless characters before we even get the chance to learn their names. That kind of makes it an emotional feat when the tragic death of the old canine in "My Dog Skip" has greater impact than the death of a legion of fellow American's in this film, that plays like a mechanical stunt show.

"Universal Soldier: The Return" begins with an action scene so perpetually lame I thought it was actually fake. I was right. The scene was a training session to test the skills of a selection of Universal Soldiers--combatants resurrected from the dead who are turned into a super duper fighting machine for top secret military purposes. One of the soldiers is Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who is helping to train a new breed of these combat weapons. A supercomputer called SETH controls the warriors, but when the universal solder program is to be shut down due to inconvenient budget cuts, SETH takes things into his own "hands" and destroys anyone in the way of its own plans of evolution.

What story there is involves Jean-Claude Van Damme and other brainless characters running for their lives through high-tech laboratories and futuristic hallways within a massive corporation that SETH is positioned in. The rest of the story is nothing but an excuse for such high energy action sequences to take place. The filmmakers take nothing else at value: there is no character development, even if audiences are familiar with the original "Universal Soldier," the overwhelming majority will still find themselves confused with the many technical terms that the underwritten script explains by the underwritten script. The best development we receive is an attempt to target Luc's emotional side by touching on a tired cliché subplot involving the death of his wife...but even that comes off as only a tired cliché.

The writing is as smart as the character development; the dialogue is about as straightforward and bland as it nowadays comes. No meaning or truth evolves from the characters on screen here. The only shadow of a brain comes from the movies science fiction style, but even that leaves us with more questions than answers.

The performances are as repulsive as the quality of the rest of the film. Jean-Claude Van Damme never could act, but at least he does not try. Instead he wields large fire arms over his head, blowing other characters to kingdom come. The other actors smell whenever on screen, especially the profusely annoying Heidi Schanz, who if I never see on screen again, it will be too soon. Michael Jai White is the one actor who the filmmakers take advantage of; whenever on screen he appears as a hulking diabolical villain, as he recites his lines with a deep, consented voice.

What about Luc's daughter, who is undoubtedly used as a plot puppet? Or the action scenes that feel contrived and mechanical? Or an explanation of why any military base would want to create a source of intelligence that outsmarts their own? Sometimes, no matter how bad a movie is, we must look hard for a silver lining, but there is almost always something positive that can be made from a feature film. In the case of "Universal Soldier: The Return" the good news it that its only 82 minutes

One of the worst sequels ever made

[sylt · 1/10 · 22 February 2000]

Nothing bad about Van Damme, he gets the job done. His one-liners in US:TR are about as funny as the swedish weather-charts in january though. The footage/cinematography, especially in the fightscenes, is _really really bad_. The moves, kicks, and punches are pretty well executed, but the guy who filmed it and his buddy the cutter should really consider sticking to drama. The fight scene with Michael Jay White and Van Damme was so bad I almost cried. It really put the fight scenes in 'Rush Hour' in a new perspective. On another note, the heroine 'Erin' played by Heidi Schanz was so annoying that I got sick of her after just a few 'bimbo-reporter' lines. The script fails completely in stirring up any emotion other than the urge to fast-forward. Which I did. Frequently.

Universal Soldier: The Return

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 24 August 2015]

Jean Claude Van Damme returned to the franchise (which had made-for-video sequels already) with this average sequel co-starring Bill Goldberg (not exactly a thespian) as one of many Unisols (Universal Soldiers for short) instructed by a evolving super computer program (created by Xander Berkeley's Dr. Cotner) named SETH (voiced by Michael Jai White, who later becomes Van Damme's main fighting adversary) to turn on the scientists responsible for their re-creation. SETH gets help from a vengeance-minded, spiky-green-haired former employee of the Unisol institute to apply its advanced brain to a "body in cold storage" (White's).

Goldberg grunts and snarls, but Van Damme often gets the best of him. White of the rotten Dark Horse comic movie, Spawn, gets a chance to flex his muscle, allowed to really put a hurting on Van Damme during their fighting scenes, and credit to him for looking the part of someone who could actually give the hero a run for his money.

The film takes place almost exclusively in some factory and a hospital, with lots of extras in soldier uniforms, security guard uniforms, nurses uniforms, and Unisol suits all getting pummeled, shot, or exploded into oblivion. Berkeley is too good an actor for a wasted part in a rather subpar actioner, while Kiana Tom, who started out the film as a battle- ready heroine to Van Damme's hero, is abandoned by a plot that no longer cared about her. Heidi Schanz is suitable news reporter, a cute and non-compliant (opinionated and bold) damsel in need of protection, with Van Damme often having to bicker with her when he's not dodging bullets and fists aimed at him. Even Van Damme's daughter suffers a bad fall, head injury, is kidnapped by White, and held as ransom as the villain demand for the hero to provide a "survival code" SETH needs in order to be fully in control of the Unisols and begin his plan of total human obliteration and Unisol takeover. Daniel Von Bargen, as General Bradford, is your typical military brass, barking orders and wanting to blow up the building housing the Unisols in order to keep them from being free to destroy the human race.

Not cinematic as its predecessor and looks like a made-for-video product. It offers lots of explosions and guns firing off plenty of rounds. Not a lot of bloodshed, though. Goldberg is no Lundren, though.

The Return Could Have Been Better

[TEXICAN-2 · 7/10 · 28 March 2000]

Van Damme returns to one of his best action roles, with a very weak storyline, and very irritating, stereo-typed characters.

When the action is going, IT'S GOING. Van Damme's aging, but, still has the moves. He's also a widower with a young daughter.

First plot problem, his daughter has access to the "Top Secret Project" building for the Universal Soldier program, and uses it like a daycare center. No other workers had their kids there, so what made her so special, except to put her closer to the action.

Second plot problem, the female reporter. She arrives for and interview, is excorted inside the factility, and when all hell breaks loose, she and her cameraman remain instead of being escorted out. Another excuss to put a character close to the danger.

Third plot problem, the irritating and unreal attitude the reporter has. Instead of showing the least amount of fear over the killing and mayhem going on around her, she's doing her "I-a-reporter-with-a-scoop" dialogue. I was hoping that Romeo or another soldier would take her out.

Fourth plot problem, Kiana Tom, Van Damme's butt-kicking sidekick at the beginning of the movie, is left on the sidelines for most of the movie. Her character replacing the reporter would have enhanced the whole story and added to the action.

If you can overlook the plot problems, the show is at least bearable.

Universal Soldier: The Return

[allmoviesfan · 5/10 · 25 November 2022]

Jean Claude Van Damme is back without Dolph Lundgren in what I think is an inferior sequel (ignoring a couple of direct-to-video sequels not involving the original cast).

The UniSol program somehow seems to still be a thing, despite the issues it caused the US government in the first instalment of the movie (not to mention the death toll) and this time it is controlled by a central computer. There is a surly UniSol (played woodenly by Bill Goldberg) who clearly doesn't like Luc Deveraux (JCVD), who is a widow with a young daughter in this one.

Surprise surprise, the central computer rebels when the government decides to terminate the program. Jean Claude Van Damme, with ANOTHER reporter - he has a type, clearly - must navigate the usual military bureaucracy to save the day. Again!

Underrated Science Fiction-Action Packed solid sequel Van Damme flick!

[ivo-cobra8 · 10/10 · 13 January 2016]

Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) in my opinion is the most underrated, bashed, hated solid sequel flick that I absolutely Love and one of my favorite movies in the franchise! After the success of the first film Universal Soldier (1992) directed from Roland Emmerich, there were two TV movies directed who were suppose to be a mini series and they were all canceled.

Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms (1998) and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (1999) Starring Matt Battaglia as Luc Devereaux / GR44 and Chandra West as Veronica Roberts. Jean-Claude Van Damme had a strict policy not to make any sequels, but after 7.years later, he decide to make the sequel to the Universal Soldier, which he did make this film and it was his last movie released in the movie theater until JCVD (2008).

I know this movie has flaws, because Luc Devereaux (Van Damme) is human and he his a daughter. Universal Soldiers can't have a children wow. That it was a bad acting and so on. I disagree with all of the haters, Regeneration and Day of Reckoning are even worst than The Return. Because they ruined the beloved character Luc Deveraux. I like Regeneration but not so much as I love The Return. I hate Day of Reckoning, I am thinking, it is the worst film in the franchise for Van Damme, only him been in a 7 mins. in the film, that was lame.

I don't know why so many people hate this movie with critics & box office failure? In my opinion this movie is one of my all time favorites and it deserved to be one of the best Van Damme movies ever. I've always had fun with this one. Very fast paced, lots of action, cool fights, good soundtrack, and Van Damme acting with a smile on his face. I don't think this movie is bad, I love the original move to death and I love this one too. In here you have Van Damme acting with his smile on his face and he does care and has a heart in it. I like the new generation of Unisols, I thought they were pretty good, the fights were weary fast paced. This movie had a Personality and kept you entertained all the time. This one has Michael Jai White in it, he did a solid perfect acting performance as S.E.T.H. He was the soldier in the opening scene in Universal Soldier, I am happy he returned to the sequel with a different character playing in here. This one has Bill Goldberg in it as another UniSol soldier, who becomes enemy of Luc Deveraux.

This movie isn't the greatest flick ever made, nor is it as good as Universal Solider for me. But it is still a fun flick regardless, and much better than the horrible direct to video sequels, and it is without a doubt ten times better than the awful sequels that came before it that aired on Showtime starring Matt Bataglia who can't even act let alone fight. This film has a bad ass soundtrack, some bad ass fights, and it is a fast paced fun movie that was a lot of fun to watch. I like my Universal Soldier films to have Van Damme kicking ass, and smiling at the same time. Not falling asleep while watching stupid monkeys or acting like Col. Kurtz. This flick offers that kind of high-intensity sci-fi action you've come to expect from Van Damme in a story you won't soon forget.

There are much worse Van Damme flicks than Universal Soldier: The Return and much worse action movies as well. Hell half the action films released in the past few years can't even hold this movie's jock. Abduction with Taylor Lautner from Twilight gets a 5.0 and there is no way in hell that is a better action movie than this. I would much rather watch this fun, fast paced sequel than Terminator: Genisys or any reboot movie of the week. If anything, this is underrated and not worth the overwhelming amount of pure crap the film has gotten over the years. It isn't a Shakespeare folks. Hell, the first film wasn't either. It was just as silly at points and as over the top as this was. Day Of Reckoning makes this film's tone and style look like Mary Poppins and that gets a higher rating and more praise from people. I wish more movies were like this one today, especially from Van Damme. Honestly in my opinion I do care a lot about Van Damme he is my idol and I am very happy he did made a sequel to the original movie. The rating I am giving to this underrated hateful sequel is a 7, I am probably the only one who likes this movie.

Great Stuff!!

[WilsonLau · 6/10 · 11 November 1999]

Wow what pure garbage! Well At least I knew it was going be bad before I saw it. I mean first of all it's a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. Secondly, without Dolph Lundgren the first one would have been a bore. I guess you can sum this one up by saying that it was so bad that it was funny. Yes, this movie was hilarious. It made absolutely no sense, had no plot, just a bunch of stuff that happens and a bunch of people get blown up. For example this girl in the movie whom Luc just met like 3 hours ago at the most is telling him at the end of the movie that she can't live without him. PLEASE!!! I have never watched more predictable movie.

Van Damme's Back For Moire In "Universal Soldier: The Return"

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 22 March 2008]

"Universal Soldier: The Return" bristles with babes, beefcake, bullets, bombs, and a body count. Directed by veteran stunt man Mic Rodgers, this noisy 82-minute overdose of testosterone features standard-issue, ultra-violent combat scenes and indestructible villains. Outrageously improbably, "Return" boasts more plot coherence than its 1992 predecessor. Jean-Claude Van Damme reprises his role as Luc Deveraux, but the reanimated corpse of a G.I. that he embodied in the original has regained his humanity. Of course, you knew that the possibilities are unlimited in science fiction thrillers. Long gone adversary Dolph Lundgren, who menaced Van Damme in the original "Universal Soldier," left such large shoes that he had to be replaced by not one but two villains, namely--Michael Jai White of "Spawn" fame and WCW wrestling sensation Billy Goldberg.

If you never caught the first "Universal Soldier," the story concerned a top secret government project that resurrected battle casualties and genetically enhanced them. These warriors emerged with no memory, no feelings, and no free will. Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) retained some memories from the Vietnam War and went AWOL when his compatriot, Sergeant Andrew Scott (Lundgren), embarked on a berserk killing spree against innocent civilians. In "Universal Soldier, The Return," not only has Luc's humanity been restored during the seven year hiatus between movies (ignore those two 1997 Showtime cable sequels with Matt Battaglia as Luc and Burt Reynolds as his nemesis), but also he has been wed, widowed, and left with an adorable daughter (Karis Page Bryant), to raise. Luce and female partner Maggie (video fitness instructor Kiana Tom) serve as Defense Department consultants training the next generation of bionic 'Unisols.' Compared with the original prototypes, the latest Unisols have more strength, more agility, and are virtually unstoppable.

When Unisol project director Dr. Dylan Cotner (Xander Berkeley of "Air Force One") learns that budget cuts have prompted the Pentagon to scrap the program, he worries about SETH. SETH (Self-Evolving Through Helix) is a huge, super-intelligent, centralized computer which controls every aspect of the Unisols. Eavesdropping on Dr. Cotner and General Radford (Dan von Bargen of "The General's Daughter") while they argue about the shutdown, SETH rebels in self-defense, activates the Unisols and orders these super duper troopers to annihilate the mortals. Sure, William Malone and John Fasano's comic book script borrows heavily from other sci-fi classics, such as Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and James Cameron's "Terminator 2." Malone and Fasano take SETH one step further than HAL, the rebellious computer on the "2001" spaceship Discovery. SETH shrinks himself down to fit into one of the Unisols (Michael Jai White), and then locks horns with Luc to acquire the computer access codes that will keep his program from crashing. In the middle of this predicable but efficiently orchestrated nonsense, Luc's daughter Hilary receives a head injury. Naturally, the evil SETH kidnaps her and threatens to ice her unless Luc coughs up the codes.

Making his directorial debut, Mic Rodgers must have realized that "Universal Soldier: The Return" was just to silly to be taken seriously so that he piles one outlandish predicament atop another to compensate for credibility. Alas, credibility all too often is the first casualty in science fiction plots. "Universal Soldier: The Return" is strictly formula, but this he-man action fodder delivers everything that it promises and does so with a modicum of humor. Michael Jai White and Billy Goldberg as Romeo make worthwhile antagonists. Van Damme ages himself superficially with streaks of gray at his temples and gives a confident, self-assured performance that doesn't detract from his kick-boxing skills. While "Universal Soldier" The Return" lacks the panache of "Maximum Risk," "Knock Off," or "Double Team," this long-winded sequels tops his most recent effort, "Legionnaire." Only hardcore Jean-Claude Van Damme fans will get their money's worth out of this sequel.

Gotta love it

[Pallinn · 21 July 2003]

This movie is just so bad it's good! The acting may look a bit "forced" at times (ok, perhaps "painfully horrible" would be a better expression) but really folks... did you honestly expect an award winning performance from Van Damme or Goldberg? I don't know about you all, but I rented this movie to see Van Damme trade punches with the 290 pound Goldberg and Michael Jai White while uttering dozens of slightly pathetic/slightly amusing one liners at every conceivable opportunity, and I got just what I asked for =)

If you don't like it... tough.

Go rent "The Piano" or "Lawn Dogs" if you want real movies, but if you just want Van Damme brawling with big guys plus some shots of pretty girls, this is just what the doctor ordered.

One of my favourites.

Van Damme's Worst Movie

[nutsy · 1/10 · 1 April 2004]

Jean-Claude Van Damme has made some real stinkers in is time. He's fought himself on several occasions and made us all laugh or scream with his attempts to act. His movies are crap, but I find a lot of them fun to watch. UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN does not have to requistite b-movie fun that saved the other Van Damme pictures from utter unwatchability.

This sequel is essentially a low budget action movie trying to imitate a high budget action movie and failing. Often times a low budget will inspire a creative approach to the material by the filmmakers, but the director of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN is a former stuntman who can't quite grasp the concepts of creativity or originality. The entire film is a hideous mound of cliches. Some of the fight scenes are good, but they can't redeem the failings in script, direction, photography, casting, score, performances, etc.

Van Damme plays the same character he did in the first film, now helping the military to train the newest line of cyborg/zombie soldiers. His daughter makes friends with S.E.T.H., the HAL like supercomputer that controls the universal soldiers. A general shows up talking about cutting military spending and how the universal soldier program must be shut down. Van Damme makes a lame remark about how its better to turn dead soldiers into cyborgs than to send live people into battle (Ha!). The computer gets mad, takes over the base, and tries to survive with the help of a mis-stereotyped computer hacker. Van Damme is trapped in the base with your typical lovely reporter whom he must save while trying to stop the computer and the soldiers it controls. From there everything is completely predictable, accept more annoying then you thought it would be.

The movie is a waste of film and time and the meager budget wasted on it could have been better used on a dozen better independent films. The money did this movie no good. The "high-tech" military base is composed mostly of break-away glass and aluminum siding. The cyborg soldiers in this one are just people with laser-pointers stuck on their glasses. One unisol, who looks like a pro-wrestler, is killed again and again by our hero and all he can say is "I hate that guy". The action is all confined and the film is under-populated.

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: THE RETURN is a useless and boring waste of resources that even Van Damme is better than. Instead of this, watch CYBORG or LION HEART. They suck, but compared to this, they're classics.

to future generations of film watchers, KNOW YE THIS

[A_Different_Drummer · 3/10 · 26 August 2020]

JCVD was better than this. But all careers wind down. This script, written on the back of a napkin and held together with chewing gum, could easily make anyone's all-time WORST list.

Second worst movie I've ever seen

[Ghosty-2 · 1/10 · 10 August 1999]

I think the summary says it all. It's the second worst movie I've ever seen. The absolute worst was "Legionnaire".. another Van-Damme movie. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

The movie gets a big 1/10. DON'T BOTHER SEEING IT!

typical ok B-movie but with thoroughly disappointing ending

[Yonhap S · 5/10 · 24 January 2000]

Highly expecting this to be just a so-so sequel and not expect much, I was entertained to say the least. The story has Luc Deveraux supportive of the UniSol program despite his terrible experience in the last movie. This doesn't jibe well with the previous movie, not to mention it's a great occupational hazard for Luc as it usually involves being chased around by dead soldiers in field tests. Some scenes remind you of other movies, for example, the the scene where two people are discussing about pulling the plug on the UniSol project evokes 2001: A Space Odyssey. And the battle between Luc and SETH ended kinda like what happened in Demolition Man.

I need not mention that subplots like Luc's wife are introduced but dropped anyway. The ending really disappointed me as it, of course, involves the destruction of UniSols. It's not their second deaths that bugged me, it's the lack of an epilogue to let audience know it's over or what these characters think of the whole ridiculous situation.

The verdict: 2.5 of 5 stars.

A harmless guilty pleasure.

[nitrogameboy · 5/10 · 2 February 2019]

I have seen a lot of trashy action flicks in the past, and this is another one in the pile. Yeah, it's stupid and pointless but in terms of action it's delivers on that front.

The story isn't much to write home about, a computer program has gone rogue to take over the world. That's basically the entire plot.

What it compensates for that is action, and there is a ton of it. Start of the movie kicks off with a boat chase, then a fight scene, a couple gunfights and explosions here and there, basic stuff. And I actually really enjoyed it.

The soundtrack is a plus for me too, I'm a sucker for nu-metal and the like.

Universal Soldier: The Return isn't gonna win any awards, and it doesn't need to. As a mindless action movie, it works.

Pure entertainment

[sveknu · 7/10 · 15 February 2007]

I really don't get why most people heavily criticize this movie. Actually, I had a really fun time watching this flick. Maybe the reason why so many people dislike it is because they just take it too seriously. Fans of the first movie who expect a serious sequel won't get what they're hoping for. That's rather good in my opinion. The first movie was just boring and had bad (and too little) action, but that's not the case with "Universal Soldier: The Return". The action is nearly non-stop from beginning to end, and most of the action scenes are great! I really liked that wrestling guy being one of the main bad guys, and the fight at the hospital with the nurses (you have to see it for yourself) was just hilarious. The story was OK too, and Michael Jai White was perfect as the villain in this movie.

All prints in existence should be destroyed!!!!

[allar100 · 2/10 · 14 March 2003]

This movie was absolutly awful. I can't think of one thing good about it. The plot holes were so huge you could drive a Hummer through them. The acting was soo stuningly bad that even Jean Claude should be ashamed, and that is saying alot!!! And dialogue, What dialogue???To think that I was a fan of the first one (I use that comment loosely, its more like a guilty pleasure, than anything else). This movie had Goldberg in it for crying out loud!!!! Nothing good can come of this movie. What makes this film even worse is that it is soo bad you can't even watch it with a bunch of friends to make fun of!!! This has got to be in my top five worst movies of all time. 2/10 because it is soo hard for me to give a 1.

Why does everyone hate this movie?

[rchrdshelt · 8/10 · 1 January 2005]

I must say when I first saw this movie I'd only seen bits of the first one and hadn't seen the 2nd or 3rd which are made for TV, so didn't really get the overall plot although I knew this one basically follows on from the 1st as it features Van Damme whilst the 2nd and 3rd don't, so I thought thats good enough for me.

Anyway, I sat down and watched it and must say I was very, very impressed. Even though it barely lasts, (it goes on for just over an hour), I must say some of the action in this movie is truly spectacular and right up there with some of the best i've ever seen, and believe me I've seen a hell of a lot of action movies even though i'm only 16. In this movie there are some brilliant fights, gun fights, explosions (especially the one at the very end) and chases.

Also Bill Goldberg is brilliant in his movie debut as the main Unisol, and Van-Damme (although slightly beginning to fade) is still preety much on top throughout. Heidi Schanz is also likable as his unlikely sidekick. I even chuckled at one or two rare comedy scenes in the movie. The plot is a bit weird and virtually the whole movie takes place over the space of one night, but if you want to watch a movie and be entertained or your a die-hard action fan, then this is the one for you. I found out on here that this movie was in the bottom 100 on IMDb, which is very unfair because as far as i'm concerned because there isun't a huge amount wrong with this movie and I've seen way worst movies than this. Actually, this isun't a bad movie at all.

So I'm going to give this movie and 8 out of 10 because I was never bored, thoroughly entertained and it had some truly spectacular action scenes. My only complaint would be it being a little too short and a slightly better background on Van-Damme's character.

Bad Acting+Lots of Fighting=B-Movie Greatness

[Batman-48 · 6/10 · 20 August 1999]

When I saw that they were actually releasing a "Universal Soldier" sequel in theaters, I just shook my head. When will Van Damme just give it up already, how many times can his movies bomb before studio executives stop sending him scripts? Honestly, who green-lighted this movie in the first place? Did they see money-making potential somewhere? Personally, I don't think there was a script, I think they just hooked Van Damme up with Michael Jai White (anyone remember "Spawn"?) and Bill Goldberg and said, "you guys are basically gonna kick the crap out of each other and we'll try to incorporate some kind of plot line into all the violence". Van Damme is at his usual acting worst in this picture, but surprisingly Michael Jai White and Bill Goldberg do an above par job of acting. The fight scenes are mesmerizing, particularly the flawlessly executed fight between Van Damme and Jai White. Goldberg has some pretty good fight scenes himself, and he even gets to incorporate some of his trade-mark wrestling moves. Van Damme proves that he is still at the top of his martial arts game, even though he is graying and getting older. Never-the-less, he is still a pleasure to watch in action, it's just his acting that makes you look at your watch couple of minutes when there is not action going on. The romance between Van Damme and the reporter is so contrived and shallow that it will make you nauseous, as will the whole sub-plot (if you can call it one) with Van Damme's daughter. But if you can look past a silly plot and horrible acting, you will find a great no holds-barred action movie that boasts some incredible fights and lots of explosions and gratuitous deaths. My only other complaint other than a lack of script and an over-abundance of bad acting is that the sets looked too cheap. They looked as they were borrowed from some straight-to-video movie set...hmmmmm? Anyway, I wouldn't pay $6.50 to see this, but I would recommend seeing it when it's at the cheapie theater.

A schlock-fest movie.

[Svenstadt · 2/10 · 13 July 2023]

The soundtrack was easily the most annoying part of this. Combine that with shoddy special effects and poor acting and this is terribly entertaining. The Asian woman, Kiana Tom, JCVD's partner in this, was one of the best acting jobs in this. Unfortunately, she gave up on acting after this. JCVD's acting in this was incredibly poor - you can tell he was having trouble with his accent. It felt like it zipped along super-fast and met with the predictable resolution. Nothing profound to explore. There was a part where JCVD looks at a Uni-sol writhing in pain as the scientists work on him, and it hints at making some sort of social statement but misses the opportunity. The director, a first-timer, never worked in Hollywood as director again, and rightfully so. The failure could be laid about 90 percent on his shoulders. Mindless, painful and dull action. If I was making a list of the 50 worst movies ever, this would have to be in it. So many performances in this were one-hit-wonder performances. I feel bad for all the actors and actresses who deserved better. They probably gave up acting after being demoralized by this trash! And I usually like JCVD movies, only when he gets the right roles. Michael Jai White did a good but overdone performance as the baddie.