Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

This second sequel to "Universal Soldier" starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren is a made for TV movie starring Matt Battaglia and Burt Reynolds (using an Irish accent) that was made side by side with its prequel "Universal Soldier 2: Brothers In Arms" with the aim of leading to a TV show (that never happened) Matt Battaglia continues in the Van Damme role and likewise Chandra West in the Ally Walker role.Burt has a lot more to do this time around, which automatically raises the quality of this instalment, although there is still an over use of slow motion. There are some impressive is set pieces and well directed action scenes however a bit of dodgy acting in certain quarters ruin what could have been an average TV movie. I think had he been able to anticipate the success of "Boogie Nights" and his subsequent Oscar nomination for his performance, he may have been a bit more picky about what roles he was taking, and bided his time waiting for a quality script to keep the momentum of his comeback going. However his ongoing financial worries at this time, probably dictated he grabbed what ever work was offered to him as he made seven movies in both 1997 and 1999.

This movie is a direct sequel to the second Universal Soldier movie, and makes no sense alone. Here, we get to know a bit more about things we were so extremely excited to know (yeah, right), for example who the leader of the bad guys is. The story becomes a bit more interesting than in the previous movie, and because of that I think it's a better one. The action is also better (although it still sucked). Battaglia does the same job all over again, Jeff Wincott should just forget that he ever took part in this, and Burt Reynolds (!!!, yes, Burt is in fact in this one. How low can you get) has just gone down the drain. This is not a great movie at all, but it can't be used as a torture device like it's prequel.

Having escaped from the Universal Soldier HQ (see Universal Soldier 2: Brothers in Arms), Luc Devreaux (Battaglia) and Veronica (Chandra West) set out to expose the sinister plot whilst evading capture by fleeing to Canada. Meanwhile the Mentor (Reynolds) has plans to use the unit to steal US gold and a new stage in the units evolution begins as a foetus in a test tube has it's growth accelerated to produce the first organic soldier."It can't happen again" exclaims one of the characters during the film, "It's only temporary" says Burt Reynolds at another stage. Unfortunately it is happening again and believe me it doesn't feel like it's temporary at all. This follows on from the "success" of the first sequel and makes all the same mistakes as the first.The plot is convoluted but still manages to be lame. The essence is the same as US:2 in that the two heroes follow clues whilst avoiding shootouts etc. The bit about stealing gold is just an excuse for more shooting while the whole breeding a soldier thing doesn't make sense - the fully grown man is Eric (Jeff Wincott), Luc's brother who died in US2. If he was grown from a test-tube, how does he have memories? If it really is Eric then how is he brought back as a foetus? Again it's only an excuse to have a brother:brother stand off at some point. Given that the whole thing is a CIA conspiracy then this should have a more shadowy feel to like - a touch of the X-files perhaps? But it doesn't go down that road at all. Some bits are just plain insulting - Luc and Veronica go to Canada to escape and to get Veronica's ex to help them. They meet up at a party which immediately gets taken over by terrorists, who force Veronica to read their demands live on TV to hide their identity. Once Luc kills the terrorists on TV, everyone knows where they are and the chase is on again. Oh and the three terrorists are brought back as soldiers. No reason why or how. This and other things are so badly thought out that it's just stupid. Which just leaves the action...which is dull.All shoot outs are the same, with no real action or tension. Witness Luc and Veronica escaping down a corridor 'pursued' by 2 soldiers firing automatic weapons - yet both parties are walking slowly rather than running. This is the same all the way through. To make it worse all the shoot outs are unnecessarily brutal - a stealth robbery begins by blasting anyone in sight and a convert operation on a hospital by the soldiers begins by....you guessed it... by blasting nurses etc. Excitement is not measured in body-count, yet unfortunately the director uses this violence to stand in for decent action scenes and drama. In US2 the action was boring and here they haven't made any improvements at all - it's a wasted action movie.The performances are really the final nail in the coffin. The only good performance is Claudette Roche as the terrorist leader Grace - she's dangerous in a foxy way and she quite sexy! She is good until she's brought back as GR83 with a terrible haircut replacing her once beautiful locks and then gives a very robotic performance. Battaglia is even more wooden here than in the last movie - it's like he trying hard and you can 'see' him act, making him very unconvincing and very, very wooden. He has to deliver several Bruce Willis style one-liners and they are terrible, he has all the charisma of a bookcase and you do wish Jean Claude Van Damme could have been booked. West is so-so but doesn't really bring anything to the role again. The standout performance is Burt Reynolds! Why does a man make Boogie Nights and this rubbish at around the same time? Here he gives the worst Irish accent I've ever heard - I know lots of actors get accused of this (Pitt in The Devil's Own, Gere in The Jackal) but trust me those sound like Bob Geldoff himself compared to this. It's almost worth watching 10 minutes of the film just to hear it. I thought he should have gotten more awards for his role in Boogie Nights, after US2&3 I realise that that was just an one-off from a has-been rather than a slightly better than usual performance. Sad to see how low he's gone.The same visual tricks are used here as in US2 - slow-mo, jump-cuts etc and again they fail to add any interest in this junk. In fact the only bit in the film that made me sit up, my palms sweat and my heart beat increase was the ending that left it open for another TV sequel. NOOOOOOOOO!If you can't find something better to do with 90 minutes of your life than this then perhaps you need to sit down and work out where you're going wrong.

Where to begin. The story is fine, the acting is pure, even when Luc is supposed to be human he is worse than Star Trek DATA, and it this really Universal Soler III or IIb? As you can tell, this spinoff of the series is messed up. The acting would be solved if they had meant money on Van Damme (to go with Gary Busey, Burt Renolds, and a Bill clinton voice impersonator). Unfortunately they dont, and this "high tech" looking TV-seried (parts one and two) finds the need to recreate the end of Universal Solder I and then erroniously place the date as 1998 not 1992. Berronlia and West are merely Canadian versions of the Universal Soldier I characters and it shows. Like other movies (aka The Jessee Ventura story) the Canadians come off as fake and crude (especially in the Canadian business scene). Anyway not to bash on Canadians as the movie does have one of the funniest lines I can remember.Burt Reynolds: "General Clancy, I need a favor."Clancy: "Whats that sir?"Reynolds: "I need you to die. Don't Worry its only temporary."Hopefully this teo part blip and Burt Reynolds fakish Scotch Irish accent are only temporary.