Excellent but underrated film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"Universal Soldier" is one of those films that shouldn't have any kind of sequels, unless if they were made by Roland Emmerich and after two or three years of gap between the movies. No, if my memory doesn't betray me there's was one in the 1990's with no one from the original cast (?) perhaps it was the way it was translated here to look like a sequel when it wasn't; other in 1999 with Van Damme, very forgettable; and then this one in 2007, bringing back Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. Of all the following episodes this was the one that worked better despite all the absurd and the weak plot. It's completely watchable, a guilty pleasure so to speak.The plot concerns about a terrorist group that kidnapped the sons of a political authority in Russia and they also invaded Chernobyl with the purpose of blowing the plant if their demands won't be followed. Best of all of this is that the terrorists have a trained little army of indestructible soldiers that don't feel pain, lethal machines whose mission is to destroy the enemy. Among them there's the clone of Andrew Scott (Lundgren) that doesn't seem to obey even their "new creators". The other side reprogrammed Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) to help them in this mission but he has problems of his own, since he's not the same fighter he was years ago. Some quality action and impressive fight scenes makes of "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" a movie with good attributes, nice to be appreciated. However, the most awaited part of it is quite embarrassing if not disappointing. Five minutes of screen time and that's it the fight between Deveraux and Scott and it's not exciting, awesome or fun to see; the conclusion of it was funny though, to let people wondering what just happened. If you manage to overlook the slippings and trippings of the plot (blowing the thing or not they all are gonna die, I mean they're on Chernobyl for crying out loud! Highly contaminated!!!) it can be quite a good way to spend the day. For the most part and I believe this is quite unanimous you'll be saying that the first film was the best ever and this is just a poor sequel. 6/10

Universal Soldier: Regeneration is set in Russia & starts as the son & daughter of President Musayev (Stanislav Pishtalov) are kidnapped in the city streets, they are flown by helicopter to the abandoned town surrounding Chernobyl which Commander Topov (Zahary Baharov) & his army of freedom fighters have taken control of. Topov's men have rigged explosives up to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor which will go off & cause a massive nuclear explosion in seventy two hours unless his demands are met. The US military are called in because former member of the Unisol program Dr. Robert Colin is helping Topov having created an even superior version of the original Unisol, all attempts at disarming the bomb & rescuing Musayev's children fail so former Unisol Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is forced out of retirement to take on the mission that could save millions of lives but will have to defeat other Unisol's such as himself...Also known under the working titles Univseral Soldier: A New Beginning & Universal Soldier: The Next Generation this was directed by John Hyams who apparently replaced Simon Fellows who had been signed to direct & is the second proper sequel to the original Universal Soldier (1992) in which it could be argued that both JCVD & Dolph Lundgren were at the peak of their stardom with both slipping into low budget straight to video obscurity over the past few years. While Universal Soldier: Regeneration didn't blow me away & probably isn't as fun as the original I thought it was perfectly watchable with lots of violent action, the main stars of the original returning & a decent enough plot. The first thing to say is that despite featuring both JCVD & Dolph Lundgren as Unisol's there's nothing here that relates to the previous films, when they eventually meet at the end neither JCVD or Lundgren recognise each other & it's never explained why Lundgren is alive or how he is alive or why he goes insane & despite being a normal guy in Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) here JCVD is depressed & undergoing therapy! To be honest neither JCVD or Lundgren are in it that much, Lundgren in particularly feels like an afterthought & never feels like part of the story. The usual genetic experiments & super soldiers nonsense is branded about but none of it really captures the imagination & it's left to the violent action set-pieces to entertain. Everything about Universal Soldier: Regeneration is good but nothing about it is brilliant, it's just a watchable sci-fi action thriller that is more interested in violent action than the sci-fi aspects.Shot with muted colours Universal Soldier: Regeneration looks a bit dreary & overcast which was probably intentional. There's plenty of violence, there's lots of gory shootings, stabbings, guttings, slit throats & a greats end-off for one of the villains as they literally have the back of their head blown off with a shotgun. A lot of the violence is swift & quite sadistic too, the fight scenes are good as well although I was surprised the fight between JCVD & Lundgren wasn't saved for the films climax. Well made the opening sequence is very promising with two children being abducted, a cool car chase & lots of casualties later Universal Soldier: Regeneration is off to a good start which it can't quite live up to. A lack of any noticeable CGI computer effects work also helps, this is real stunt-work with real stunt-men & real fake blood (if that makes sense!).With a supposed budget of about $14,000,000 the production values are good & it's well made if a little bland looking. Filmed in Bulgaria, at least this time the makers weren't trying to pass Bulgaria off as the US. The acting is alright as far as I expected, JCVD is still rather wooden although Lundgren gets a few decent lines & manages to add a little menace to his character.Universal Soldier: Regeneration is a decent enough action film, it hasn't got much in common with the other Universal Soldier films but has enough blood, gore, violence, explosions & action to make this a worth watching. Another sequel' Universal Soldier: A New Dimension (2011) is currently in production.

Watched this on TV, not expecting very much at all, but I don't recall seeing the first or any subsequent sequels, if that made a difference? The plot has been described in other reviews, so I won't repeat it. The direction was great, especially the set-piece opening sequence. I imagine it was achieved on a much smaller budget than the blockbuster movies, so much credit to Peter Hyams the director. The editing and cinematography was also excellent, created mood and atmosphere and kept the action ripping along. Never once was I bored during this movie.Arlovsky was a powerful screen presence right from the first scene. He played a "neo-Arnie silent pseudo-cyborg" character, similar to that which Arnie launched his career with in The Terminator. I don't know if Arlovsky will continue acting, but after recent losses in the octagon, it's worth consideration. He has more presence than a mere heavy and personifies the cold, ruthless, Russian killer character effortlessly. He showed us as much as Arnie did in The Terminator, so who knows? I was especially impressed by Mike Pyle, another MMA fighter, acting as Capt Kevin Burke. I have to admit, although I knew the name from watching MMA, I wasn't sure of what he looked like. Half-way through the film, I couldn't decide if the Burke character was played by a "proper" actor, or an MMA "plant". His acting was very naturalistic and he definitely has a career in action films and character actor roles outside of fighting.I think both MMA actors did themselves much credit in this film and blew away Dolph Lundgren - and he has made a career out of action movies! (That is intended as a compliment guys, although many may not see it as such!) In the end, the film is what it is: characters are two-dimensional, dialogue a bit cheesy, the storyline predictable. But it delivers what it sets out to do at a classy, stylish, visually interesting pace, such that you will probably be prepared to overlook these shortcomings, sit back and just enjoy the film.If the DVD has any decent extras, I'll definitely search it out and add it to my collection.

As a fan of the first film in 1992 i'm very disappointed by what i've seen tonight. My expectations was to see a high octane blockbuster filled with high flying acrobatics, crazy martial arts, a couple catchphrases and good storytelling. Sadly none of those 5 points met my requirements. I don't want this to sound like a rant, it is what it is:There was no character development or back story to follow, that alone killed my enthusiasm. In terms of the fight sequences i didn't appreciate the whole UFC MMA style that Andrei Arlovski brought to the table. Seemed to played out, like when former WWF wrestler The Rock was in The Scorpion King and performed his finishing moves on various Egyptians. Another real let down was the plot (something about teens taken hostage, a nuclear reactor and super soldier's awakening from their slumber). The director's thought process seemed to be all over the place! The saddest part was the moment of the final showdown between Jean-Claude Van Damme VS Dolph Lundgren. Not only was the fight itself sloppy, the choreography tried to encompass everything into 1 package - which clearly doesn't always work out as seen in this movie. Even the composer's score was messed up in places; with sound effects that didn't match the suspense factor of certain scenes.A Summary You Ask?: low budget, don't believe the hype, nothing worth re-watching mostly pushing fast forward until i see gunshots, was good to see the two legends face to face after 17 years since their first battle but it didn't deliver. And with another sequel in the works? It doesn't look good for either actor.