Universal Soldier: Regeneration

Plot synopsis:
A group of terrorists led by Commander Topov (Zahari Baharov) kidnap the Ukrainian prime minister's son and daughter and hold them hostage, demanding the release of their imprisoned comrades within 72 hours. In addition, they have taken over the crippled Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and threaten to detonate it if their demands are not met. It is revealed that among the ranks of the terrorists is an experimental Next-Generation UniSol (NGU) (Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski), who was smuggled in by rogue scientist Dr. Robert Colin (Kerry Shale). U.S. forces join up with the Ukrainian army at the plant, but quickly retreat when the NGU slaughters most of them effortlessly. Dr. Richard Porter (Garry Cooper), Dr. Colin's former colleague on the Universal Soldier program, revives four UniSols to take down the NGU, but they are systematically eliminated.
Former UniSol Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who is undergoing rehabilitation therapy in Switzerland with Dr. Sandra Fleming (Emily Joyce) with the goal of rejoining society, is taken back by the military to participate in the mission. As the deadline nears its expiration, the prime minister announces the release of the prisoners. The terrorists, having gotten what they wanted, rejoice and shut off the bomb. Dr. Colin, however, is not pleased with the outcome, as he feels his side of the business is not done. As the NGU is programmed not to harm the terrorists, Dr. Colin unleashes his second UniSol: a cloned and upgraded version of Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) - Deveraux's nemesis - who quickly kills Commander Topov. However, Dr. Colin never considered Scott's mental instability, and he is killed by his own creation. Scott then reactivates the bomb before heading out to hunt the children.
In the midst of the chaos, Capt. Kevin Burke (Mike Pyle) is sent in to infiltrate the plant and rescue the prime minister's children. He is successful in locating them and leads them toward safety. On their way out, they encounter the NGU. The children flee as Burke tries in vain to hold off the NGU, who stabs him to death after a brutal fight.
With 30 minutes remaining on the bomb's timer, a re-conditioned Deveraux is geared up and sent to the plant, where he kills every terrorist he encounters. He searches the buildings and finds the children cornered by Scott. Scott, who has distorted memories of Deveraux, is about to kill the children when Deveraux attacks and a grueling fight ensues. In the end, Deveraux impales Scott on the forehead with a lead pipe and fires a shotgun through it, blowing his brains out.
As Deveraux escorts the children to safety, they are attacked by the NGU. Deveraux and the NGU take the fight to the site of the bomb, with less than two minutes remaining. During the melee, Deveraux removes the detonator and jams it in the back of the NGU's uniform as they both jump out of the reactor chamber. NGU pulls the detonator off his back as it explodes, taking him with it. U.S. soldiers quickly arrive on the scene and tend to the children as Deveraux leaves. Burke's body is placed in a black bag and taken away, as well as recovered pieces of the NGU.
In Langley, Virginia, Burke's body is shown stored in a cryogenic chamber as a new UniSol, along with multiple clones made of him.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence, cult, good versus evil, action, revenge

Review:
From the moment the movie starts, the action never lets up until the very end.The story is brief: The Russian Prime Minister's children get kidnapped by terrorists looking to extradite prisoners in exchange, to make things serious they plan to detonate a nuclear plant in Chernobyl.
Amazingly enough I went into this movie thinking it would be complete crap because of JCVD and Dolph "I can't act" Ludgren, but it was much better than a lot of other action movies, including Terminator: Salvation.A lot of people might be hesitant because of the conflicting reviews, but ignore the whole "This is bad because it has Jean Claude in it..." stigma and you might be as surprised as I was after watching it.
This film is not really about the aging action heroes but rather, they play a part in the outcome of things, very similar to Snipe's role in Blade 2.As for quality...the movie is shot to look like the Bourne Identity and even has a cool chase scene like it, too.
Whether we're talking the television universe movies or the Van Damme universe ones they are dumb action flicks with a mediocre concept which they don't even manage to capitalize on.Here we have Van Damme returning again as Luc who is being forced to return to the field for one last mission and yadadadadada.Cue generic fight scenes, gunfire, explosions and a plot so thin a fart would tear it.One for fans of the franchise and those who enjoy take your brain out paint by numbers action tosh.The Good:Emily JoyceThe Bad:Lungrens presence felt a bit pointlessIt's all so very genericThings I Learnt From This Movie:Lungren must have had more lawyer fees to pay.
Hyams made his feature length film in 1997 when wrote, directed, and produced the critically acclaimed "One Dog Day," , he subsequently filmed this ¨Universal Soldier: Regeneration¨ and ¨Dragon Eyes¨ , in which displayed an acute understanding of the action genre .-Series : 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 ; it was followed by ¨Universal soldier : the return¨ with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Michael Jai White , Heidi Schanz , Xander Berkeley and Justin Lazard as subsequent 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 .
¨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 .
I have a confession to make – I have never seen a Universal Soldier film, not in its entirety anyway, nor even the original way back in 1992 when it starred Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as these programmed super soldiers who are impervious to pain, and a small troupe can take out battalions of a conventional army.
The response of course is for the coalition to send in their own Uni-Sols, which are painfully outdated and obsolete when faced with the NGJ, so all hopes rest on one man, Jean Claude Van Damme, erm, his Luc Deveraux that is.Director John Hyams keeps it tight and relevant here by creating a film that doesn't try too much fanciful stuff.
Also Dolph Lundgren makes a welcome special appearance as Luc's ex-captain Andrew Scott, who we last saw way back in the first movie Universal Soldier.A new talent is seen in this film: MMA fighter Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski and this guy has some really awesome moves which we see early on in the film and this also showcases the level of action we are going be seeing.Plot: A group of terrorists led by General Boris (Aki Avni) kidnap the Russian prime minister's son and daughter and hold them hostage, demanding the release of their comrades within 72 hours.
I was really interested in watching Universal Soldier: Regeneration.I found the original Universal Soldier, from 1992, to be very entertaining, and with the precise combination of honesty and excess to show it did not take very seriously to itself and that it was not going to stop at anything in order to bring us a good time.Besides, I always though its primary function was to validate the careers from Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, who back in that time, seemed destined to become into immortal heroes from the action genre.Now, 18 years later, we see that that did not happen, because both actors (or athletes?) have been for a long time trapped in the niche of straight-to-DVD action cinema.And even though they occasionally appear in good movies (JCVD; Direct Contact), I think they have never had the chance of resurrecting the fame Universal Soldier brought to them.Before watching Universal Soldier: Regeneration, I did not know whether their it was going to be a good film or a desperate strategy in order to exploit Van Damme's and Lundgren's fans.The answer was fortunately the first one, and even though it is not a very memorable film experience and it is not at the same level of the original film, it shows Van Damme and Lundgren on a good shape and it is entertaining.By the way, I think this is the most proper moment to say that Universal Soldier: Regeneration ignores the mediocre sequels of the original film made in the 90's...and I will do the same, because I found those films to be absolutely mediocre and mercenary.Even though the strongest point from Universal Soldier: Regeneration is the new confrontation between Van Damme and Lundgren, I took a good impression with the presence of Andrei Arlovski, an expert in "sambo" and worldwide champion of Ultimate Fighting.I will not say he is a good actor, because his character does not bring too much material to act; but he shows an incredible physical presence and enough charisma.As for Van Damme and Lundgren, their confrontation left me satisfied despite the fact it is too short.And I also liked the realistic way in which the action scenes were filmed.So, it may not be an excellent movie, but Universal Soldier: Regeneration is a dynamic and entertaining action film.And I think that is enough reason to recommend it..
So finally it happens, the original Universal Soldiers JCVD and Dolph Lundgren return to reprise their roles as Luc Devrau and Andrew Scott in what can only be described as an explosive action-packed extravaganza!
"Universal Soldier: Regeneration" is a great action movie and is in many ways just as good if not better than the original 1992 "Universal Soldier" film.
I would like to suggest everyone to watch it and then decide about the movie being worth your time and money.The Plot is bit different in this movie, Its shot in Russia or some East European country were some Kids of High official are Kidnapped by some renegade group having technology and money to revive Universal Solder program for their devious conspiracy, and how US with Russia revives their own Universal Solder Program, Rest of the plot I would leave it to the viewers to find out!One thing I can assure the movie lovers is that even if you don't like JCVD or action flicks this movie will not disappoint you, as it involves relationship, emotions and thrill!I would suggest watch it to realize that this movie is not at all bad, as suggested by some viewers!So in the end I would say go and enjoy!
Oh my God!!Where do i begin.I've just seen this turd last night and I'm in shock.What happened to JCVD??He looks tired and ill.Why did Dolph Lundgren sign up for this mess??Andrew Scott was the light of the party in the first movie,he had great lines and a strong presence he practically erased JCVD's character Luc Deveraux.
The sets were extremely cheap and the story made no sense whatsoever.Until this instant i don't understand why this was called universal soldier.This looks like it was directed by ED WOOD or something,the action is very poor and after a while gets too repetitive.I was expecting something in terms of a plot similar to the first flick,i was waiting to see JCVC and DOLPH working together and later watching Dolph's character go crazy again and killing the entire platoon.That didn't happen and instead we see a pointless fight between the two of them.On top of that Dolph practically makes a CAMEO.
At long last, Jean- Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren have re-teamed for Universal Soldier: Regeneration; yet another sequel to their 1992 hit.
Eventually, when things get desperate, the government recruits Luc Deveraux (Van Damme); one of the originals of the 'UniSol' program.Universal Soldier: Regeneration was written by Victor Ostrovsky and helmed by newcomer John Hyams.
The latest reincarnation of the "Universal Soldier" saga gives fans plenty of reasons to cheer the return of Jean-Claude Van Damme in an action genre movie that allows him to flex his acting muscle.
that's the only thing i can't get my head around although it is a bloody good film that has a lot of action/fight scenes and some cool music to go with it not to mention JCVD making a comeback to the franchise and really want to see him in these type of movies because i do like the early stuff like Bloodsport, A.W.O.L and Black Eagle so all in all a good film with a good plot.
The gun battles are extremely satisfying (especially the sound effects), the hand-to-hand combat is brutal and in places quite creative, and some of the sequences are amongst the best I've seen from straight to DVD action.A few scenes stuck out as particularly well done: A sequence with Van Damme entering a building and systematically taking out the terrorists with only his knife was excellent.
Not to mention they looked too old for this movie.Watch this if you are bored and have never seen the first Universal Soldier and you would probably enjoy this like those who give this a good rating..
Plot sucks (very week, probably was created in a 5 minute brainstorm meeting, like: 'shall we try to squeeze out a little extra by making the third part?' - 'Yeah, sure, just make sure budget doesn't go over 1 million USD' - 'okay'), acting is awful if there's any (random people from the street could have been better), no special effect...but the worst of all: no more good fight scenes, no more Van Damme moves.
But all is not well in the terrorist camp as well and after some internal power scuffle, Dr Colins reveals a second UniSol: the reanimated Andrew Scott, Luc's nemesis.Despite budget limitations, Universal Soldier: Regeneration manages to look just as good as any Hollywood blockbuster thanks to the masterful directing of John Hyams and the cinematography of his father, Peter Hyams.
A small flashback or so would have made Luc and Andrew's rivalry a lot more believable but other than a small exposition narration that details what a universal soldier is, anyone who has never watched the original movie would only see Dolph Lundgren's character as just another powerful foe for Jean Claude Van Damme to bust out his moves on Universal Soldier had potential to delve in to deeper issues but never even tries to tap into that.
Human drama is at a minimum as the production favors pushing the action to the next adrenaline pumping gun fight over exploring more thought provoking themes about the human condition and the nature of combat.The franchise of Universal Soldier has been in a runt following disappointing direct-to-video sequels and a terrible "official" feature film sequel.
of course you understand it more as you mature which made it all the more awesome.i have to admit i was truly excited about this, especially after the trailer, but i was surprised to see it was a straight to DVD release.i loved it, it had the action, the story line was good, fight scenes amazing, great stunts, van damme has still got it, and it was nice to see dolph lundgren, but i was really hoping to see more from him, and it was kind of a let down to see how he died.
All in all it would have been nice with a bit more money spent on this film and maybe a few named actors as I do think this would have been a good chance at showing movie goers Mr JCVD can still make a good no brainer action movie, and I mean that in the best way as it's been a long time since I saw fight scenes this good..
What I got to watch instead was a straight up action movie that was far better than anyone would expect.Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren reprise their roles from 1992's Universal Soldier.
A long car chase ends when the getaway car reaches "da-choppa" – as Arnie would say – and off they go.The scene is perhaps 10 minutes, totally dialogue free and works very well.Promising so far.It turns out that the kidnappers are bad guy terrorists who have set up base camp in Chernobyl and are threatening to set off a bomb that will release all the pent-up radiation trapped since the 80s meltdown.(Now logic says that the threat of another nuclear meltdown would be enough to demand attention from the government and that kidnapping the kids of a dignitary is a little redundant and unnecessary; but if there is one thing that action movies have taught us over the years it is that you can't rescue a bomb.) The first Universal Soldier introduced the concept of super-soldiers created from reanimated corpses.
The punches and kicks seem to have real impact and there were a few blows that made the lips purse together in an "ow that musta hurt" way.All in all Universal Soldier: Regeneration is solid B movie "weekly-rental" fare, for guys aged 16 – 39 at least, the inclusions of Van Damme and a Lundgren cameo aren't likely to get you misty eyed but they don't hurt either, and the big Larry Unisol is legitimately fearsome and capable as the dead-eyed robotic bad guy.I had low expectations from the point I pressed play, this met all of them and exceeded a few.
Universal Soldier: Regeneration is a sequel to the previous Universal Soldier movies, i never saw Universal Soldier: The return, but according to some reviews, this is a HUGE improvement from the last movie.The violence is brutal and bloody, that's a good thing and it was a "surprise".The cinematography and the direction of John Hyams is superb (his father, Peter Hyams, directed Timecop, also starring JCVD).The tone of the movie is darker than the previous movies, also the plot is more "realistic" and "complicated".Jean Claude Van-Damme and Dolph Lundgren where better than ever and they delivered awesome fight sequences.Too bad that the main audience was too busy for get their pants wet for Terminator Salvation, this is better than any "sci-fi action" movie of the last 10 years..
Universal Soldier:Regeneration is a decent enough picture in a low expectations kind of way, in that the production values, action sequences, acting and story are far better than what you usually get from these movies.
"Universal Soldier: Regeneration" is the return of a well known franchise featuring 90's action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren come back on the big screen together for the first time since the 1992 original and it's been well worth the wait.Van Damme returns as "retired" Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux, who is struggling to adapt to life among humans, and is quickly brought to Boone Industries to help the military stop an Eastern European terrorist group from setting off a bomb in the disused Chernobyl power plant that will unleash a powerful radioactive cloud on the world.
Apart from the little mistake, its really very good, a lot of work went into this film and it does show.I loved seeing Dolph Lundgren back in the action, it is good to see him back in more films now, it was pretty spot on, not many words and a great fight scene between the two of them...However I would say this, I do think this is better than the first film, which is a hard act to follow, yeah I know its not the best in the world and I gave it a full score, however I do think its better then the 5 most of the other people on here have given it...My advice is rent it or buy it, keep it because you will want to watch it again, some pretty impressive stunts and fights are on the menu, if you like action, this film is for you..
When the first Universal Soldier (1992) film came out, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren were very much in their prime of popularity.
Camera-work and music aren't that good but Dolph Lundgren and Jean- Claude Van Damme are fun watch on screen again and the action is good too..
Fast, Loud and Fun. Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The third film in the series has a group of terrorists creating a updated, faster and stronger universal soldier so the government sends in Luc (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who must try to defeat them while also dealing with his old nemesis Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren).
Some quality action and impressive fight scenes makes of "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" a movie with good attributes, nice to be appreciated.
The fighting machine that in the end takes over Van Damme delivers some brutal violence, which pretty much reminds us of the last John Rambo movie.This last Universal Soldier sometimes even looks like an anti-action movie.
The 2009 sequel reunites original Universal Soldier stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren.