DVD Reviews

Universal Soldier: Regeneration - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Feb 2, 2010, 15:15 GMT

With stolen top-secret technology, terrorists have created a next-generation Universal Soldier - an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine. With this "UniSol" (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski) leading the way, they seize the crippled Chernobyl nuclear reactor, threatening to unleash a lethal radioactive cloud. The only one who can stop them is Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a UniSol who\'s been decommissioned for ...more

The third Universal Soldier film may benefit from the “it doesn’t suck as bad as I thought it would” factor.  The film was shot on the cheap using European settings, but it fits all that into the plot.  However, it feels like Van Damme and Lundgren are doing little more than cameos.  

General Boris (Aki Avni) has gone rogue and kidnapped the children of the Russian prime minister.  He’s holding them at the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power facility. He’s threatening to detonate some bombs around the facility that will kill the captives as well as spreading a nuclear waste cloud of debris.  He demands the release of some political prisoners to keep all of this from happening. 

General Boris has an ace up his sleeve since he has an advanced Universal Soldier (Andrei “The Pit-bull” Arlovski) since disgraced scientist Dr. Colin (Kerry Shale) was kicked out of the program, which would take the dead from the battlefield and revive them into mindless killing machines, and has gone to the highest bidder to peddle his services.

Dr. Porter (Garry Cooper) was responsible for getting rid of Colin, but he sends in his own team of UniSols and American troops to diffuse the situation.  Unfortunately, that troop is gotten the better of by the more advanced soldier under Colin’s control.  Porter knows that they need an advantage. 

They know that original soldier Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is under the care of Dr. Fleming (Emily Joyce) who is trying to rehabilitate him.  They requisition Deveraux to try and defeat the newer model. 

Dr. Colin also needed an advantage against General Boris, who insisted that he and his troops be made immune to the new UniSol attacking them, so he kept another UniSol on ice – a clone of Luc’s old enemy Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren).  When Scott is revived and activated all hell breaks loose and it’s up to Luc to save the day by defeating Scott and the more advanced UniSol.  

I didn’t have much hope when this disc crossed the old review desk.  Maybe it was with those lowered expectations going in, but by the time the credits rolled I thought that Universal Soldier: Regeneration wasn’t half bad.  Regeneration is at least much better than the second sequel. 

It’s great fun to see 80s icons Van Damme and Lundgren square off again.  However, everyone will note that many years have passed for both men and there are definite signs of age.  They still look to be in pretty good shape but you can see more lines on Lundgren’s face and Van Damme’s hair color doesn’t appear to be natural. 

Both men’s roles are not much better than glorified cameos as most of the action involves the new UniSol.  The plot seems a throwback to those 1980s films and perhaps the nostalgia seeped in as well. 

At least Regeneration embraces its European settings instead of the usual annoyance of casting Romania (or the like) as the United States, so kudos to the production for that.  There’s also an interesting turn in the dynamic of the Van Damme/Lundgren relationship. 

They’re still enemies but Lundgren is the one that has some memory of his humanity and Van Damme the seemingly soulless killing machine.  Not that Scott’s humanity isn’t more akin to a serial killer psychopath.  If you’re into old school action flicks, Regeneration is a pleasant blast from the past.  It’s better than I imagined it would be.  

Universal Soldier Regeneration is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1).  Of course that higher definition may be why I noticed how much older our stars are.  Special features include a commentary with director John Hyams and Dolph Lundgren and the 18 minute high-def making of “Behind the Lines.”

The disc is also BD-Live enhanced, features Sony’s MovieIQ trivia, and previews for other Sony discs.  

Universal Soldier Regeneration benefits from the return of both Van Damme and Lundgren (though seeing more of them would’ve been nice).  It takes what could’ve been a lemon and makes some lemonade.  If you don’t judge it too harshly you might find yourself reliving a small slice of 80s action flick.

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