Universal Soldier – Regeneration (2009/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: C- Film: C-
The first
Universal Soldier back in 1992 (see
link below) was not the greatest film in the world, but it had some appeal in
its idea and in the absence of better action films, a following grew around
it. Now, four sequels later, original
leads Dolph Lundgren (surviving well on independent productions) and
Jean-Claude Van Damme (whose career is in trouble) are finally reunited 17
years later in John Hyams’ Universal
Soldier – Regeneration (2009) and the results are flat.
For one
thing, a new deadly killer soldier is introduced, as played by real-life
extreme mixed-martial arts fighter Andrei Arlovski (aka The Pitbull), but this
is actually good casting and he places well into being very believable as a
next-generation killer from this mad experiment. Then there is Van Damme, the only link to the
first sequel in 1999; his last high profile release of any note. He seems out of his element here and does not
have enough scenes with Lundgren, who is very much in his element.
The twist
is that terrorists (they can do anything
these days) have stolen the means of creating said soldiers and only Van Damme
can stop them. OK.
To the
productions credit, there are some good action sequences thanks to Hyams’
ambitious approach and the influence of his father Peter Hyams (who does all
the camerawork here) who has a history of top rate action films. But all are undone by a sequel reuniting the
leads too many years too late and a formulaic screenplay by newcomer Victor
Ostrovsky, who does not get the Cold War legacy of the original storyline or
can come up with anything new. At least
this is R-rated, so expect violence that makes sense to the plot. Too bad there is not much of a story.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot (as noted above) by Director of
Photography Peter Hyams on the new 4K Red One High Definition camera. Hyams also used this on his recent remake of Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) and comes up with somewhat better results here. However, there is still too much motion blur
and the gutted color look is tiresome, but this is better than what Hyams
produced visually on his own film.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is the default highlight of the film
with some good sonic moments, but there are also points where the sound is too
compressed, uninspiring and limited in soundfield. When it works, it works well and the Kris
Hill/Michael Krassner score is fairly good, but not very distinctive.
Extras
include movieIQ and BD Live interactive functions exclusive to the Blu-ray
edition, plus a decent feature length audio commentary by Director John Hyams
and Lundgren, who has also been directing his own projects of late. As you listen, you realize a better film was
here somewhere. Too bad we did not get
it.
For more
on the original 1992 film, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7738/Universal+Soldier+(1992/Lionsgate+Bl
For our
cover of Hyams’ bull riding documentary Rank,
try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5204/Rank+(2006/Documentary/Bullriding)
- Nicholas Sheffo
