Review of Universal Soldier (1992) by Cal ( — 03 Dec 2007

Strictly no-brainer action flick marks the first success for director Roland Emmerich, and like most American action flicks it's thin on plot, but there is no shortage of action and just plain mayhem.

Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Sergeant Andrew Scott (Lundgren) are American soldiers who were killed in Vietnam. Scott went crazy and killed all the men in his platoon, including Deveraux. Listed as MIA and shipped back to America, the corpses are then entered into a top secret government program that selects certain corpses of soldiers to be brought back to life as Universal Soldiers: emotionless, strong and calculating.

In short: the perfect killing machine. After a hostage situation, during which the Universal Soldiers save the day, Scott and Deveraux start gaining some of their memory back. Deveraux just wants to go home, whereas Scott believes he is still in Vietnam and must persecute traitors.

There are a lot of spectacular stunts, big bangs and carnage, but it's very dumb and most of the performances are cardboard. A textbook example of one of the last true 80s style action flicks. 'Universal Soldier' is entertaining, loud and destructive.

Makes for a great night out at the movies.