Universal Soldier

R

Released Jul 10, 1992

1 hr. 44 min.

Sci-Fi

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34%

35 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

During the Vietnam War, soldier Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) finds that his superior officer, Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), has turned violently deranged, and the two fight to the death. After their bodies are retrieved, they are placed into a secret program in which they are reanimated and trained to become unquestioning killing machines. While Devereaux and Scott initially have no memory of their former lives, glimpses of their pasts start to return, rekindling their intense conflict.

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Critics Consensus

Universal Soldier unites a pair of veteran action stars behind a potentially intriguing premise, but on this battlefield, entertainment value is largely AWOL.

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Jason R

worth a watch, action packed with a good cast

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/20/24

Full Review

William D

Great movie. Everyone should watch this one and the first sequel ignore the rest of the movies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/22/23

Full Review

Jacob B

A passable first effort for Roland Emmerich's journey into Hollywood predating his breakthrough hits Stargate and Independence Day, Universal Soldier knows exactly what it is: a guilty pleasure. The acting isn't great, the plot finds itself struggling to avoid Terminator 2 comparisons and the action, while not bad, hardly reaches the epic scale of Emmerich's disaster films or even that of The Patriot, which is still his best film to date. But still, the premise is interesting, Dolph Lundgren appears to be getting a kick out of playing the villain, there are a few funny moments and I do think this had the potential to provoke some thoughts. I think it would've been even more thought-provoking had they kept the ending that was originally filmed which was more explicitly bittersweet than what was in the final film. But that's not the ending this film canonically has now, is it? Universal Soldier: a bit naïve to treat it as just a ripoff of the likes of Robocop or Terminator 2 but hardly reaches the same heights as those films. At the very least, it's, alongside 2012, one of Roland Emmerich's more watchable films that isn't Independence Day or The Patriot. Would definitely choose this one over White House Down.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/09/23

Full Review

ronald m

Its not the deepest movie, but is a good action movie. I don't know how well it holds up after all this time but I enjoyed it a lot when I was a kid.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Lukas S

"Independence Day" Director Rolland Emmerich's American debut, its a supercharged action packed ride that doesn't disappoint and clearly still one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best films

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/13/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Explosions and gunshots is the best way to describe...story pretty rubbish but Lundgren and JCVD make it entertaining.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Roland Emmerich

Director

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Luc Deveraux

Dolph Lundgren

Andrew Scott (GR13)

Ally Walker

Veronica Roberts

Ed O'Ross

Col. Perry

Jerry Orbach

Dr. Christopher Gregor

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Universal Soldier: Trailer 1

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Both Van Damme and Lundgren are about as interesting as soup cans, so the main appeal of the picture is waiting for these soup cans to puncture or flatten each other in ever more horrific ways.

Rated: 2/4

May 26, 2022

Full Review

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

This thick-headed item is miraculously well put together.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 13, 2017

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: D+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...an irresistibly broad setup that's employed to expectedly (and appropriately) larger-than-life effect by Emmerich...

Rated: 3/4

Apr 11, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Fortunately, the characters all behave seriously, frequently stifling any hint of empathy - but their dialogue and actions scream of silliness.

Rated: 6/10

Sep 25, 2020

Full Review

Leigh Paatsch

Herald Sun (Australia)

All brawn, no brains, but grows on you if you can prefer your action in one big, dumb hulking slab of alpha-male aggression.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jul 20, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

During the Vietnam War, soldier Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) finds that his superior officer, Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), has turned violently deranged, and the two fight to the death. After their bodies are retrieved, they are placed into a secret program in which they are reanimated and trained to become unquestioning killing machines. While Devereaux and Scott initially have no memory of their former lives, glimpses of their pasts start to return, rekindling their intense conflict.

Director: Roland Emmerich
Executive Producer: Mario Kassar
Screenwriter: Richard David Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, Dean Devlin
Distributor: TriStar Pictures
Production Co: Centropolis Film Productions, IndieProd, Carolco Pictures Inc.
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 1992, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $35.4M
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, CDS

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