Universal Soldier (film series)
Universal Soldier is a series of science fiction action films. The franchise began in 1992 with Universal Soldier and as of 2012 comprises six entries (some of which are now considered non-canon).[1][2] The films centered on the character of Luc Deveraux (played first by Jean-Claude Van Damme and then by Matt Battaglia) until Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which focuses on a new protagonist named John (played by Scott Adkins).
| Universal Soldier | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical posters of the Universal Soldier films starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. | |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
|
| Television film(s) | |
| Direct-to-video | |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | Universal Soldier (1992) |
Film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz stated that the Universal Soldier franchise "is a rare series that takes more creative risks as it goes along."[3]
Films
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Producer(s) | Screenwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Soldier | July 10, 1992 | Roland Emmerich | Mario Kassar, Allen Shapiro | Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, Dean Devlin |
| Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms | September 27, 1998 | Jeff Woolnough | Robert Wertheimer | Peter M. Lenkov |
| Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business | October 24, 1998 | Jeff Woolnough | Robert Wertheimer | Peter M. Lenkov |
| Universal Soldier: The Return | August 20, 1999 | Mic Rodgers | Daniel Melnick, Michael I. Rachmil, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Allen Shapiro | William Malone, John Fasano |
| Universal Soldier: Regeneration | February 2, 2010 | John Hyams | Craig Baumgarten, Mark Damon, Moshe Diamant, Courtney Solomon | Victor Ostrovsky |
| Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning | October 25, 2012 | John Hyams | Craig Baumgarten, Moshe Diamant, Allen Shapiro, Courtney Solomon | John Hyams, Doug Magnuson, and Jon Greenlagh |
Universal Soldier (1992)
Directed by Roland Emmerich, written by Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, and Dean Devlin. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Ally Walker.
In the first installment of the franchise, American soldier Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) finds that his superior officer, Andrew Scott (Lundgren), has turned violently deranged, and the two fight to the death during the Vietnam War. After their bodies are retrieved, they are placed into a secret program in which they are reanimated as superhuman agents 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.
Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms (1998)
After the original film was released, Carolco, the production company that backed the film, went bankrupt and sold the rights of the series to Skyvision Entertainment, located in Toronto, in 1995.[4] As a result, two TV films were released direct-to-video starring Matt Battaglia as Luc Deveraux and Chandra West as Veronica Roberts in Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business. The films were produced for Showtime / The Movie Channel as a miniseries meant as a backdoor pilot for a series.
Directed by Jeff Woolnough, written by Peter M. Lenkov. Starring Matt Battaglia, Chandra West, and Gary Busey.
This direct-to-video sequel takes place exactly after the events of the original Universal Soldier. Following the terrible events of the original Universal Soldier testing, the budget has been slashed by the government; however, under the orders of a CIA director, a gang of mercenaries take control of the new line of Universal Soldiers and try to use them into helping to smuggle diamonds to the highest foreign buyer. Meanwhile, Luc Deveraux (Matt Battaglia) and Veronica Roberts (Chandra West) are in hiding on his parents’ farm. The UniSol controllers then activate a homing beacon embedded inside Deveraux's body that makes him return to the UniSol base in Chicago where his memory is reprogrammed. Veronica follows and while sneaking into the UniSol lab to rescue Luc, she discovers that his older brother Eric, a deceased soldier from Vietnam, has also been resurrected.
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (1998)
Directed by Jeff Woolnough, written by Peter M. Lenkov. Starring Matt Battaglia, Chandra West, Jeff Wincott, and Burt Reynolds.
Luc Devereaux (Battaglia) and Veronica Roberts (Chandra West) continue their attempts to expose the Universal Soldier unit. After a hostage situation mistakenly leaves Veronica a fugitive, the two escape the city and go into hiding. Meanwhile, CIA Deputy Director Mentor (Burt Reynolds) and Dr. Walker are in the process of creating a powerful UniSol clone of Luc's brother, Eric (Jeff Wincott), to assassinate him and Veronica.
Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)
Directed by Mic Rodgers, written by William Malone and John Fasano. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, and Bill Goldberg.
In this theatrical sequel to the original film, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) had been reverted to human state and has a 13 years old daughter called Hillary. He works with scientist Dylan Cotner to create a new, safer breed of fighters that are connected through an artificially intelligent computer system called S.E.T.H. (Self-Evolving Thought Helix). The project loses funding, and the supercomputer is scheduled to be turned off. To preserve itself S.E.T.H. takes over a superior UniSol model (White) and kidnaps Hillary. Deveraux must save his daughter and prevent the machine from destroying mankind.
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
Directed by John Hyams, and written by Victor Ostrovsky. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski.
In this revival of the franchise, “Regeneration” disregards the events of “The Return,” as well as its made-for-cable predecessors[1][2] by beginning the film with Former UniSol Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) undergoing rehabilitation therapy in Switzerland under Dr. Sandra Fleming with the goal of rejoining society. However, when a terrorist sect uses an experimental Next Generation UniSol (NGU) to seize the atomic reactor at Chernobyl, Deveraux is reactivated to save the country from a nuclear catastrophe. Unfortunately, Deveraux will also have to contend with his nemesis, "Andrew" (Dolph Lundgren), the clone of his former Universal Soldier colleague who's been employed by the terrorists.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)
Directed by John Hyams, written by John Hyams, Doug Magnuson, and Jon Greenlagh. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski, and Scott Adkins.
Luc Devereaux has created a terrifying army of cloned UniSols determined to infiltrate the government which they hold responsible for their pain. A special agent called John, willing to avenge his murdered family, is pitted against Deveraux and a new clone of Andrew Scott.
Future
On October 9, 2018, Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal hired Richard Wenk to write the reboot. The story will focus on one resurrected soldier.[5]
Storyline continuity
Universal Soldier: Regeneration revived the franchise in 2009 by disregarding the events of The Return, as well as its made-for-cable predecessors.[1][2] A Collider article that focuses on Days of Reckoning and interviews the film's director states that the latest installment in the franchise is "either the third, fourth or sixth film in the franchise depending on if you include the pair of non-canon Direct-to-Television sequels and/or the totally retconned Universal Soldier: The Return;[2] however, minor elements from these films can be found within the canon series including UniSol clones and UniSol sleeper-agents (from II, III).[6]
| Universal Soldier story chronology | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Original continuity | |||
| The Return continuity | |||
| New continuity | |||
Cast and crew
Principal cast
| Character | Films | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Soldier | Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms |
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business |
Universal Soldier: The Return |
Universal Soldier: Regeneration |
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning | |
| 1992 | 1998 | 1998 | 1999 | 2009 | 2012 | |
| Luc Deveraux | Jean-Claude Van Damme | Matt Battaglia | Jean-Claude Van Damme | |||
| Andrew Scott | Dolph Lundgren | Andrew Jackson | Dolph Lundgren | |||
| Veronica Roberts | Ally Walker | Chandra West | ||||
| Soldier / S.E.T.H. | Michael Jai White[7] | Michael Jai White | ||||
| Eric Deveraux | Jeff Wincott | |||||
| Mentor | Burt Reynolds | |||||
| Romeo | Bill Goldberg | |||||
| Captain Blackburn | Justin Lazard | |||||
| Erin Young | Heidi Schanz | |||||
| Maggie | Kiana Tom | |||||
| Magnus / NGU | Andrei Arlovski | |||||
| Miles | Kristopher Van Varenberg | |||||
| Dr. Colin | Kerry Shale | |||||
| Dr. Porter | Garry Cooper | |||||
| John | Scott Adkins | |||||
Additional crew
| Crew/detail | Film | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Soldier |
Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms |
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business |
Universal Soldier: The Return |
Universal Soldier: Regeneration |
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning | |
| Composer(s) | Christopher Franke | John Kastner Steve Pecile Ivan Dorochuk Crunch Recording Group |
Don Davis | Kris Hill Michael Krassner |
Wil Hendricks Michael Krassner Robin Vining | |
| Cinematography | Karl Walter Lindenlaub | Russell Goozee | Mike Benson | Peter Hyams | Yaron Levy | |
| Editor | Michael J. Duthie | Mike Lee | Robert K. Sprogis | Peck Prior | Jason Gallagher John Hyams |
Andrew Drazek John Hyams |
| Production company | Carolco Pictures Centropolis Entertainment IndieProd Company Productions |
Catalyst Entertainment Unisol Productions |
Long Road Entertainment IndieProd Company Productions Baummgarten-Prophet Entertainment |
Signature Entertainment BMP Production | ||
| Distribution/ Network |
TriStar Pictures | The Movie Channel | TriStar Pictures | Foresight Unlimited Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
Foresight Unlimited Magnet Releasing | |
| Runtime | 102 minutes | 92 minutes | 95 minutes | 89 minutes | 97 minutes | 114 minutes |
| U.S. release date | July 10, 1992 | September 27, 1998 | October 24, 1998 | August 20, 1999 | February 2, 2010 | November 30, 2012 |
Production
Development
The Universal Soldier franchise began in 1992 with Universal Soldier, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. The series centers on two American soldiers, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren), who are killed during the Vietnam War and reanimated in the 1990s as highly advanced Universal Soldiers.
After Universal Soldier was released, Carolco, the production company that backed the film, went bankrupt and sold the rights of the series to Skyvision Entertainment, located in Toronto, in 1995.[4] As a result, two TV films were released as television films starring Matt Battaglia as Luc Deveraux and Chandra West as Veronica Roberts in Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business. The films were produced for Showtime / The Movie Channel as a miniseries meant as a backdoor pilot for a series.
In 1999, Van Damme returned for the fourth installment, Universal Soldier: The Return. An overwhelming critical and financial failure, The Return contradicted several elements of the previous film's plot by making Luc Deveraux no longer a Universal Soldier, giving him a daughter, and removing female protagonist Veronica Roberts.[6][8][9]
The subsequent film in the series, Universal Soldier: Regeneration, revived the franchise in 2009; disregarding the events of The Return, as well as its made-for-cable predecessors.[1][2] Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning featured Van Damme and Lundgren in much smaller roles, and introduced a new protagonist named John (Scott Adkins) fighting against both Deveraux and Scott.
Reception
Box office performance
| Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Budget | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Other territories | Worldwide | All time domestic | All time worldwide | ||||
| Universal Soldier | July 10, 1992 | $36,299,898 | $59,000,000 | $95,299,898 | #1,835 | $23 million | [10][11] | |
| Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms | September 27, 1998 | |||||||
| Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business | October 24, 1998 | |||||||
| Universal Soldier: The Return | August 20, 1999 | $10,717,421 | $270,000 | $10,937,893 | #3,837 | $45 million | [9] | |
| Universal Soldier: Regeneration | October 1, 2009 | $844,447 | $844,447 | $9 million | [12] | |||
| Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning | November 30, 2012 | $5,460 | $363,719 | $369,179 | #11,358 | $8 million | [13] | |
| Total | $48,087,698 | $59,633,719 | $107,230,945 | N/A | N/A | $85 million | N/A | |
Critical and public response
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Soldier | 24% (29 reviews)[14] | 35 (15 reviews)[15] | B[16] |
| Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms | 0% (7 reviews)[17] | N/A | N/A |
| Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business | 20% (5 reviews)[18] | N/A | N/A |
| Universal Soldier: The Return | 5% (58 reviews)[8] | 24 (14 reviews)[19] | C-[16] |
| Universal Soldier: Regeneration | N/A (0 reviews)[20] | 70 (4 reviews)[21] | N/A |
| Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning | 56% (50 reviews)[22] | 58 (18 reviews)[23] | N/A |
Other media
Attempted TV series
In October 2011, writer Damien Kindler was set to write a “Universal Soldier” TV series for FreeMantle Media North America with producers from the original film Allen Shapiro and Craig Baumgarten attached to the project.[24]
Video games
A Universal Soldier video game was developed by The Code Monkeys and published by Accolade in 1992.[25] The game was a conversion of Turrican II: The Final Fight for the Sega Genesis and Game Boy. Another version was developed later for the SNES, but it was never released.[26][27]
Comic books
In 1992, a short-lived comic book tie in was released by Now Comics.[28]
See also
- Universal Soldier (1971 film), an unrelated British film
References
- Buckwalter, Ian (November 30, 2012). "The 'Universal Soldier' Paradox: When a Bad Franchise Produces a Great Film". The Atlantic.
- Daniels, Hunter (December 6, 2012). "Director John Hyams Talks UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING, Plus the Top 11 Things to Know About Hyams and His Film". Collider.
- Matt Zoller Seitz [@mattzollerseitz] (December 22, 2013). "@labuzamovies Oh, I have. This is a rare series that takes more creative risks as it goes along" (Tweet). Retrieved May 10, 2017 – via Twitter.
- Benson, Jim (February 5, 1995). "Carolco Sells 'Soldier' Rights To Skyvision". Variety.
- "A Re-Imagining of 'Universal Solider' Is In The Works With Richard Wenk Set To Write The Script (EXCLUSIVE)". Discussingfilm.com. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- McLeavy, Alex (Sep 10, 2015). "Universal Soldier may be the only series whose DTV sequels are its best work". The A.V. Club.
- Jon Keeyes. "Universal Soldier 2". Cinefantastique. p. 21 – via Internet Archive.
I was chopped down to basically one line in the beginning of the movie. I was not going to tell Jean-Claude that we worked together in the first one, but he remembered.
- "Universal Soldier: The Return". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media, LLC. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- "Universal Soldier: The Return". The Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier Franchise". The Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- "U.S. pics at home and abroad". Variety. January 4, 1993. p. 56.
- "Universal Soldier: Regeneration". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media, LLC. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- https://www.metacritic.com/movie/universal-soldier
- "CinemaScore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- "Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media, LLC. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media, LLC. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier: The Return". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- "Universal Soldier: Regeneration". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media, LLC. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- "Universal Soldier: Regeneration Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media, LLC. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- Anderton, Ethan (October 11, 2011). "UNIVERSAL SOLDIER Getting Rebooted for New TV Series and NATIONAL TREASURE Creator Plans BLOOD & TREASURE Series". Collider. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- "Universal Soldier". GameFAQs. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier for Genesis (1992)". Moby Games. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- "Universal Soldier [SNES]". Unseen64. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- https://www.comics.org/searchNew/?q=Universal+soldier&selected_facets=facet_model_name_exact:issue&selected_facets=publisher_exact:Now