Universal Soldier

I used to really like this American action film with four Belgians and a Swede, and when I watched it today, I realized that the film withstood the test of time much better than I did. Sure, it's almost thirty years old, which took its toll somehow, the premise is quite lame (let's freeze some dead soldiers - something tells me they might come in handy a quarter of a century later). It did work for me as a B-action movie, though. It was even funny at times. (16/04/2020)

JCVD and Lundgren fit perfectly together, and their animosity is exactly what the audience wants to see. The hatred between them is great, and so there might even be a final showdown, where things are not looking good for our positive hero, but not all hope is lost. "Universal Soldier" is a film that works both in terms of action and storytelling, and in scenes where action is not the focus but the plot is calming down. It is clear that someone who truly knew what they were doing directed this. Regardless of your opinion on Emmerich, this film simply turned out great, and for me, it will forever be an action classic. (19/11/2013)

Universal Soldier is exactly the over-engineered, unstylish, and content- shallow type of film that was churned out in droves in the 1990s. Jean-Claude Van Damme, however, suits this role quite well, and Dolph Lundgren, who will forever remain in my memory only as Ivan Drago, also did not disappoint. The action is somewhat decent within the realm of possibilities. (05/02/2005)

I am completely indifferent to the fact that this is one of the commercially most successful films of the 90s, on which many film fans grew up and which is part of the basic knowledge of fans of action films. In practice, it is probably the worst film by Roland Emmerich, which is a category in itself, a very poorly made B-movie that shamelessly steals what works in it from other qualitatively much better films. The film is dominated by two tragedies, and calling them actors is an insult to the entire profession. The whole film is a collection of the most clichéd genre schemes and the most pandering scenes that can be thought of in this genre. If I had to give it a single star, I would have to find so much detachment within myself that it would be necessary to support it with the use of several illegal encouraging means, and above all, I would then have to reevaluate the reviews of several hundred films that I have written due to their disproportionately higher quality compared to this crap. My overall impression of 10% is just for the fact that the sequel was, surprisingly, even worse. (08/03/2010)