Universal Soldier: Le Jour du jugement

Well Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning was brutal to say the least. Dark from start to end. Fight scenes were played out well, it didn't feel rushed to get the fight over like a lot of movies seem to do, it took its time and gave you the feeling like you were just standing there watching the thing happen, thanks to a wide pulled back viewing angle and steady cam. Even tho they were super human this made the combat feel realistic and solid in a visceral and disturbing way, As someone who hasn't seen a Universal Soldier movie since i was a kid i found the plot a little slow yet slightly confusing like i was missing some important information which actually kept me interested enough to care about what was going on even tho it ended up the only way it could have. No one goes into a movie like this expecting to have there mind blown away by the story anyway so it cant be faulted here. I believe this movie is a success because it does what it was trying to do so well.

Acting - 7 Story - 5 Pacing - 7 Action - 9 Overall Feel - 7

-Plot : Strange follow-up with three veteran but exceptional action men : Van Damme as Luc Deveraux , Lundgren as Andrew Scott and Scott Adkins as John . With top-secret technology, the undercover agency has created a next-generation Universal Soldier - an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine , forming a tough army of genetically enhanced warriors . With this "UniSol" Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) leading the way, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski , and Dolph Lundgren , both of them are threatening to unleash a world rebellion . The only one who can stop them is John (Scott Adkins) , a UniSol who's been decommissioned for years and living an easy family life . John looks to take down Luc Deveraux after a home invasion claims his wife and daughter. The fight pits John against Andrew Scott and an army of genetically enhanced warriors ; meanwhile, he must contend with a UniSol in relentless pursuit . John must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed hideout . But inside, John'll discover these virtually indestructible warriors . Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), Deveraux's (Luc Deveraux's codename in the UNISOL program is GR44) vicious UniSol enemy from the original Universal Soldier, have been secretly reanimated , upgraded and leading a riot . As Deveraux has emerged operating the Unisol Church of Eventualism, taking in wayward Unisols whom the government has been secretly operating as remote-controlled sleeper agents . Luc is preparing to government overthrow and build a new order ruled by Unisols without state control . Now, these elite fighters led by Deveraux are loaded and programmed to kill; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown . John carries out a dangerous travel until the fateful meeting with Luc Deveraux (in similar role to General Kurtz/Brando from Apocalypse now, about a boss turned crazy) who has gone murderer and nut .

-Comment : This moving picture contains noisy action , thrills , shootouts and fierce combats in brutal, life-and-death style . This exciting story by the same director John Hyams& Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenhalgh and producer Moshe Diamant deals with a strange journey proceeded by John to investigate his origins and discover the family killing until find out the terrible truth . The starring's travel is narrated as a surrealist odyssey leading to the dreadful and violent final but when the protagonist find Luc Deveraux the scenarios are darkest and gloomiest . Thrilling screenplay dispenses absurd excitement as well as violence and lots of fights . Acceptable action movie full of struggles , crossfire and tension , this is a stylized action-suspense film , though there are some slow-moving scenes . The tension of this picture keeps snowballing as the clock ticks ever close for a groundbreaking as well as spectacular final . Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins have some scenes together at an impressive fighting . Dolph Lundgren filmed his parts for the movie in just 5 days, whilst Jean-Claude Van Damme filmed for 20 days , though they have no scenes together. The director, John Hyams, is son of notorious cameraman and filmmaker Peter Hyams . However , P.J. Pesce was considered to direct the movie and Simon Fellows was originally signed to direct but he was replaced during pre-production . Released theatrically in a few countries and Direct-To-Video (DVD & Blu-ray) in the rest of the world . Filmmaker John Hyams quickly understood the freedom and malleability that direct to video presents and has gone about creating some incredibly interesting genre fare. According to director John Hyams, the fight between Scott Adkins and Jean-Claude Van Damme was designed to be much flashier and more acrobatic but had to be redesigned when Adkins tore a ligament in his knee prior to filming . Hyams made his feature length film in 1997 when wrote, directed, and produced the critically acclaimed "One Dog Day," , he subsequently filmed ¨Universal Soldier: Regeneration¨ , this ¨Day of reckoning¨ and ¨Dragon Eyes¨ , in which displayed an acute understanding of the action genre .

-Universal Soldier Series : being based on Christopher Leitch and Dean Devlin characters , they are the followings : The best film of the series was the original ¨Universal soldier¨ by Roland Emmerich with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Ally Walker , Ed O'Ross ; it was followed by ¨Universal soldier : the return¨ with Jean-Claude Van Damme , Michael Jai White , Heidi Schanz , Xander Berkeley and Justin Lazard as subsequent Universal Soldier films ignore the events of The Return and outright contradict it in a number of ways ; while still an official entry, it is no longer considered part of the series canon . ¨Universal Sodier : Regeneration¨ by John Hyams with Van Damme , Dolph Lundgren , Andrei Arlovski and ¨Universal soldier : day of reckoning¨(2012) by John Hyams with Scott Adkins , Andrei 'The Pit Bull' Arlovski , Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme , but here they have not scenes together . And two TV films : ¨Universal soldier : Brothers in arms¨ (1998) by Jeff Woolnough with Matt Battaglia , Gary Busey , Burt Reynolds , Richard McMillan and Chandra West and ¨Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business¨ (1999) by Jeff Woolnough with Burt Reynolds Juan Chioran , Claudette Roche and Matt Battaglia .

I'm just going to say that this movie seriously should come with a seizure warning because I almost passed out from the flashing at certain scenes.

DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE IF YOU ARE PRONE TO EPILEPTIC SEIZURES!!!!!! No joke.

Otherwise it's good to see these guys on the same screen again. The movie is a little slow in parts but picks up quickly. Story develops quickly then plateaus a bit then picks up again.

Nothing that's going to curl your toes.. but a good flick.

Cheers!

Certainly, this "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is no match for the first movie in the series, but it is at least better than the last couple of movie that have managed to be spawned off this franchise.

However, this movie is all testosterone and action, and there is surprisingly little storyline to it. So I am guessing you'd think that it would make it a man's movie? Well, hardly... I would say that this movie is sort of falling into the category of something to watch when you have a really, really bad hangover the next day and just want to relax on the couch without having to put your mind to work. This movie is mindnumbingly devoid of any inspiring storyline or anything that even remotely starts to would appeal to anyone looking for a movie with some depth.

This is simply put, action, fighting and car chases, nothing more.

"Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is a little bit too experimental for my liking as well, bordering on being too avantgarde and artsy at times. Especially the scenes with the mind-control stuff. If you are prone to epileptic seizures from flashing lights, stay well clear of this movie.

The upsides to "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is the amount of fighting, action and raw violence that it has. Basically, it is all that is has.

However, if you get suckered in by Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren on the cover, as I did, you are in for a rude awakening. Sure they are in the movie, but only have small roles and do not actually have that much screen time. So it is sort of a lame attempt of luring in people to the movie by using their names on the cover.

"Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning" is not the choice of movie to watch if you want something to stimulate your mind or at the very least have you using your mind to follow a storyline. This is just action, pure and simple.

OK this is a very odd film. It does not feel right, its hard to explain but on this film Hyams has nailed it (with help) the direction/editing/cinematography/music....its all too good for this type of film. Not long in to the film I was shocked at how good it all looked from a film structure point, its not a Alien or Godfarther standard but its far above straight to DVD movies, its far better than most big screen films. The only thing that reminds you that this is a small screen film is the cast and their acting ability's (Scott does a good job where he can), but then again if you rented this film you would not be expecting any Oscars, but when it comes to the action side they do a very good job, its very upfront and bloody. The film sits around the 7/10 area, most of these films would normally hit a 5/10 but this one picks up points for the effort that has gone in to making something more than a cheap straight to DVD film. I hope that the same guys who put this together get a bigger film with a upgrade in actors, if they can make a film that looks this good with a low budget I would like to see what happens with a few more million thrown in.