My goodness, what an appalling movie. When the beginning of the film rips-off the ending of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER by replacing Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren with two minor no-name actors - neither barely resembling their counterparts - then you know the film is in trouble. Not that UNIVERSAL SOLDIER warranted a sequel in the first place. Sure, it was enjoyable dumb entertainment, but no classic. Suddenly towards the end of the '90s, there came two "unofficial" television movie sequels - yes, there's another sequel to this piece of garbage, probably shot back-to-back - and a cinema sequel with Van Damme himself returning to the fold. The three films together probably represent the nadir of all science-fiction/action movies out there.I can't think of one thing to recommend in this film. It looks and feels cheap at all moments; the acting is appalling from an unknown (and forgettable) cast; lead Matt Battaglia plays the same character as Van Damme and does his job so badly that you end up crying out for Van Damme to return to the role (yes, he makes Van Damme look like Laurence Olivier in comparison). The action sequences which everybody came to see are sparse, as if they couldn't afford to stage them, and limited to a few explosions and poorly-executed martial arts moves (the highlight of which comes when one of the bad guy Unisols - only displaying a fraction less emotion than his human counterparts - is pushed into a garbage compactor and crushed). Even if Van Damme can't act, at least he knows his stuff when it comes to the fighting, but this no-name Battaglia hasn't got a clue. Lots of the film takes place in the dark, and the script concentrates on inane dialogue and half-baked ideas left over from the first film, at times directly ripping off scenes in that movie also (the implant removing from the leg scene is replayed almost shot-for-shot).It's really sad to see a portly Gary Busey appearing in this garbage, but here he is, for all to see. Basically he chews the scenery a bit and makes a fool of himself as most has-been stars do when they appear in worthless productions. The only spark of enjoyment this film has to offer is Burt Reynolds in a hilariously bizarre Mr. Mystery-type performance. His identity and face are kept hidden until the very end of the film, where he spins around in his chair to reveal his amusingly smug face. Otherwise, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER II is a definite miss, even as a bad film experience, because there just isn't enough going on to hold your interest.

This sequel to "Universal Soldier" starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren is a made for TV movie starring Matt Battaglia, Gary Busey, Jeff Wincott and Burt Reynolds (using an Irish accent) that was made side by side with "Universal Soldier 3: Unfinished Business" with the aim of leading to a TV (that never happened) Matt Battaglia replaces Van Damme, Andrew Jackson replaces Dolph Lundgren and Chandra West replaces Ally Walker There are some impressive is set pieces and well directed action scenes however a ridiculous plot, poor acting and an over use of slow motion ruin the majority of it,Burt spends the majority of his screen time talking on the phone in the shadows looking all mysterious. It's not until the very end do we see his face and it is revealed who he is, and what powerful position he holds.I think had he been able to anticipate the success of "Boogie Nights" and his subsequent Oscar nomination for his performance, he may have been a bit more picky about what roles he was taking, and bided his time waiting for a quality script to keep the momentum of his comeback going. However his ongoing financial worries at this time, probably dictated he grabbed what ever work was offered to him as he made seven movies in both 1997 and 1999.

I really didn't like the first Universal Soldier movie, so I didn't have high expectations for this one. Still, I got disappointed. The movie is twice as bad as the first movie. The plot is almost the same, but of course, they switched the cast. Van Damme and Lundgren is out, and instead we get to meet a guy I never had heard of before (Battaglia). In fact, he wasn't that bad, especially since the main thing about his part was to act as little as possible. They also added a couple of other known actors, such as Gary Busey and Jeff Wincott. Busey is OK as the bad guy, but it didn't help since his character was just stupid. Also be alarmed about this being an action movie, since it's not. There's hardly any action at all, and the small amount of action they give us is ultra low-budget and supercrappy.

Apparently whoever made this horrible sequel didn't pay attention to the end of the first one, Andrew scott or GR-13 is ground up by a combine or wood mulcher of some sort at the end of the first one, unless they cloned him or something else before hand, i don't see them out there picking up little pieces of him to get him back together, and if they did no wonder in every plot line of these movies there is a budget cut. Think about how much it would cost the government to go out and search for little small pieces of a unisol, just to piece him back together, The labor alone would be worthless. Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb movie.