When I watched "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" on German Television with no commercial break with a running time of 85 Minutes (without credits), I have been impressed what a 10 Million production budget can give the spectator as action rewards. The story fairly simple as embedded in a children abduction theme, providing the stunt coordinating team a canvas to bring gritty uncompromising shoot-outs paired with hand-to-hand combat action in one single dark-rainy-metal factory location with less to no CGI enhancements. Even though the television screening might have been cut in certain explicit shots, the movie's pace had been working out for lovers of R-rated action entertainment. "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" is surprisingly keeping its promise of being just an action movie for the DVD market with the minor drawback that the opening abduction theme is not fully concluded in the end.

like many i enjoyed the first movie, pure popcorn and better for it, this one is a different beast. i could tell you the plot, but why bother, its above me in the plot section, so go back and read it. at first its Bourne meets modern warfare, it doesn't give the audience what it wants, it gives it what it already knows, but there are suggestions of something more under the surface, jcvd was a good film, there, i said it, and i think that film infects this one, it is a mutant hybrid of both his old and new movies, and if you want to compare, i would go with machete, the Robert Rodriguez flick, it tries for nobility and sleaze and doesn't quite achieve either, but the simple fact that it tries demands my respect. i wont even bother with the plot,(snipers, anyone?) its some of the, as some one said before, boring dialogue parts that i like most, the Dolph lungren death scene is something special, maybe stealing from blade runner, but with something more. his finest 15 minutes and if you have half a brain you understand this is why he came back for this. lungren becomes the thinker, jcvd the killing machine, it is quite shocking and sad, this is a movie about the past and future, age and a contemplation on death, it is a view on what it is to be who we are and our purpose in life, be it good or bad, it is a tragedy of small proportions, the hero saves the day by having his humanity stripped from him, becomes what he was created to be, not what he wants to be. i gave this film a rating of 6 but it doesn't do justice, i love b movies with more to say than they can afford, see john sayles, James Cameron, Sam raimi, they reward me more than Oscar baiting efforts, its the surprise and love of the genre i enjoy so much. watch this movie, just for the joy of filmmakers doing what they love, right or wrong.

Watched this on TV, not expecting very much at all, but I don't recall seeing the first or any subsequent sequels, if that made a difference? The plot has been described in other reviews, so I won't repeat it. The direction was great, especially the set-piece opening sequence. I imagine it was achieved on a much smaller budget than the blockbuster movies, so much credit to Peter Hyams the director. The editing and cinematography was also excellent, created mood and atmosphere and kept the action ripping along. Never once was I bored during this movie.Arlovsky was a powerful screen presence right from the first scene. He played a "neo-Arnie silent pseudo-cyborg" character, similar to that which Arnie launched his career with in The Terminator. I don't know if Arlovsky will continue acting, but after recent losses in the octagon, it's worth consideration. He has more presence than a mere heavy and personifies the cold, ruthless, Russian killer character effortlessly. He showed us as much as Arnie did in The Terminator, so who knows? I was especially impressed by Mike Pyle, another MMA fighter, acting as Capt Kevin Burke. I have to admit, although I knew the name from watching MMA, I wasn't sure of what he looked like. Half-way through the film, I couldn't decide if the Burke character was played by a "proper" actor, or an MMA "plant". His acting was very naturalistic and he definitely has a career in action films and character actor roles outside of fighting.I think both MMA actors did themselves much credit in this film and blew away Dolph Lundgren - and he has made a career out of action movies! (That is intended as a compliment guys, although many may not see it as such!) In the end, the film is what it is: characters are two-dimensional, dialogue a bit cheesy, the storyline predictable. But it delivers what it sets out to do at a classy, stylish, visually interesting pace, such that you will probably be prepared to overlook these shortcomings, sit back and just enjoy the film.If the DVD has any decent extras, I'll definitely search it out and add it to my collection.

It's been a while since I've seen a Universal Soldier film, but this film seems to stand apart from all the others as an exceptionally well-crafted entrant to the series. (I've voted 9/10 since I couldn't select 8.5 and I feel the current score is too low.)When you see a JCVD film, you expect to see intense and well-choreographed fight scenes, maybe some gunfights, maybe some explosions, and just generally lots of gratuitous violence without much plot or depth.And considering that JCVD is now going on to 50 years old, I wasn't really expecting a lot from this film. I mean, unless they pulled a Terminator: Salvation and replaced Jean-Claude with a CG actor, I didn't really think the action would be that good (even Arnold's CG fight scenes weren't particularly exciting). And seeing as everything was riding on the action, this had the potential to be a complete dud.However, this film proved me wrong on all counts. By some magic of editing or special effects, we see Jean-Claude as both an aging arthritic veteran as well as a spry killing machine with superhuman reflexes. The stark transformation from one into the other using the UniSol chemical cocktails was astonishing yet believable.Not only that, but the performances given by all the main actors were excellent. From the complex character of the rebel leader (a villainous terrorist but also a fair leader and patriot) to the quirky and megalomaniacal evil scientist to the beautiful and compassionate Dr. Flemming... all were portrayed convincingly and flawlessly. Despite the presence of several familiar Hollywood archetypes, none of the intense performances were overacted or cheesy. But most surprisingly, Jean-Claude and Dolph Lundgren both deliver exceptional performances that take the movie to a whole 'nother level.Lundgren's performance in particular was bone-chilling. In his brief monologue we're given an unnerving glimpse into the twisted psyche of a true psychopath--a scientifically engineered killing machine with no conscience or moral inhibitions. Although his lines are few, they reveal a man facing an existential crisis and gripped by a consuming nihilism, an understandable condition for a soldier robbed of his humanity and now knowing only violence.That's not to say that Universal Soldier: Regeneration is some deep philosophical film. The movie's main focus is still intense action and gratuitous violence. But it's a layered work with nuance and surprisingly well-crafted characters. These small touches give the film subtle flavor and set it apart as an exceptionally thoughtful film for its genre.