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.

OK so I gave it 10 out of 10.. Why well because this really was as good, if not better than the first movie, in fact this should have been the second film, in the series, as that was pretty terrible.That of course did leave quite a few holes, my advice would be this. If your going to watch Universal Soldier, make sure you leave the second one out, then this will make total sense. Apart from the little mistake, its really very good, a lot of work went into this film and it does show.I loved seeing Dolph Lundgren back in the action, it is good to see him back in more films now, it was pretty spot on, not many words and a great fight scene between the two of them...However I would say this, I do think this is better than the first film, which is a hard act to follow, yeah I know its not the best in the world and I gave it a full score, however I do think its better then the 5 most of the other people on here have given it...My advice is rent it or buy it, keep it because you will want to watch it again, some pretty impressive stunts and fights are on the menu, if you like action, this film is for you.

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.

As a fan of the first film in 1992 i'm very disappointed by what i've seen tonight. My expectations was to see a high octane blockbuster filled with high flying acrobatics, crazy martial arts, a couple catchphrases and good storytelling. Sadly none of those 5 points met my requirements. I don't want this to sound like a rant, it is what it is:There was no character development or back story to follow, that alone killed my enthusiasm. In terms of the fight sequences i didn't appreciate the whole UFC MMA style that Andrei Arlovski brought to the table. Seemed to played out, like when former WWF wrestler The Rock was in The Scorpion King and performed his finishing moves on various Egyptians. Another real let down was the plot (something about teens taken hostage, a nuclear reactor and super soldier's awakening from their slumber). The director's thought process seemed to be all over the place! The saddest part was the moment of the final showdown between Jean-Claude Van Damme VS Dolph Lundgren. Not only was the fight itself sloppy, the choreography tried to encompass everything into 1 package - which clearly doesn't always work out as seen in this movie. Even the composer's score was messed up in places; with sound effects that didn't match the suspense factor of certain scenes.A Summary You Ask?: low budget, don't believe the hype, nothing worth re-watching mostly pushing fast forward until i see gunshots, was good to see the two legends face to face after 17 years since their first battle but it didn't deliver. And with another sequel in the works? It doesn't look good for either actor.