Oct 051992
 
two reels

The government resurrects Vietnam-era soldiers as cyborgs for dangerous missions.  However, their memories are not completely wiped and two of the ‘Unisols’ begin reliving the past, where one was a psychotic killer (Dolph Lundgren), and the other a hero (Jean-Claude Van Damme).

Quick Review: If you are going to make a robot out of a dead guy, get rid of the brain.  Just take it out.  I would have thought Robocop made that clear to all evil scientists.  Apparently not, as here we go again.  Roland Emmerich, who went on to make Stargate and Independence Day, decides what worked for Arnold should work for Jean-Claude, and he isn’t wrong.  If your beefy actor can’t act, can barely speak, but looks good, make him a cyborg.  Emmerich goes on to “borrow” from the second Terminator film, the earlier mentioned Robocop, and any other SF action film he could find to make this brain dead, but reasonably entertaining, film.  When you switch on a Van Damme/Lundgren film, you know what to expect, and within that framework, Universal Soldier isn’t bad.  It isn’t cyberpunk, but it is a third cousin.

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