"The movies’ premise is ludicrously simple (emphasis on ludicrous):"

September 18, 2015 11:28 AM

Universal Soldier may be the only series whose DTV sequels are its best work

Trailer for Universal Soldier
Opening from Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms
Trailer for Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business
Trailer for Universal Soldier: The Return
Trailer for Universal Soldier: Regeneration
Trailer for Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

posted by the man of twists and turns (18 comments total)

Finally something to back me up. Whenever I try to convince people that Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is absolutely amazing, they start looking at me like I must have serious brain damage.
posted by Cironian at 11:46 AM on September 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

Not at all the same genre, but another really good DTV sequel is Wrong Turn 2.
posted by brundlefly at 12:24 PM on September 18, 2015

Pigging hell, now I am going to have to watch this stuff.
posted by biffa at 12:48 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was curious, but not curious enough to watch the last film, and found this article on Den of Geek, which is so similar in structure and content that I checked to see if the same person had written them.
posted by The River Ivel at 12:53 PM on September 18, 2015

Only because The Substitute actually tried to be a movie. The Treat Williams sequels are way more entertaining, and part II actually has a DJ Shadow soundtrack.
posted by lkc at 12:54 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Taken together, I'd argue that Undisputed 2 and 3 are the Citizen Kane of prison fighting movies.
posted by ph00dz at 1:04 PM on September 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

I watched UniSol Day of Reckoning with a friend for [self-link]our action movie podcast[/self-link], and, well, while it might be one of the best UniSol movies, it's not a great movie. It works on some levels as a well-shot action movie that veers towards art film, but it's also kind of insane in a "WTF IS HAPPENING" kind of way. The action scenes look awesome (the fight scene in the sporting goods store is my favorite) but plot-wise it's a bit impenetrable without knowledge of the Universal Soldier mythos.
posted by sleeping bear at 1:15 PM on September 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

but another really good DTV sequel is Wrong Turn 2.

The second one made it right, you're saying?
posted by mhoye at 1:18 PM on September 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

I saw Day of Reckoning at a film festival and it was wild. This was the same fest that screened Uwe Boll's Dungeon Siege movie (aka LotR with Burt Reynolds as Elrond) we were expecting some schlocker but it had some much more going on. I agree it is not a good film by any measure, but it is a grandiose one and that's what makes it stand out from its VOD brethren. It's one thing to drop some Apocalypse Now references into your movies, it's another when during the Q&A the director actually and seriously compares the film to Apocalypse Now.
posted by thecjm at 2:16 PM on September 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

That US:DOR fight in the sporting goods store is pretty brutal/awesome.
posted by gottabefunky at 2:29 PM on September 18, 2015 [4 favorites]

I used the movie as part of the background for a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign. I mean, the idea is so 80s cyberpunk: "We got a bunch of corpses, might as well make them useful!" Seeing believed-dead enemies (and friends, too) showing up as blank-faced automatons creeped them out hugely, and then the trip to Louisiana to find the JCVD character in the bayous ended up being a brilliant moment.

Then, to 80s the game up more, they got recruited by the Foundation for Law and Government.

When someone says, "I can hear A-Team music as we're trying to improvise this barricade", you know you got the tone right.
posted by mephron at 2:45 PM on September 18, 2015 [6 favorites]

I caught Regeneration on tv the other day andit struck me as a great action movie. Well done cinematography, good fight choreography, a story with enough of the lore which was internally consistant to make it interesting. Hell, even JCVD and his part were actually interesting to watch and somewhat philosophical (for an action movie, and maybe even beyond that). It was a great watch!

The only thing to let it down was the ending, with JVCD literally running off...
posted by MacD at 3:11 PM on September 18, 2015

Jesus Christ...that fight scene. Incredible.
posted by chisel at 6:53 PM on September 18, 2015

Not sure if it was DTV but the second Mr. Bean movie is a wonderful charming experience while the original is unwatchable shit.
posted by 3urypteris at 10:35 PM on September 18, 2015

So... Hyams could be a vulgar auteur?
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:40 AM on September 19, 2015

I downloaded and watched Day of Reckoning based on this thread, and it deserves the praise AVClub gives. It's not just that it's the movie you'd get if David Lynch made Apocalypse Now (although it is) - it's also that every frame is rendered with skill and often a kind of genius. It's better-shot than most mainstream action movies.

But jesus, that plot. It's wild. And the lead actor is handsome in that kind of regular way that makes me think that whomever created his face was trying to use as few polygons as possible.
posted by um at 7:26 AM on September 20, 2015

The second one made it right, you're saying?

Actually, for whatever reason I've never gotten around to the first film! But the second one is a ball. The director, Joe Lynch, went on to make Knights of Badassdom which is fun, despite a fuck ton of studio interference.

Oh, and his next one looks great too.
posted by brundlefly at 12:33 PM on September 20, 2015

Eh, I just finished Regeneration, gave it a 4 on IMDB and deleted it.. I guess Hanna is my ideal type of action movie, not this tiresome MMA stuff. In retrospect, the AV Club piece is sort of one of those "wrestling, it's really an Art" things - just not my thing.
posted by unmake at 3:24 PM on September 20, 2015