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''Universal Soldier'' is a series of
military science fiction Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction and military fiction that depicts the use of science fiction technology, including spaceships and science fiction weapons, weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters ...
action films. The franchise began in 1992 with '' Universal Soldier'' and as of 2012 comprises six entries. The films centered on the character of
Luc Deveraux Luc Deveraux is the title character and protagonist of the ''Universal Soldier'' film series. He is most famously portrayed by Belgian actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme in '' Universal Soldier'' (1992) and its sequels, '' Univers ...
(played first by
Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...
and then by Matt Battaglia) until '' Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning'', which focuses on a new protagonist named John (played by
Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006), a ro ...
). Film and television critic
Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and filmmaker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for ''New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as w ...
stated that the ''Universal Soldier'' franchise "is a rare series that takes more creative risks as it goes along".


Films


''Universal Soldier'' (1992)

Directed by
Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German-American filmmaker. Emmerich is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the movie industry. His films, most of which are Eng ...
and written by
Richard Rothstein Richard Rothstein is an American academic and author affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute, and a senior fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His current research focuses on the history ...
, Christopher Leitch, and
Dean Devlin Dean Devlin (born August 27, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor of film and television. He is best known for his collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, and for his work on the The Librarian (franchise), ''Li ...
, it stars
Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...
,
Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...
, and
Ally Walker Allene Damian "Ally" Walker (born August 25, 1961) is an American actress. She made her television debut in the NBC daytime soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' (1988) before landing the leading roles on the short-lived dramas '' True Blue'' (1989–199 ...
. In the first installment of the franchise, American soldier Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) finds that his superior officer, Andrew Scott (Lundgren), has turned violently deranged, and the two fight to the death during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. After their bodies are retrieved, they are placed into a secret program in which they are reanimated as superhuman agents and trained to become unquestioning killing machines. While Devereaux and Scott initially have no memory of their former lives, glimpses of their pasts start to return, rekindling their intense conflict.


''Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms'' (1998)

After the
original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', '' Cruel Intentions'' and ''Fast & Furious'' franchises, the ...
was released,
Carolco Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film studio that was founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna in 1976. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco hit its peak in ...
, the production company that backed the film, went bankrupt and sold the rights of the series to Skyvision Entertainment, located in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, in 1995. As a result, two TV films were released direct-to-video starring Matt Battaglia as Luc Deveraux and
Chandra West Chandra K. West (born December 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress. Early life and education West was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Oak Bay, British Columbia, where she attended Monterey Elementary ...
as Veronica Roberts in ''Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms'' and ''Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business''. The films were produced for
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
/
The Movie Channel The Movie Channel (often abbreviated as TMC) is an American pay television, premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. Not including CBS, it is t ...
as a miniseries meant as a
backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
for a series. Directed by
Jeff Woolnough Jeff Woolnough is a Canadian film and television director. His career began in the early 1990s and has won numerous awards directing multiple episodes of a variety of television series. His most prolific work has been with '' The Expanse'' and '' ...
and written by Peter M. Lenkov, the film stars Matt Battaglia,
Chandra West Chandra K. West (born December 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress. Early life and education West was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Oak Bay, British Columbia, where she attended Monterey Elementary ...
, and
Gary Busey William Gary Busey (; born June 29, 1944) is an American actor. He portrayed Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics Award fo ...
. This direct-to-video sequel takes place exactly after the events of the original '' Universal Soldier''. Following the events of the original Universal Soldier testing, the budget has been slashed by the government; however, under the orders of a CIA director, a gang of mercenaries take control of the new line of Universal Soldiers and try to use them into helping to smuggle diamonds to the highest foreign buyer. Meanwhile, Luc Deveraux (Matt Battaglia) and Veronica Roberts (Chandra West) are in hiding on his parents’ farm. The UniSol controllers then activate a homing beacon embedded inside Deveraux's body that makes him return to the UniSol base in Chicago where his memory is reprogrammed. Veronica follows and while sneaking into the UniSol lab to rescue Luc, she discovers that his older brother Eric, a deceased soldier from Vietnam, has also been resurrected.


''Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business'' (1998)

Once again, directed by Jeff Woolnough and written by Peter M. Lenkov, the film stars Matt Battaglia,
Chandra West Chandra K. West (born December 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress. Early life and education West was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Oak Bay, British Columbia, where she attended Monterey Elementary ...
,
Jeff Wincott Jeffrey Wincott (born May 8, 1956) is a Canadian actor and martial artist best known for his lead role in the television series ''Night Heat.'' Wincott was also the star of several martial arts films in the 1990s. In 1996 he was named one of th ...
, and
Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
. Luc Devereaux (Battaglia) and Veronica Roberts (Chandra West) continue their attempts to expose the Universal Soldier unit. After a hostage situation mistakenly leaves Veronica a fugitive, the two escape the city and go into hiding. Meanwhile,
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
Deputy Director Mentor (Burt Reynolds) and Dr. Walker are in the process of creating a powerful UniSol clone of Luc's brother, Eric (Jeff Wincott), to assassinate him and Veronica.


''Universal Soldier: The Return'' (1999)

Directed by Mic Rodgers and written by William Malone and
John Fasano John Michael Fasano (August 24, 1961 – July 19, 2014) was an American screenwriter, film producer and director. In the length of his career, Fasano directed six films, produced twenty more, and wrote screenplays for at least eighteen others. F ...
, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme,
Michael Jai White Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, martial artist, and director. Though he has appeared in a variety of genres, White is best known for his Action film, action and martial arts films. His first major starring role an ...
, and
Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...
. In this theatrical sequel to the original film (while ignoring the previous two television films), Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) had been reverted to human state and has a 13-year-old daughter called Hillary. He works with scientist Dylan Cotner to create a new, safer breed of fighters that are connected through an
artificially intelligent Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
computer system called S.E.T.H. (Self-Evolving Thought Helix). The project loses funding, and the supercomputer is scheduled to be turned off. To preserve itself S.E.T.H. takes over a superior UniSol model (White) and kidnaps Hillary. Deveraux must save his daughter and prevent the machine from destroying mankind.


''Universal Soldier: Regeneration'' (2009)

Directed by
John Hyams John Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, best known for his involvement in the '' Universal Soldier'' series, for which he has directed two installments. Hyams is the son of director Peter Hyams. Career Hyams graduat ...
and written by
Victor Ostrovsky Victor John Ostrovsky (; born 28 November 1949) is an Israeli-Canadian author and intelligence officer who was a case officer in the Israeli Mossad for 14 months before his dismissal. After leaving the Mossad, Ostrovsky authored two books about ...
, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski. In this revival of the franchise, ''Regeneration'' disregards the events of ''The Return'' as well as its made-for-cable predecessors by beginning the film with Former UniSol Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) undergoing rehabilitation therapy in Switzerland under Dr. Sandra Fleming with the goal of rejoining society. However, when a terrorist sect uses an experimental Next Generation UniSol (NGU) to seize the atomic reactor at Chernobyl, Deveraux is reactivated to save the country from a nuclear catastrophe. Deveraux also has to contend with his nemesis, "Andrew" (Dolph Lundgren), the clone of his former Universal Soldier colleague who's been employed by the terrorists.


''Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning'' (2012)

Directed by John Hyams, written by John Hyams, Doug Magnuson, and Jon Greenlagh, it stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski, and
Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006), a ro ...
. In the film, Luc Devereaux, who went rogue, has created a terrifying army of cloned UniSols determined to infiltrate the government which they hold responsible for their pain. A special agent called John, willing to avenge his murdered family, is pitted against Deveraux and a new clone of Andrew Scott.


Future

Todd Black Todd Black (born February 9, 1960) is an American film producer best known for producing '' The Pursuit of Happyness'' (2006), '' The Taking of Pelham 123'' (2009), '' The Equalizer'' (2014), '' Southpaw'' (2015), '' The Magnificent Seven'' (2016) ...
and Jason Blumenthal hired
Richard Wenk Richard Wenk (born May 6, 1956) is an American film screenwriter and director best known for his work on ''The Equalizer'' film series (2014–2023). Early life Wenk was born in 1956 in Metuchen, New Jersey. He graduated from Metuchen High Sc ...
to write the reboot in October 2018. The story will focus on one resurrected soldier.


Television

In October 2011, writer Damien Kindler was set to write a ''Universal Soldier'' TV series for FremantleMedia North America with producers from the original film Allen Shapiro and Craig Baumgarten attached to the project.


Cast and crew


Principal cast


Additional crew


Storyline continuity

''Universal Soldier: Regeneration'' revived the franchise in 2009 by disregarding the events of ''The Return'', as well as its made-for-cable predecessors. A
Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
article that focuses on ''Day of Reckoning'' and interviews the film's director states that the latest installment in the franchise is "either the third, fourth or sixth film in the franchise depending on if you include the pair of non-canon direct-to-television sequels and/or the totally retconned ''Universal Soldier: The Return''"; despite it, minor elements from these films can be found within the canon series including UniSol clones and UniSol sleeper-agents (from '' II'' and '' III'').


Production


Development

The ''Universal Soldier'' franchise began in 1992 with '' Universal Soldier'', starring
Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...
and
Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...
. The series centers on two American soldiers, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme) and Andrew Scott (Lundgren), who are killed during the Vietnam War and reanimated in the 1990s as highly advanced Universal Soldiers. After '' Universal Soldier'' was released,
Carolco Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film studio that was founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna in 1976. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco hit its peak in ...
, the production company that backed the film, went bankrupt and sold the rights of the series to Skyvision Entertainment, located in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, in 1995. As a result, two TV films were released as television films starring Matt Battaglia as Luc Deveraux and
Chandra West Chandra K. West (born December 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress. Early life and education West was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to Oak Bay, British Columbia, where she attended Monterey Elementary ...
as Veronica Roberts in '' Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms'' and '' Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business''. The films were produced for
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
/
The Movie Channel The Movie Channel (often abbreviated as TMC) is an American pay television, premium television network owned by Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. Not including CBS, it is t ...
as a miniseries meant as a
backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
for a series. In 1999, Van Damme returned for the fourth installment, '' Universal Soldier: The Return''. An overwhelming critical and financial failure, ''The Return'' contradicted several elements of the previous film's plot by making Luc Deveraux no longer a Universal Soldier, giving him a daughter, and removing female protagonist Veronica Roberts. The subsequent film in the series, '' Universal Soldier: Regeneration'', revived the franchise in 2009, disregarding the events of ''The Return'', as well as its made-for-cable predecessors. '' Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning'' featured Van Damme and Lundgren in much smaller roles, and introduced a new protagonist named John (
Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006), a ro ...
) fighting against both Deveraux and Scott.


Reception


Box office performance


Critical and public response


Other media


Comic book

In 1992, a short-lived comic book tie-in was released by
Now Comics NOW Comics was a comic book publisher founded in late 1985 by Tony C. Caputo as a sole-proprietorship. During the four years after its founding, NOW grew from a one-man operation to operating in 12 countries, and published almost 1,000 comic bo ...
.


Video games

A video game based on the film, also titled ''Universal Soldier'', was developed by
The Code Monkeys The Code Monkeys Limited was a British video game developer based in Dewsbury, England, and founded in February 1988 by Colin Hogg, Mark Kirkby and Elliot Gay. It was known for porting video games to various platforms. In February 2011, share ...
and published by
Accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing, adoubement, or knighting) () was the central act in the rite of passage Ceremony, ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. Etymology The term ''accolade'' entered English by 1591, when Thomas ...
in 1992. The game was a conversion of '' Turrican II: The Final Fight'' for the
Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...
and
Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
. Another version was developed later for the
SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania an ...
, but was never released.


See also

* '' Universal Soldiers'', an unrelated film distributed by
The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company based in Burbank, California, known for producing low-budget, direct-to-video films, in particular mockbusters, which capitalize on the popularity of major studio f ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Universal Soldier Action film series TriStar Pictures franchises Sony Pictures franchises Universal Soldier (film series) Film series introduced in 1992