Universal Soldier: The Return

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Universal Soldier: The Return
Original 1999 theatrical poster
Directed by	Mic Rodgers
Produced by	Daniel Melnick Michael I. Rachmil Jean-Claude Van Damme
Written by	William Malone John Fasano
Starring	Jean-Claude Van Damme Michael Jai White Bill Goldberg Kiana Tom
Music by	Don Davis
Cinematography	Mike Benson
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	1999 (USA)
Running time	82 min.
Language	English
Budget	40 Million USD
Preceded by	Universal Soldier
IMDb profile

Universal Soldier: The Return (also known as Universal Soldier II), released in 1999, was the second theatrical film in the Universal Soldier series, following two made-for-TV movies, Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business and Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms. The Return was directed by Mic Rodgers and starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, professional wrestler Bill Goldberg, Heidi Schanz and Xander Berkeley as Dr. Dylan Kotner. As of 2007 this was the last Van Damme film to have a wide-release in U.S. theatres.

1 Plot
2 Reception
3 Soundtrack
- 3.1 Track listing
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Luc Devereux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is now a technical expert who is working with the government with his partner Maggie (Kiana Tom), who's been through countless hours of training and combat with him, to refine and perfect the Unisol program in an effort to make a new, stronger breed of soldier that is more sophisticated, intelligent, and agile.

All of the new Unisols, which are faster and stronger than their predecessors, are connected through an artificially intelligent computer system called SETH (voice of Michael Jai White), a Self-Evolving Thought Helix.

When SETH discovers that the Universal Soldier program is scheduled to be shut down because of budget cuts, he takes matters into his own "hands" to protect himself.

Killing those who try to shut off his power, and unleashing his platoon of super soldiers, led by the musclebound Romeo (Bill Goldberg), SETH spares Deveraux, only because Deveraux has the secret code that is needed to deactivate a built-in program that will shut SETH down in a matter of hours. With the help of Squid (Brent Hinkley), a rogue cyberpunk, SETH takes human form (Michael Jai White).

Not only must Luc contend with ambitious reporter Erin (Heidi Schanz), who won't leave his side, but Luc also must contend with General Radford (Daniel von Bargen) who wants to take extreme measures to stop SETH. SETH has also kidnapped Luc's injured 13-year-old daughter Hillary (Karis Paige Bryant), and is holding her hostage.

Luc is the only person who can rescue Hillary, because Luc knows firsthand how a UniSol thinks, feels, and fights. Luc infiltrates the Unisol building, freezes SETH with liquid nitrogen, then shatters SETH's frozen body, killing SETH, then Luc gets Hillary out of the building just before it explodes and kills Romeo.

Erin punches General Radford for trying to blow up the building while Luc and Hillary were still in it.

[edit] Reception

Made on a budget of around $25 million, the film grossed a meager $10 million in the United States and $12,912,120 worldwide. The poor reception of the film destroyed any chance of a third planned sequel.

[edit] Soundtrack

A film soundtrack was release by Trauma.

[edit] Track listing

"Crush 'Em" - Megadeth
"Remain Calm" - One Minute Silence
"Now or Never" - Godsmack
"Awake" - The Clay People
"Bestrafe mich" - Rammstein
"Bled For Days" - Static-X
"Supernova Goes Pop" - Powerman 5000
"Hatred" - D Generation
"Draw the Line" - P.O.D.
"Securitron (Police State 2000)" - Fear Factory
"Eureka Pile" - Ministry
"Chaos" - Tim Skold
"Saddam A-Go-Go" - Gwar
"Target: Devereux" - Don Davis
"Otherside" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

[edit] Trivia

Filmed on the location of the cancelled Superconducting Super Collider particle accelerator project in Waxahachie, Texas.

Michael Jai White, the voice and actor who portrayed S.E.T.H. was an extra in the first Universal Soldier Movie. He is seen briefly in the opening scene set in Vietnam alongside Van Damme as a Soldier.

The standard issue rifle/grenade launcher for the Unisols in the movie are in reality a physically modified version of the H&K designed O.I.C.W rifle, also known as the XM29 rifle. The modification involved the remodelling of the outer casing of the rifle to look bulkier and more rectangular in shape. On a side note, the rifle in actuality has a magazine capacity of 30 5.56x45mm NATO rounds for the assault rifle part and a magazine capacity of 6 20mm Grenade rounds for the grenade launcher part. This amount was exaggerated in the scene where the three Unisols were retaliating against the army platoon stationed outside the research facility.