Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Hyams
Produced by	Craig Baumgarten Moshe Diamant Allen Shapiro
Written by	John Hyams Doug Magnuson Jon Greenlagh
Starring	Jean-Claude Van Damme Dolph Lundgren Scott Adkins
Music by	Wil Hendricks Michael Krassner Robin Vining
Cinematography	Yaron Levy
Edited by	Andrew Drazek John Hyams
Production company	BMP Productions Signature Entertainment
Distributed by	Foresight Unlimited Magnet Releasing
Release dates	August 23, 2012 (2012-08-23) (Hamburg Fantasy Film Festival) October 25, 2012 (2012-10-25) (Video on Demand) November 30, 2012 (2012-11-30) (United States)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million[1]
Box office	$1.4 million[2]

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (formerly known as Universal Soldier: A New Dimension)^[3][4] is a 2012 American science fiction action film co-written, co-edited and directed by John Hyams, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins. It is a semi-sequel to Universal Soldier: Regeneration.

Plot

John (Scott Adkins) awakens from a coma to find that his wife and daughter were brutally murdered in a home invasion. Haunted by images of the attack, he vows to kill the man responsible: Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), one of the original Universal Soldiers (UniSol). While John tries to piece his reality back together, things are complicated by a relentless UniSol named Magnus (Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski), who is determined to kill John. Meanwhile, Deveraux and surviving UniSol Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) are preparing to unleash anarchy and build a new order ruled by Unisols. They are weeding out the weak and constantly testing their strongest warriors in brutal, life and death combat. Luc has emerged operating the UniSol Church of Eventualism, taking in wayward Unisols whom the government has been secretly operating as remote controlled sleeper agents. His mission is to liberate these UniSols from the implanted memories and the lies the government has inserted in them. As John gets closer to Deveraux and the rogue army of genetically enhanced warriors, he discovers more about himself and begins to call into question everything he believed to be true.

Eventually, John reaches the underground bunker where the Unisol Church has its headquarters. There, he is greeted by Dr. Su, who reveals to be the designer of the fake memories of John's family that were implanted into him, as part of the government program that created him merely a few weeks earlier. John accepts Dr. Su's offer to surgically remove the implant, but is driven insane by the pain and the attachment to his memories, causing him to rebel. He kills every UniSol in his path, culminating with Scott in a one-on-one confrontation. John then reaches Deveraux himself and a fight ensues, with Deveraux eventually gaining the upper hand. Realizing that the cycle of sending clones of John against rogue UniSols is destined to repeat, and seeing John as a worthy successor who could turn the tide of the rebellion, Deveraux gives in to John, who kills him.

Some time later, John meets with FBI Agent Gorman in the woods. Gorman admits to his involvement with the UniSol program, and to having purposefully put an unaware John on Deveraux's trail. Gorman ascribes John's success to the attachment to family he was designed with, as opposed to the patriotism implanted in his predecessors. John kills Gorman, then two UniSols and a clone of Gorman emerge from John's van. The clone leaves in the car of original Gorman, hinting that John has taken over the UniSol Church and intends to infiltrate the government. The film ends with John driving his car as pictures flashbacks of him and his family.

Cast

Production

In May 2010, it was announced that Van Damme and Lundgren would return for a fourth official installment. Universal Soldier: A New Dimension will be the first in the series to be filmed in 3-D. John Hyams also returned as director.^[5] Hyams has cited films like Apocalypse Now, The Manchurian Candidate, Chinatown, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers among others, as inspirations for the film.^[1]

In April 2012, it was announced that the film's subtitle was to be re-titled from A New Dimension to Day of Reckoning. When first submitted to the MPAA, the film received an NC-17 rating due to its violence.^[1] An edited R-rated version was released in theaters. The NC-17 director's cut has been released overseas.

Release

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning premiered on VOD on October 25, 2012 followed by a theatrical run starting November 30, 2012. The film premiered on HDNet Movies on November 28, 2012.

Box office

The film was released in Russia and Malaysia on October 4 and grossed $624,724. The film opened a week later in Ukraine and ended up grossing $31,349. It was released on November 30, 2012 in the United States in three screens, grossing $3,181 in its opening weekend, and as of the December 6, the film has grossed $4,928. It also opened on the same day in Turkey, finishing 8th with $75,919 for the weekend, as of the December 9, the film has grossed $138,232 in Turkey. The film was also released in the United Arab Emirates and as of the December 9 it has grossed $193,274. The worldwide total as of the December 12 is $992,507.^[2]

Critical reception

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning received generally mixed reviews from critics and viewers. Some of the main points of contention were that the film deviated greatly from the general idea of a Universal Soldier movie, and that Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren (considered the stars of the franchise) had very little screen time. The level of violence was also considered excessive.

Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 40 reviews and with a rating average of 5.1 out of 10. The site's consensus is: "The mooted final installment in the long-running series is a hyper-violent, often grim throwback to action movies of yore – which will appeal to some audiences just as emphatically as it deters others".^[6]

On the other hand, Nick Antosca, writing in The Paris Review, wrote that Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is "less an action film than a horror film," and concludes that it is his "favorite movie of last year the best movie of last year, I would argue."^[7]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at Box Office Mojo
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at the Internet Movie Database
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at Magnet Releasing
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at Metacritic
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at Rotten Tomatoes