Universal Soldier
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Details At A Glance
General
|
Extras
|
Category |
Action |
Theatrical Trailer(s) |
Yes, 1 |
Rating |
|
Other Trailer(s) |
None |
Year Released |
1992 |
Commentary Tracks |
None |
Running Time |
99:17 |
Other Extras |
Cast & Crew Biographies
Featurette - Behind The Scenes (6:47)
Music Video - Body Count's In The House |
RSDL/Flipper |
No/No |
Cast & Crew
|
Start Up |
Menu |
Region |
2,4 |
Director |
Roland Emmerich |
Studio
Distributor
|
Columbia Tristar
|
Starring |
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Dolph Lundgren
Ally Walker |
RRP |
$34.95 |
Music |
Christopher Franke |
Video
|
Audio
|
Pan & Scan/Full Frame |
None |
MPEG |
None |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio |
2.35:1 |
Dolby Digital |
2.0 |
16x9 Enhancement |
|
Soundtrack Languages |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 ) |
Theatrical Aspect Ratio |
2.35:1 |
Miscellaneous
|
Macrovision |
Yes |
Smoking |
Yes |
Subtitles |
English
French
Spanish
Danish
Finnish
Icelandic
Norwegian
Swedish |
Annoying Product Placement |
Yes |
Action In or After Credits |
No |
Plot Synopsis
Before I begin my review, I would like to ask that you
all spare a thought for Ally Walker, who was unfortunate enough
to be stuck with playing the reporter in this film. However, at least she
wound up in interesting television roles. The phrase "it just gets worse"
seems to apply to the careers of the rest of the cast. It also seems to
apply to the career of director Roland Emmerich, who has since directed
such shockers as Stargate,
Independence Day,
and the abysmal Godzilla. This
leads me to wonder if Emmerich's name really isn't an Alan Smithee-style
alias (for those who don't understand that, there is a school of thought
that believe the name Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used by retaliation-fearing
directors when extremely bad films such as Plan 9 From Outer Space
are
made). In any case, for those who want a plot, here it is: at some point
during the Vietnam war, a young private named Luc (Jean-Claude Van Damme)
and his Sergeant, Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) kill one another
in the sort of half-baked argument that only Hollywood could attribute
to the insane and retain a vaguely straight face. Fast-forward to the year
199x and they have both been reanimated to become UniSols, which are basically
the kind of soldiers you call in when you want to get the implausible done
and John Rambo is too busy.
After ending a hostage situation on a hydro power
station, Luc is plagued by memories of the life he once had. He suddenly
remembers that he simply wants to walk away from the whole combat situation,
while Andrew remembers a possessed dedication to destroying all the people
he sees as traitors to his cause. Which includes just about everyone he
happens to meet while chasing Luc. Having just been fired from her position
as a reporter, Veronica (Ally Walker) is desperate for some kind
of story that will make her wanted by the network once more. She soon finds
and photographs the Universal Soldier program's mobile base, a move that
has the unscrupulous Colonel Perry (Ed O'Ross) howling for her blood.
As a team of UniSols capture her and her cameraman, who is killed by Scott,
Luc's troubling memories get to be too much and he rescues the hapless
Veronica. There's not much more to it than that, except that Law
And Order (now there's a TV program that I really wish someone
would bring out on DVD) star Jerry Orbach makes a guest appearance
as Dr. Gregor, who supervised the medical process of reanimating the UniSols.
All I can say is that Jerry must have owed Roland one hell of a favour,
because there's no other explanation for his appearance in this film.
However, when all is said and done, this is definitely
one of the better Van Damme films out on the market. Although that isn't
saying much, it is enjoyable when you switch the brain off for a hundred
minutes and just enjoy the violence, which there's enough of to keep any
action fan amused. Dolph Lundgren is what makes this film so enjoyable,
however. He's a fairly bright fellow with at least some understanding of
the basic elements of acting, although he'll never quite get to be an Al
Pacino. However, if you have any doubts about what he brings to this
film, I suggest you take a look at this original and compare it with the
sequel. At least both of the main stars know not to take themselves too
seriously on this outing.
Transfer Quality
Video
In keeping with my theory that the quality of a video
transfer is often inversely proportional to the quality of the film itself,
this is a well-rendered DVD. It is presented in the original theatrical
aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with 16x9 enhancement. While clarity is a little
lacking during fast-paced scenes, the sharpness of the overall picture
is wonderful, and the shadow detail is remarkable. The colours are very
strongly rendered, especially in scenes with unusual lighting schemes,
such as inside Colonel Perry's mobile base. There was some mild aliasing
from the usual culprits, but this could easily escape your attention when
you're not going over the picture with a hypersensitive eye. The film artefacts
were standard fare for most pre-1998 films, with a few spots in the odd
frame here and there. Although subtitles do not default to on with my trusty
Grundig, there have been reports of this happening with other players.
A minor annoyance which I will let slide.
Surprisingly, the photography in this film is quite
astounding, especially during the bus-versus-truck chase sequence in the
last third of the film. However, it is let down somewhat by the loss of
clarity in a couple of backgrounds, especially the moment where the bus
at the terminal pulls away to reveal a horde of policemen behind Veronica.
While these losses are minor, they are annoying. I cannot remember if they
occurred in the VCR and theatrical versions, but perhaps RSDL formatting
would have been preferable in terms of preserving background definition.
Thankfully, these slips in quality are few and far between.
Audio
Three languages are presented on this DVD, all in surround-encoded
Dolby Digital 2.0 - English, French, and Spanish. I listened to both the
English and Spanish soundtracks, although a lot gets lost in the translation
from English to Spanish, especially in terms of the specifics of the actual
UniSol project. The sound balance in this film is highly varied, however,
with the dialogue sounding muffled (and not just in Van Damme's usual muffled
way of speaking) while explosions sounded like, well, explosions. The dialogue
is reasonably easy to understand, except in one chase sequence where it
probably wouldn't make any difference, anyway. It does tend to have a rather
artificial ring to it, but I think that would be par for the course in
all Van Damme films. At least he doesn't use his trademark psychotic meowing
at any point in this film.
The music by Christopher Franke is so good
that I didn't even know it was his work until I started doing this review.
It's basically your average action movie fodder. On the positive side,
at least it didn't contain any lyrics, or have any rap numbers (which I
will get into later). Given how shallow and one-dimensional the characters
are, I guess it would have been asking too much to have a Wagnerian letitmotif-based
score. However, this is precisely what the film would have needed to suggest
something vaguely resembling a third dimension.
One thing I do not quite understand
is the uneven and imbalanced encoding of the Dolby Digital surround. Given
the relative youth of the film in question, I would have thought a Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix would have at least been a reasonable request, but it is
conspicuously absent. Total Recall,
which is a couple of years older, supports this option. Terminator
2, which is another couple of years older, also supports this
option. Why this film does not is rather beyond me, although given the
relatively short life-span it has had in the film buff's consciousness,
I guess we can live with it anyway. However, the manner in which the film
switches to use of the surround channels during action sequences, and back
again during dialogue sequences, gets on the nerves just a little. This
is a good disc to test whether your subwoofer is giving all it has, however.
Extras
The extras are average in quantity, and range from interesting
to blah.
Menu
A standard 4:3 menu with nothing particularly remarkable
about it except to say that it is much more pleasant to look at than others
of its kind.
Theatrical Trailer
The theatrical trailer is presented in the 1.78:1 aspect
ratio, and it is not 16x9 enhanced. It has a Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix
that, like most of its kind from its time, sounds like it is actually mono.
Before the trailer starts, the menu gives you a choice of subtitles.
Cast And Crew Biographies
This extra makes it worth having the disc by itself.
Did you know, for instance, that Dolph Lundgren's real name is Hans?
Or that he actually has a Master's Degree in chemical engineering? Or that
he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship To MIT in 1983? Hardly what you'd
expect from the man who came to prominence as Stallone's opponent in Rocky
IV, right? Similar things can be said about Jean-Claude Van
Damme (real surname: Van Varenberg), except that he doesn't
have any degrees or fellowships - he's still just a really bad actor.
Featurette - Behind The Scenes (6:47)
This is noticeably better than other featurettes of
this kind. It is presented in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, with Dolby
Digital 2.0 sound that also sounds like it is actually mono. Worth watching
just to hear producers Allen Shapiro and Craig Baumgarten
talk about the emotional range of Jean-Claude Van Damme's performance.
I live about twenty minutes away from a special hospital for the retarded
(it's on the same block as Westmead Hospital), a place where this kind
of performance gets churned out every day. The acting there is still consistently
better than JCVD's. Before this featurette starts, the menu also gives
you a choice of subtitles.
Music Video - Body Count's In The House
This is a music video for the song that begins the ending
credits. Ice T's real name is Tracy Marrow (or so
one source in the press says). He owns a prestige car company, and is about
the only "gangsta" that doesn't have any criminal convictions recorded
against him. In case you're wondering, I just went through all that to
demonstrate something - the song itself has about as much substance to
it as his "gangsta" posing. The video is also presented in a 4:3 aspect
ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound which sounds like mono.
R4 vs R1
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;
-
16x9 enhancement
-
Music Video
-
Cast & Crew Biographies
While I would have preferred 5.1 audio, this is countered
by the 16x9 enhancement. And while I'd gladly swap that masturbatory music
video for the teaser trailer, the cast and crew bios are just too hilarious
to go without. Stick with the Region 4 version for this film.
Summary
Universal Soldier is a vaguely good idea executed
on an average film that was ruined by some of the lamest sequels in living
memory, presented on a very good DVD.
The video quality borders on reference material.
The audio quality is reasonable, but should have
been much better.
The extras range from interesting and hilarious to
crappy.
Video |
|
Audio |
|
Extras |
|
Plot |
|
Overall |
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© Dean McIntosh
19th January, 2000
Review Equipment
|
|
|
DVD |
Grundig GDV 100 D |
Display |
Samsung CS-823AMF, 16:9 mode/4:3 mode, using composite
input |
Audio Decoder |
Built In |
Amplification |
Sony STR-DE835 |
Speakers |
Panasonic S-J1500D Front Speakers, Sharp CP-303A Back
Speakers, Philips FB206WC Centre Speaker, JBL Digital 10 Subwoofer |