User Reviews

Well, oddly enough then I have actually never ever seen parts 2 and 3 of the "Universal Soldier" movies, but I have seen part 1 and all subsequent movies after the 3rd one. So as I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 1998 movie "Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms" here in 2021, of course I did so.

Now, of course I wasn't actually harboring much of any high hopes or expectations for writer Peter M. Lenkov and director Jeff Woolnough prequel, which I assume was a straight to video release as well. And why? Well, you take Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren out of the equation and add in unknown actors, the chances are not all that greatly in favor of the movie.

Sure, there were some established actors in the movie, but they were hardly suitable to substitute the likes of Van Damme and Lundgren, but then again, they weren't playing the parts of the universal soldiers. Now, I have no idea who Matt Battaglia (playing Luc Devreaux), nor am I familiar with Jeff Wincott (playing Eric Devreaux). The movie does have some familiar faces, with the likes of Gary Busey, Burt Reynolds, Barbara Gordon and Julian Richings on the cast list.

The storyline told in "Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms" was pretty straight forward. Now, it wasn't the most innovative of stories, nor was it the most well-thought through of stories, but it made for some passable, albeit mindless, action-packed entertainment.

Needless to say that "Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms", as a sequel, does have that usual sequel thing going on. Where it doesn't really live up to the things delivered by its predecessor. And that was the case for this 1998 movie as well. Of course it was. Sure, "Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms" was a watchable movie but it was hardly an outstanding or particularly memorable movie.

My rating of "Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. And while it is a watchable movie, this is hardly a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time.

I really didn't like the first Universal Soldier movie, so I didn't have high expectations for this one. Still, I got disappointed. The movie is twice as bad as the first movie. The plot is almost the same, but of course, they switched the cast. Van Damme and Lundgren is out, and instead we get to meet a guy I never had heard of before (Battaglia). In fact, he wasn't that bad, especially since the main thing about his part was to act as little as possible. They also added a couple of other known actors, such as Gary Busey and Jeff Wincott. Busey is OK as the bad guy, but it didn't help since his character was just stupid. Also be alarmed about this being an action movie, since it's not. There's hardly any action at all, and the small amount of action they give us is ultra low-budget and supercrappy.

I was excited to see there was a Universal Soldier sequel, but I was shocked to see how badly this film was made. Where to start? First of all the acting. Simple Awful. Bad Jokes and poorly acted out characters. Luc's fill in character is nothing compared to Van Damme, and speaks like a country bumpkin. I think the writers of this movie forgot an important part of continuity from the original film - Luc and his parents are French. Second the fight scenes and action. I felt like I was watching a Stone Cold Steve Austin Wrestling match. It's that bloody and it seems like the violence is there just for the sake of being there. The music that accompanies the fight scenes isn't so great either, which leads onto my next point. The selection of music for this film is quite diverse. One minute you think you're watching Forrest Gump and the next you'll think of Nice Inch Nails. Some of the music took away from the suspense and seriousness of certain scenes as well, and was just out of place. All in all, the music was inappropriate for this movie.

Finally, I'd like to close and say that the storyline had a couple of things going for it, such as Luc's older brother returning - this was a very good twist, but as for the rest of the film, it was simply woeful. You best be spending money on the DVD of the original Van Damme film that hit the cinemas.

I refer of course to the bit part in two Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes that constitute the peak of Matt Battaglia's career, prior to, and now that I think about it, even after this 'feature' film is taken into account.

Let's have no mistake here; it truly is appalling. Weapons' grade suckage. It's bad beyond even so-bad-it's-good, because it has absolutely no idea how bad it is. We're talking Nick Fury: Agent of Shield bad, but without the inherent absurdity of David Hasselhoff to raise it up to kitch bad. It just stinks, in every possible way. Let's count the ways, because it beats watching it.

A nominal leading man who has almost no lines in the film, and who spends most of it with his lips pursed like he's just pulled someone's finger and doesn't like the smell.

A bimbo who makes Erika Eleniak's performance in Under Siege look like it deserved an Oscar.

A score that could charitably be called eclectic, although "absolutely bonkers random" might be more appropriate.

A continuation of the random theme into the cinematography and editing. The shots and edits seem have been chosen by spinning the Wheel-O-Film-School-101, with a baffling mix of: slowmo; jump cuts; repeated cuts (showing Van Damme kicking a guy in the head 4 times is one thing; doing it for someone who's just standing up is... bizarre); and most peculiar of all, some PoV shots from unrelated mystery observers.

Gary Busey waddling around like a camp hippopotamus.

Dialog that's half exposition and half filler.

And worst of all, pacing that makes My Dinner With Andre look like Speed.

I could forgive almost everything else, but this movie is just such a pathetically dull, slogging exercise in mediocrity that commenting on it is far more fun than actually watching it. On a scale of American Ninja to American Ninja V, I give this film a rating of "American Ninja 4: The Abomination".

I watched this last night on Sci-Fi, and i felt obligated to write a review of how terrible it was.

The first point i make is advice to all casting and idiots who get involved with TV movies like this, Don't change the original cast, Matt Battaglia is in no comparison to Jean-Claude Van Damme both in martial arts and acting performance, and it is the same circumstance with Andrew Jackson who replaces Dolph Lundgren. Chandra West as Reporter Veronica Roberts gives a bad performance and nothing in comparison to Ally Walker who actually had talent in playing the part. I'm slightly concerned and confused as to why Burt Reynolds and Gary Busey sink this low, having said that Busey has never been big time i just miss the decent movies like lethal Weapon and Under Siege, Reynolds however has no excuse to be in this movie having done several classics before he should be able to pick roles well.

Overall the acting, stunts and fights are terrible, don't waste you're time.

1 out of 10, Bull crap!

This is quite possibly the worst film I have ever seen. It is sometimes so bad that you will laugh out loud. I can think of not one single positive thing to say about it and will finish merely by warning you not to waste 90 mins of your life with this absolute joke of a movie.

Apparently whoever made this horrible sequel didn't pay attention to the end of the first one, Andrew scott or GR-13 is ground up by a combine or wood mulcher of some sort at the end of the first one, unless they cloned him or something else before hand, i don't see them out there picking up little pieces of him to get him back together, and if they did no wonder in every plot line of these movies there is a budget cut. Think about how much it would cost the government to go out and search for little small pieces of a unisol, just to piece him back together, The labor alone would be worthless. Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb movie.

This is an all around horrible movie. First of, the actor who played Eric Deveroux would have been a more convincing Jean-Claude Van Damme type. He is probably the only one who even gave any effort to make this an alright movie. Terribly written, terribly directed, and terribly acted. Skip this, and rent "Universal Soldier 2: The Return."

I'd like to use words like dire, bad and absolutely awful but they just don't come close to describing just how bad this movie is. It's not well written, it's not well filmed, produced, directed, acted or casted. There are some films so bad that they're actually good... This is just bad. Really really really bad

Now - don't misinterpret the summary. By no means is this a good film, in fact it's far from it. But the point is, Universal Soldier was one of those films where a related sequel seemed impossible. And, thanks to these two TV made efforts and the dire Unisol: The Return, my theory is supported.

Anyway, down to business. This is a movie that should never have been made. Obviously Van Damme, Ally Walker and the other original cast members decided not to be a part of this so the producers brought in total unknowns, a very bad move. Matt Battaglia's acting is awful at the best of times and Chandra West tries way too hard to immitate Ally Walker's brilliant performance from the original film, and fails dismally. Gary Busey, once an awesome actor who nearly killed Martin Riggs and Casey Ryback throws his career away with the worst performance of his career. From Lethal Weapon to this, I can't believe it. I might add as well that he seems to developing a very, very weird vocal problem, it's almost as if he's got nuts stuffed in his cheeks. Burt Reynold's also gives us an appalling display, putting on the worst Irish accent I have ever heard.

The plot is virtually non-existent. In fact, I can't remember what it is actually. The director made a bad decision too by giving the rest of the Unisol's personalities, a feat copied by Mic Rogers for the 'Official' sequel. This basically makes them seem like human soldiers, not the souless, robotic types Roland Emerich created for the first movie which made it so believable.

I could go on forever, but I won't and will instead list the positive aspects. This film knocks spots off Universal Soldier: The Return as it at least tries to relate itself to the original. Starting with the head pieces, the leg implants, the heat monitor watch, Dr Gregor, Luc's parents and the laboratory in the truck (albeit a tiny, non-expanding one).

As I said, Universal Soldier is a film that cannot really be continued, and to be honest this film got as close as anyone could - presumably the action is continuing from where the first film left off, with Luc and Veronica still on the run.

So, the conclusion. This is a bad film. There is only one explosion and out of the two big name actors, they both give diabolical performances. However, in comparison to the Van Damme sequel, it really isn't that bad and any fan of JCVD or Unisol's should at least watch it once. 4 out of 10.

Universal Soldier was a pretty good Van Damme.flick with Dolph Lundgren. That film would be one of Van Damme's biggest successes as far as vehicles he starred in. That they could not get him to be in this thing eight years after the original and where his star power was basically gone should have let the filmmakers know that this would be bad. It is also bad in the fact that the first film was an action movie, but the makers of this film did not get that memo. Virtually no action the entire first hour of the movie unless you call driving car and riding in train action sequences! Not sure how they roped Burt Reynolds into doing this, Busey though, yeah, he was made for movies like this!

The story, well it tries to pick up where the first movie left off; however, the fact that they show the fight from that one with two new guys takes you right out of the movie. Probably best just to omit that part...well, new soldiers are made, Gary Busey is crazed with power and the reporter is going to save her man and not clear her name! I am guessing that will occur in the sequel to this. Meanwhile, Burt Reynolds does a horrible Irish accent. This all leads up to a mediocre duel in a bar where the hero has no real trouble taking out the bad guys...

The lead here is quite bland and speaks in such a boring tone. I mean Van Damme did too, but it sounded less disinterested than this guy does! Gary Busey is just insane and adds a really nice scarf while Burt remains hidden through much of the film. Seriously, this film looks worse than some of the SyFy shark films made by Asylum!

So if you have come to see your favorite undead soldier return...look for the movie with Van Damme as there was another sequel starring him out the following year. If you wanna see action, probably best if you watched the original. If you wanna see a bizarre looking dude play guitar and our hero sing along...this is the film for you!!!

This film essentially begins where its predecessor left off with the government agency responsible for the Universal Soldier program still actively pursuing their rogue mercenary "Luc Deveraux" (now played by Matt Battaglia). To that effect, having tracked him down through a small GPS chip embedded in his body, they then override his thought process and order him to rendezvous with them at a secret location which they have since relocated to in order to commence operations. And in addition to a handful of universal soldiers, the new supervisor in charge of the operation, "Otto Mazur" (Gary Bussey) also has at his disposal Luc's older brother "Eric Deveraux" (Jeff Wincott) who had been placed in a state of suspended animation following some wounds sustained in combat during the Vietnam War. What Otto Mazur doesn't realize, however, is that the sight of Eric, along with a reporter named "Veronica" (now played by Chandra West), has triggered something in Luc's subconscious which eventually allows him to reestablish some of his mental functions--with disastrous consequences for those seeking to manipulate him. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this sequel didn't have quite the same level of energy and suspense as its more successful predecessor. For starters, although Matt Battaglia performed adequately in this film, he seemed to lack the overall charisma that Jean-Claude Van Damme presented in the original movie. At least, that's how it seemed to me. Likewise, the rather generic made-for-television format didn't help much either. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a terribly bad film necessarily, I honestly wasn't that impressed with it, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

This sequel to "Universal Soldier" starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren is a made for TV movie starring Matt Battaglia, Gary Busey, Jeff Wincott and Burt Reynolds (using an Irish accent) that was made side by side with "Universal Soldier 3: Unfinished Business" with the aim of leading to a TV (that never happened)

Matt Battaglia replaces Van Damme, Andrew Jackson replaces Dolph Lundgren and Chandra West replaces Ally Walker

There are some impressive is set pieces and well directed action scenes however a ridiculous plot, poor acting and an over use of slow motion ruin the majority of it,

Burt spends the majority of his screen time talking on the phone in the shadows looking all mysterious. It's not until the very end do we see his face and it is revealed who he is, and what powerful position he holds.

I think had he been able to anticipate the success of "Boogie Nights" and his subsequent Oscar nomination for his performance, he may have been a bit more picky about what roles he was taking, and bided his time waiting for a quality script to keep the momentum of his comeback going. However his ongoing financial worries at this time, probably dictated he grabbed what ever work was offered to him as he made seven movies in both 1997 and 1999.

(1998) Universal Soldier II: Brothers In Arms SCIENCE-FICTION ACTION DRAMA/ COMEDY

Continued where the last "Universal Soldier" made for TV left off, with cyborg Luc Devereaux / GR44 (Matt Battaglia) where he's beating another cyborg to death, saving female reporter, Veronica (Chandra West). Meanwhile, discharged soldier, Otto Mazur (Gary Busey) double cross some North Korean officials, killing them off and collecting some diamonds after making them think they were going to be used to buy some 'Universal Soldiers'. We later find out that Luc has an older brother that's being held captive by the facility, to be turned into a Universal soldier, and will eventually going to reunite. Low budget and quite bad with terrible orchestrated action scenes.

I personally find this movie excellent. This movie is not for anyone, its only for people who can understand the story. The idea of using dead soldiers is genius and makes a great idea. The actors in this film are decent and one must remember that these are only TV actors. These are not really film actors. Matt was a guest on friends and most of these actors are usually guests so their acting ability is limited to their limited roles. Still I say the movie is excellent. The music in this movie is also great for people who can appreciate it. Most people would not like this movie as they don't understand the concept but I must say this movie is excellent, the acting is good, the story is good and the music is good.

A far from a perfect movie on various counts.The action set pieces are clunky, the dialogue interminably dire, and the plot beyond non-existent.The 'performance' strewn from Matt Battaglia manages the near impossible task of making one yearn for the acting prowess of a Van-Damme or a Lungren.Never have I been less excited at the prospect of near invincible super soldiers than when navigating this film. You may now be justifiably wondering why i have awarded this film the remarkably high score of nine out of ten?GARY BUSEY!Thats right;all Its many many flaws are entirely belittled by the awesome sight of Gary Busey outdoing himself(this being no meagre task)I give it nine out of ten for his performance alone:watch it!

[Just in case you don't know, this is an 'un-official' sequel to Universal Soldier. The 'proper' sequel is Universal Soldier: The Return.]

To make a decent, or semi-decent action film, a budget is somewhat obligatory. With Universal Soldier II, someone clearly forgot this rule or squandered the whole thing on getting Gary Busey, Jeff Wincott and Burt Reynolds to humiliate themselves. (The lack-of-budget theory is backed up by the end credits which say 'sponsored by Canada' or something equally silly.)

To be fair on the film, some people do look like they're trying. Matt Battaglia looks desperate to pretend he's acting, and the woman has a good go at delivering her dodgy lines. The director appears to have made the most effort by using numerous camera gimmicks to liven up the non-action. Sadly, these gimmicks are off-putting, look stupid and just highlight the boredom of the boring bits (i.e. 90% of the film).

The most enjoyable aspects of the film, were a) Gary Busey (who seems to be developing a very strange vocal problem) acting badly and b) Burt Reynolds (unseen most of the time) putting on the WORST irish accent of all time and also acting very badly.

Seen as a double-bill with Universal Soldier III, and with a healthy dose of alcohol, this could be a good evening's entertainment, but only in a so-bad-it's-actually-bad-but-funny way.

Perhaps a triple-pack of Universal Soldier II, III and 'The Return' could be marketed as some sort of torture weapon.

I had a blast watching this movie as a child!

Matt Battaglia and Burt Reynolds at their finest like in Raven!

This movie has everything1 Busey! Battaglia! Reynolds! Now it's safe to say that I'm a pretty big Busey enthusiast, but I also know a great movie when I see one. The martial arts used in this film are extraordinary, even better than the karate used in Ghost Rock, another Busey classic!

The choice of Matt Battaglia to play Luc Devereaux is one of the finest acting decisions of all time! He is unbelievable! His performance is up there with the all time greats of Brando as Terry Malloy, Olivier as Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Busey as Chet Stedman.

The plot speaks for itself. If Busey, Battaglia, and the great Burt Reynolds agreed to shoot it, then you shouldn't worry about it. Only three words can describe this film...Busetastic! Busetastic! Busetastic!

AGH! I was lucky that I never spent money on hiring this out. I caught this about 1am a few months ago and decided to see it cause I had seen the first film and quite liked it. The only problem was I thought Van Damme was in this flick because I had seen a promo for it somewhere, now I know that there is another sequel (Um, how stupid is that anyway!!) This one was done before the Van Damme sequel so they must have decided they wanted a completely different storyline to end the Universal Soldier saga.

Anyway, back to this film. Well, I don't think I can really add much to what the others have said. Everything is just terrible, the acting, man that guy playing Luc is meant to act like he doesn't quite understand somethings, but he comes across as being so incredibly dumb! His fighting was appaling, the dialog was awful.......like I said, everything was shocking. Another thing I found so off-putting was how predictable this movie was. Just by looking at the title you know what its going to be about - and the eventual outcome as well.

If the original actors had been in this it would have been better, but it still wouldn't have made up for the terrible script. By all means please avoid this flick........and it's sequel cause that's just as bad!

Matt Battaglia picks up the character of Luc Devereaux where JC Van Damme left off. This again sees him going AWOL but brings in other characters (including his reanimated brother Eric) and has yet more secret Government conspiracy in the shape of Gary Busey and Burt Reynolds.

This "made-for-TV" film is a poor distant relative of the first Universal Soldier. I'm not saying the first one is a great film (it's an OK action movie) but if the first one was the President of the USA then this film would be the equivalent of his white trash, wife-beating drunken brother living in a trailer in Louisiana - it's that embarrassing to compare them.

This fails in every aspect of what should be good in a film. The plot is lazy and relies on coincidence or unlikely events to move it on. A lot of things are either unbelievable or glossed over without explanation. However this is an action movie - so if the action is good then it matters less yeah? Unfortunately the action is poor, there's one explosion and all the fight scenes make WWF look fast and exciting, none of these guys have any moves or speed. The action only has one good touch - where an explosion is set to classical music - however even this is a rip off of John Woo (remember "over the rainbow" in Face/Off?).

The acting is lamentable. Battaglia's wooden performance will make even the hardest critic think that maybe Van Damme isn't that bad an actor after all. Jeff Wincott as brother Eric is not as wooden but still acts like he's being forced to do something he's not comfortable with. Chandra West as reporter Veronica should provide the human element to proceedings but all she is left with is rubbish one-liners and an unrealistic sense of calm. As for Burt Reynolds and Gary Busey.....I could fill a page with my comments on them.

Reynolds spends most of the film in the shadows (I understand why) and delivers a rubbish accent throughout - why does someone who just got a career boost with Boogie Nights (and to a lesser extent Bean) commit to appear in this type of rubbish. Not even once but again in Universal Soldier 3!! It also is sad to see Gary Busey do another low-rent villain in a rubbish film - it's hard to believe that he is very well known and once did some high-profile films. This is yet another flush on the toilet that is his recent career.

The direction is so-so, relying on editing that Homicide: Life on the Street did years ago. Slow-motion, "jumping" edits etc all make the film a little more interesting but really they're stolen from better directors and cannot achieve the impossible feat of saving this.

This is a boring, poorly acted, poorly plotted "action" movie. Please avoid this vacuous piece of twaddle. Oh and if you enjoy this or think that it's good then you deserve a slap.