UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (John Hyams, 2012)

[savagesketch]

It was probably a wise idea for Sony and Magnet to keep this a limited release, as opposed to going wide with it... However, I can't help but wonder if it was a little more on the same level as the first, wasn't as avant garde, and brought back both JC and Dolph as the two main leads for the duration of the film, if it would have performed better...

Was it a different film that was refreshing? Yes. But was it something that was going to gel and sell well with audiences? Not so much. A drastic departure from the previous films in tone and story, mixed with the fact that the two leads are barely even in it was a huge detractor...

[Jox]

I think the biggest mistake is to have released it on VOD first and not having marketed it other than online (don't think regular people even knew about it). Also, as Hyams said himself, being called a "Universal Soldier" movie hurt it, the movie is actually more suited to Terence Malik audiences but they sure wouldn't walk in a UNISOL movie even with rave reviews...

[Jox]

German back cover

[Jox]

Special engagement January 11–13 at the Brattle Theater, Cambridge, MA
http://brattlefilm.org/2013/01/11/unive ... reckoning/

[Jox]

French ad

[Jox]

SYDNEY/MELBOURNE JANUARY 7 SCREENINGS:
WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO THE VIP SCREENING OF UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 4

http://www.zooweekly.com.au/win-stuff/w ... dier-4.htm

Twitch's Best of 2012: Hidden Gems
http://twitchfilm.com/2012/12/twitch-be ... -gems.html

Peter Gutiérrez - Contributing Writer

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (dir. John Hyams)

Could it be that I've been writing about the genre for too long, to the point where I've lost all perspective? If that's what you feel after hearing me claim that Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning was the best horror movie I saw all year, I won't disagree with you. I will, however, take on those who contend that there was a more thoughtful, serious-minded, yet utterly nihilistic U.S. release in 2012.

Without really offering the prospect of anything redemptive, John Hyams' film provides a nightmarish deconstruction of every laughably macho violent action movie ever made. Indeed, for all its chaos and detachment, there's a warm beating heart that wants to show us the coldness of the genre when it lies to us by trying to come across as noble and/or sentimental. Contrast this uncompromisingly brutal and honest approach with that of The Expendables 2, which strategically featured the death of a young cast member in its villain-intro scene. We're supposed to care deeply about this, despite the fact that, um, the name of the franchise is "The Expendables," and countless young "bad guys" are also slaughtered.

But I digress. Underseen because it's the latest installment in a long-running series and also because it features two stars from the aforementioned brain-dead Expendables flick (and therefore is easy to dismiss as a second-rate version of a big budget actioner), USDOR was not discovered by the horror fans who would have loved it. Just consider its labyrinthine climactic sequence, with Dolph Lundgren as a cheerful zombie, and Jean-Claude Van Damme as a chilling Colonel Kurtz-like character. (Little known fact: Scott Adkins plays the same character in Zero Dark Thirty. No, I'm kidding, but watch both films that way and they become more interesting than they already are.)

[Jox]

Available as BD+DVD combo in Canada

[Jox]

Official press release
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/32648 ... koning-dvd

“Intense, brutal and beautiful all at once.” - Fred Topel / CraveOnline.com

“One of the best action movies of the year.” - Eric Kohn / Indiewire

Action Legends Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren Are Back
For the Ultimate Battle Between Soldiers

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER:
DAY OF RECKONING

Available January 22nd On Blu-ray™ and DVD

Special Features Include Commentary with Director John Hyams and Lundgren,
And In-Depth, Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes Featuring Cast & Crew Interviews

Action legends Jean-Claude Van Damme (The Expendables 2) and Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables 2) are back for the ultimate battle between soldiers in UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING, available January 22nd on Blu-ray™ and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Scott Adkins (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) Former Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski join Van Damme and Lundgren for the latest action-packed chapter in the series. This time, an army of Universal Soldiers has gone A.W.O.L. and only one man can stop them.

Director John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Regeneration), hailed by the Village Voice as a leading candidate for best action director working today, returns to the franchise to deliver all of the hard-hitting fight scenes and pulse-pounding action sequences fans have come to expect, while injecting hyper-stylized, eye-popping visuals into the franchise.

The Blu-ray and DVD are loaded with commentary by Hyams and Lundgren, along with three all-new behind-the-scenes featurettes, all featuring cast and crew interviews. “Coming Into Focus” looks at the characters in the film, the making of several sequences, and the challenges of shooting those scenes. “There Is No End” chronicles the final scene along with the weapons and stunts used to create it. In “Production Wrap,” cast and crew discuss the production of the film, along with an in-depth look at some of the last days on set, fight rehearsals and stunt choreography.

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING was directed by John Hyams from a screenplay by Hyams, Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenhalgh and a story by Hyams and Moshe Diamant. It was produced by Diamant and Craig Baumgarten.

Special Features
•Commentary with director John Hyams and Dolph Lundgren
•Three Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes:
- “Coming Into Focus”
- “There Is No End”
- “Production Wrap”

Synopsis
John (Adkins) wakes up from a coma to discover his wife and daughter were slaughtered in a brutal home invasion. Haunted by images of the attack, he vows to kill the man responsible, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme). While John tries to piece his reality back together, things get more complicated when he is pursued by a relentless UniSol (Arlovski). As John gets closer to Deveraux and the rogue army of genetically enhanced warriors led by back-from-the-dead leader Andrew Scott (Lundgren), John discovers more about himself and begins to call into question everything he believed to be true.

[Nathan]

Ummm...there's a spoiler on the German back cover..wtf

[leigh1975]

Out of interest... seeing as Orlosvky and even smaller parts like Kristopher Van Varenberg's character came back from the last film, is there any reason why Mike Pyle didn't return at all? Did he turn the role down, or did Hyams not want to use him again for some reason? Even though this one is listed as a semi-sequel, Pyle's last scene in Regeneration is one hell of a set-up to ignore.

[Jox]

Ummm...there's a spoiler on the German back cover..wtf

It's been everywhere anyway (as well as other spoiling pics from the Adkins/DL fight.

Out of interest... seeing as Orlosvky and even smaller parts like Kristopher Van Varenberg's character came back from the last film, is there any reason why Mike Pyle didn't return at all? Did he turn the role down, or did Hyams not want to use him again for some reason? Even though this one is listed as a semi-sequel, Pyle's last scene in Regeneration is one hell of a set-up to ignore.

The set up from the REGENERATION ending is just a concept, the idea that this goes on and on (which is confirmed by US4), whether it's Pyle clones or someone else's isn't the point. He could have shown any other character being cloned again. Pyle was on an earlier concept storyline for the project that was dropped. Then I don't think he was meant to be in it anyway.

Not a big loss for me, he seems like a nice guy and got the job done in US3 but he's not an actor and doesn't carry enough on-screen charisma to keep me interested.

[leigh1975]

Ah, I thought it was as simple as Hyams not enjoying working with him.

[Jox]

Nah...

[Geoff]

Well for all the comments I watched this last night for the first time and have to say I agree with the reviews on it being the most bizarre and intense film that I have seen in ages. D was under used again though (as was my thought with Regeneration) and steals the show as he normally does. Only thing I would say though was that it was a little long!

[leigh1975]

Well for all the comments I watched this last night for the first time and have to say I agree with the reviews on it being the most bizarre and intense film that I have seen in ages. D was under used again though (as was my thought with Regeneration) and steals the show as he normally does. Only thing I would say though was that it was a little long!

I don't think a character like Scott can be used all the time for the types of films UNISOL are these days. To have Dolph doing this performance through the whole film would be at odds with the tone Hyams is going for. In an odd way, I think Dolph is used perfectly in this film.