UHD 4K Blu-ray PictureUniversal Soldier makes its UK 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut courtesy of Studiocanal a day earlier than the Lionsgate/Studiocanal US release. It's another fabulous full-fat native 4K restoration from Studiocanal, doing a superb restoration job with the original 35mm print, remastered with Dolby Vision as the cherry on top.
The disc presents a 3840 x 2160p resolution image utilising the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of widescreen 1.85:1. It uses 10-bit video depth, a Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) in the form of Dolby Vision, and is encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec.
We reviewed the UK Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Universal Soldier on an LG 55B7 Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD OLED TV with an LG UP970 Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player.
Studiocanal continues its unpredictable selection of shot-on-film restorations for 4K, after a tremendous 2019 roster including The Deer Hunter 4K, Apocalypse Now 4K, Don't Look Now 4K, Angel Heart 4K, and even the Rambo Trilogy 4K, Cliffhanger 4K, Lock Up 4K and Red Heat 4K (with Leon 4K on the way). The results are stunning, and all the more impressive for universally wielding Dolby Vision too. Easily the best these films have ever looked, Universal Soldier's 4K presentation - continuing the run of somewhat surprising and unlikely 4K candidates amongst this selection, like Lock Up, Red Heat and arguably even Angel Heart - certainly isn't the exception to that rule.
Lovingly restored, there's a gorgeous amount of detail pulled from the image, evident right from the 'Nam opening, and particularly noticeable on the close-ups. Sure, it's a cleaner image, and the seeming lack of grain suggests a degree of digital manipulation, but thankfully the restoration work here doesn't rob all the underlying detail in its bid to clean up the image.
Of course, it's the WCG and HDR - here, Dolby Vision - that make all the difference at the end of the day, with dozens of stunning moments across the feature - a film which hitherto you may not have expected to provide anything approaching 'demo'. From the lush dark green jungle opening, beautifully peppered by gorgeous bursts of flame, and rich with inky blacks, all the way through to the desert chase sequence, which makes The Grand Canyon setting all the more stunning, transforming the barren landscape into a wondrous environment, with reds tweaked to make the orange sand rich and alive, and a gorgeous blue sky to cast it upon, this is a fabulous enhancement to the colour palette. And we're still back in the era of practical effects work here, so the explosions are all real, popping with savage fiery intensity and reminding you of just how good old film explosions can look. Excellent.
Universal Soldier UHD 4K Blu-ray SoundAlthough Studiocanal go that extra mile with Dolby Vision, it's sometimes a little disappointing that we don't get a Dolby Atmos remix, even if it is slightly more understandable given both the vintage and profile of the pieces. Universal Soldier was the last film to use the pre-DTS CDS Cinema Digital Sound system, which is often looked back upon as being a superior sound system. This all translates to a very good DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, even if it's nowhere near reference material.
Dialogue gets keenly disseminated throughout, rising above the action to get clear and coherent prioritisation. The score was actually by a former member of Tangerine Dream, Christopher Franke, who turns in his first solo major motion picture work here, even if the end result is marginally unrefined in action. As a curious irony, the latest DTV Universal Soldier sequels had scores which were purposefully designed to be Tangerine Dream in style, and are considerably more memorable as a result. Nevertheless, the score gets keen priority too, providing a near-consistent backing element for the surrounds to lap up. Effects are where it's at, with thunderous explosions thrumming with LFE intensity, some nice Desert Eagle booms and heavy machine gun fire, as well as all those over-exaggerated body blows commensurate with this kind of 90s action fare. It may not be a demo track, but it does a fine job with the material.
Universal Soldier UHD 4K Blu-ray ExtrasStudiocanal also does another good job on the extras front (again commendably porting them over to the 4K Ultra HD disc itself), with an assortment of decent additions.
Headlined by a couple of Director-driven Audio Commentaries, one of which comes with contributions from stars Van Damme and Lundgren, there are also a trio of Featurettes and an interesting Alternate Ending which has Platoon-esque overtones and was likely changed in much the same way as the original end of First Blood.
Universal Soldier UHD 4K Blu-ray Verdict 8 OUT OF10
Universal Soldier continues this year's impressive run of stunning native 4K restorations from Studiocanal, following Angel Heart 4K, The Deer Hunter 4K, Apocalypse Now 4K, Don't Look Now 4K and Cliffhanger 4K, Rambo Trilogy 4K, Lock Up 4K and Red Heat 4K. Although there's clearly a group of bona fide classics, and then a second group of action 'classics', if you're a fan, these are unequivocal must-have editions of the films.
Universal Soldier's UK 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc affords us not only stunning native 4K video but also added Dolby Vision enhancement, and with great audio and a welcome selection of extras, it remains another great release from Studiocanal, giving fans, without a doubt, the best possible definitive edition of this 90s actioner, a Van Damme / Lundgren favourite they likely never expected to hit the format.