Universal Soldier (1992/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: C+    Film: C+

 

 

After many forgettable sequels, Roland Emmerich’s Universal Soldier (1992) is a barely discussed, semi-popular action film with some Science Fiction that helped Jean-Claude Van Damme and should have done more for co-star Dolph Lundgren.  We previously covered a very basic DVD of the film from a Van Damme DVD set at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5670/Van+Damme+Collector's+Set+(Lions

 

 

For a film shot in real anamorphic Panavision, the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is a disappointment and should look far better than it does here, as shot by Director of Photography Karl Walter Lindenlaub, B.V.K.,    barely looking better than its DVD counterpart, some of which only had Dolby 2.0 Stereo soundtracks.  We get DTS HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 sound, but it hardly sounds as good as it might have in its original digital sound release in the brief-lived, now defunct CDS (Cinema Digital Sound) format.  This was originally a 4.1 mix.

 

Unfortunately, this sounds second generation and needs an upgrade from the original audio sources.  Down the line, Lionsgate will have to redo this, but this should keep fans until then.

 

Of course, the approach to Vietnam was lame to begin with and is more obviously lame than ever considering the U.S. has found itself in a similar situation again.  If anything, Universal Soldier seems like another bad 1980s film based on the great lie we could have “won” Vietnam and is the kind of film that sadly helped history repeat itself.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo