UNIVERSAL SOLDIER - THE RETURN (NEW DVD UK IMPORT) STARRING JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAM

 

 

Universal Soldier: The Return is a 1999 American science fiction action film directed by Mic Rodgers made his directorial debut, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, professional wrestler Bill Goldberg, Heidi Schanz, Kiana Tom and Xander Berkeley as Doctor Dylan Cotner.

It is the second theatrical film in the Universal Soldier series, following two made-for-TV movies, Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business.

Plot

Seven years after the events in the first film, Luc Devereaux (Van Damme) is now a technical expert who is working with the government with his partner Maggie (Kiana Tom), who has been through countless hours of combat training with him, in order to refine and perfect the UniSol program in an effort to make a new, stronger breed of soldier that is more sophisticated, intelligent, and agile.

All of the new UniSols, which are faster and stronger than the original UniSols, are connected through an artificially intelligent computer system called S.E.T.H. (voice of Michael Jai White), a Self-Evolving Thought Helix.

When S.E.T.H. discovers that the Universal Soldier program is scheduled to be shut down because of budget cuts, it takes matters into its' own "hands" to protect himself.

Killing those who try to shut off his power, and unleashing his platoon of super soldiers, led by the musclebound Romeo (Bill Goldberg), S.E.T.H. spares Devereaux, only because Deveraux has the secret code that is needed to deactivate a built-in program that will shut S.E.T.H. down in a matter of hours. With the help of Squid (Brent Hinkley), a rogue cyberpunk, S.E.T.H. takes human form (White).

Not only must Luc contend with ambitious reporter Erin Young (Schanz), who would not leave his side, but Luc also must contend with General Radford (Daniel von Bargen) who wants to take extreme measures to stop S.E.T.H.. S.E.T.H. has arranged Romeo to kidnap Luc's injured 13-year-old daughter Hillary (Karis Paige Bryant), killing Maggie in the process.

Luc is the only person who can rescue Hillary, because Luc knows firsthand how a UniSol thinks, feels, and fights. Luc infiltrates the UniSol building, but finds Maggie, now revived as one of the UniSols. Luc and S.E.T.H. begin fighting each other in hand-to-hand combat at the end Luc freezes S.E.T.H. with liquid nitrogen, then shatters S.E.T.H.'s frozen body, killing him. Luc then engages into a fight with Romeo, which ends when Maggie finally rebels against the UniSols by shooting Romeo, and allows Luc and Hillary to get out of the building on time. However, the bomb that General Radford had placed was deactivated by S.E.T.H.. As Romeo and the platoon of Universal Soldiers start to march out for battle, Luc fires at the explosive charge blowing up the building, killing all the Universal Soldiers.