Universal Soldier (1992)

Score: 4 / 10
Category: Movie
Platform: Streaming

One-line verdict

Pure 90s muscle-action spectacle — fun in moments, but structurally careless and logic-light.

Why I watched this

I revisited this because I watched it as a kid. Back then I liked Jean-Claude Van Damme and couldn’t stand Dolph Lundgren, and I remember being genuinely disturbed by the brutality.

Watching it again 30 years later? Very different experience.

Story & Structure

The premise is simple: two soldiers fight during the Vietnam War and kill each other due to moral differences. Decades later, they’re revived as elite government super soldiers. Slowly, their old memories resurface, and chaos follows.

Conceptually, it’s fine. I don’t need hyper-realism.

But the execution is where it falls apart.

The logistics are sloppy. The chase sequences ignore basic cause-and-effect. Timing makes no sense. Vehicles appear and disappear based on convenience. And the biggest offender — Sarge surviving an exploding truck falling off a cliff and somehow knowing exactly where Luc is afterward — is the kind of plot armor that insults viewer intelligence.

It’s not just dumb. It’s lazy.

What worked

• Classic 90s action vibe.
• Physical presence of Van Damme and Lundgren.
• Straightforward, no-nonsense spectacle.

This was an era where audiences were there for muscular leads and explosions. And in that sense, it delivers what it promises.

What didn’t

• Glaring plot holes.
• Illogical survival moments.
• Weak narrative transition from Vietnam conflict to modern-day revenge.
• Scenes that prioritize explosions over coherence.

Fun action doesn’t excuse structural carelessness.

Final thoughts

Nostalgia aside, this doesn’t hold up well.

It’s not just flawed — it’s structurally sloppy.

The concept had potential, but the writing never respects consequence or logic.

This lands at a firm 4 / 10.

Entertaining in flashes.
But not disciplined filmmaking.