Bill Goldberg, Heidi Schanz, Jean-Claude Van Damme

Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux is back. Jean-Claude Van Damme gallantly attempts to resurrect interest in his tepid career with this action-riddled roller-coaster ride. Set in the not-too-distant futu...( read more  read more... )re, Deveraux has been employed by the government to oversee the new UniSol project. What is UniSol? It's a military plan to turn dead soldiers into invincible fighting machines (see the first Univeral Soldier for more details). It's also the scheme that went horribly wrong when the soldiers turned psycho, killing the scientists who created them. Not deterred by this early setback, the government replicates the project. This time they figure that they can control the soldiers through a supercomputer called SETH (kind of like HAL in 2001, but smarter). But, as we all know, machines frequently break down. Pretty soon the computer comes to the conclusion that it's superior to humans and therefore it must destroy them. Uh oh.

Van Damme to the rescue. The muscles from Brussels heroically leap into action confronting the dangerous soldiers led by Bill (WCW) Goldberg and Michael Jai White (last seen in Spawn). The action is impressive and the stunts are engrossing. Goldberg is charismatic as the cartoonish villain who sneers and snouts while muttering macho things like, "I'm gonna kill that guy." Van Damme looks more at home in a production that he is not directing, and for once he lets his fists do the talking. Ironically, the movie is missing the gloss and big-budget pathos of its predecessor (created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich), making the original decidedly better. --Jeremy Storey

Flixster Users

37% liked it

12,269 ratings

R, 83 min.

Directed by: Mic Rodgers

Release Date: December 1, 1999

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: August 28, 2001

Stats: 711 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (711)


  • May 26, 2008
    The US Government decides cut funding and shut down the Universal Solider program. The super computer S.E.T.H has other plans and termination is not apart of that plan. S.E.T.H. over runs and takes control of the Universal Solider laboratory. Now in control of the command center ...( read more)and all of the Universal Solider drones, S.E.T.H. plans his rebellion and domination of the world. Now the only hope mankind has is in the hands of a former Universal Solider once again, named Luc Deveraux.
    Universal Soldier: The Return is a simple popcorn movie. The sequel to the hit Universal Solider, The Return is something you would find on USA, Spike, or the Sci-Fi Channel. The whole point of this movie is to entertain like all popcorn flicks. Jean-Claude Van Damme does his usual stick as the hero and does a few fancy movies. Is this movie a bad movie? Yes this is a bad movie, but a fun bad movie. Everyone has a few. Universal Solider: The Return gets two round house kicks out of five for the sheer popcorn fun the movie produces.
  • October 30, 2007
    Van Damme Naked whoohoo at that bum shot! ;D!!! lmao!
  • July 29, 2007
    Unnessary sequel you decide.
  • December 5, 2006
    Aren't all of his movies about the same. Blah blah blah kick some Ass. They are vaying in entertainment but all the same movie.
  • October 31, 2006
    stupid fuckin story!
  • November 3, 2009
    Jean Claude van damme; Bill Goldberg; and Michael Jai White, thats da best combinations! Nice Action!
  • September 25, 2009
    The first one was big, stupid and fun - mainly thanks to Lundgren. This one is neither big nor fun, just stupid. Example: Van Damme used to be one of these so he knows how strong they are yet he STILL continually tries to kick them to death...in vain. Poor film - unsurprisingly.
  • August 15, 2009
    "Universal Soldier: The Return" isn't what you think it might be if you saw the original Universal Soldier movie that starred Van Damme. Jean-Claude Van Damme is not one of the universal soldiers in this movie, he's a human going up against many evil universal soldiers including ...( read more)wrestling star, Goldberg, and Seth (martial artist, Michael Jai White).
    "Universal Soldier: The Return" isn't really a good movie, but it does have a lot of good special effects, and fighting sequences. The first 50 minutes of the movie isn't that great, but the last 40 minutes of the movie is some of the best action and fighting sequences I've seen in awhile. If you like Van Damme movies or movies with some good action, I recommend seeing "Universal Soldier: The Return." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. 40 minutes of great action, otherwise, eh.
  • July 6, 2009
    another one for the library.
  • June 19, 2009
    great film 10 out of 10

Critic Reviews


No recent reviews.

Comments


  • mgemini26
    September 7, 2007
    o crapper the return is ok not is good as the frist one dolph lungren made the movie sweat !!!

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Official Trailer

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Private Benjamin
    Private Benjamin (75%)
  • Universal Soldier
    Universal Soldier (83%)
  • The Hard Corps
    The Hard Corps (100%)
  • Universal Soldiers
    Universal Soldiers (100%)

Theater Showtimes & TV Listings


Universal Soldier - The Return Trivia


  • Jean-Claude Van Damme is in the movie 'Universal Soldier: The Return'.  Answer »

Movie Quizzes


No quizzes for Universal Soldier - The Return. Want to create one?

Video Clips


No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Recent News


No recent headlines. Got one?

Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?