Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012) - Scott Adkins, JCVD, & Dolph Lundgren

[derwood]

Will check out EL Gringo today for Nought, love the Net!!!

El Gringo is good fun

[tenebre]

El Gringo was realy good!

So where do you all buy Aussie Blu rays from? I dont have a source for their stuff

[derwood]

being from Australia I actually tend to buy the UK releases as they are usually cheaper, but when buying locally I usually use JBHIFI as they are pretty reliable. Although I tend to impulse buy from their physical stores more than online!!

all media is pretty overpriced here in OZ, but thats a story for another thread:ooh:

[popsjnr]

Saw El Gringo and loved it, Adkins is on the way up no doubt about it, and about time too,

I am looking forward to Ninja 2 coz I really enjoyed the first one for what it was a fast paced enjoyable piece of fluff, which I think it was how it was intended.

But Scott!!! When's Boyka coming back????

[Jeru the Damaja]

Haven't seen El Gringo yet but definitely checking it out soon. Adkins also has a zombie flick called Re-Kill coming out that for some reason keeps getting delayed.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Adkins also has a zombie flick called Re-Kill coming out that for some reason keeps getting delayed.

Waiting for that one myself. He probably won't be doing any MA unless it's a move here and there, but hey......it's Adkins killing zombies. I'm down.

[One Armed Boxer]

Ok, I just got through watching this one, and reading through the thread gives me deja vu from reading the thread on the Stunt People's latest, 'Death Grip'...like that movie it seems the latest Universal Soldier is really splitting people down the middle with it's distinct and quite daring change of direction from just straight up action.

I for one loved it, and am looking forward to giving it a second viewing. Also like 'Death Grip', I've no doubt everything will make a lot more sense second time around, but I love how the story all came together. Interesting to read comments elsewhere from people questioning whether this is a continuation from 'Regeneration' or not, from my own point of view it very clearly is. The role Luc Deveraux is now in makes perfect sense to me as the logical progression from that final shot of him running into the unknown that closed out 'Regeneration', and I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that in 'Day of Reckoning' he continues to be a victim of the people that made him.

The movie nods its head to a lot of classics - 'Apocolypse Now, 'Memento', 'Terminator', 'Mulholland Drive' - it sometimes very much feels like a David Lynch inspired horror trip. But at the core it's still very much a Universal Soldier tale, it's just been wrapped up in a very unique way which has never been tried before, and for me it definitely pulls it off, although clearly not everyone feels that way.

Of course even for myself, I was most excited to see the action, I wasn't expecting a lot of it, but as long as it was high quality I was prepared to be satisfied. Thankfully it didn't disappoint, with all of the heavy duty cast members getting in on the action - Arlovski raids a brothel Terminator style culminating with a face off against Lundgren, Arlovski & Adkins duke it out not once but twice, the second time in a sports shop deserves to go down as one of the best fights of the decade, Adkins raids the underground lair in a stunning one-take shot that lasts for over a minute with a combination of guns and martial arts, leading to him facing off against Lundgren, and then Van Damme! I don't see how any action fan could be disappointed with this, nobody is wasted, the very fact Adkins gets to take on Arlovski, Lundgren, & Van Damme says that director Hyams knows what we as fans expect from a movie like this.

All in all 'Day of Reckoning' is not a cheerful movie, it's dark, grim, and unrelentingly violent, but it's told so well and so ambitiously that it can't help but be enjoyed. I definitely understand how it would split opinions, and no doubt it will continue to do so, but I'm happy to say for me it was a great movie experience.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Ok, I just got through watching this one, and reading through the thread gives me deja vu from reading the thread on the Stunt People's latest, 'Death Grip'...like that movie it seems the latest Universal Soldier is really splitting people down the middle with it's distinct and quite daring change of direction from just straight up action.

I for one loved it, and am looking forward to giving it a second viewing.

Glad to hear that you dug it! And you got to see it uncut!

[KUNG FU BOB]

The US region 1 release is NOT the uncut director's version, just to verify.

That's the bad news. The good news is that even with some of the violence edited, it's still a very cool movie. Also, there's an audio commentary by the director and Dolph Lundgren, and the hour and twenty minutes of "Making of" footage is really fantastic.

Still, very excited to get the reportedly uncut UK release of this when it comes out.

[ToryK]

I'm patient when it comes to everything but catching a movie I'm really looking forward to, so I went ahead and bought the US release. Won't get to watch it until Saturday, but I really hope the action doesn't lose TOO MUCH punch after all of the editing.

[derwood]

I really hope the action doesn't lose TOO MUCH punch after all of the editing.

TBH u only miss extra gore, there's a post earlier in this thread with a link to an article where John Hyams explains the cuts

----> Check It Here

BUT

if you're a fiend like me you'll want the extra gore

[One Armed Boxer]

Won't get to watch it until Saturday, but I really hope the action doesn't lose TOO MUCH punch after all of the editing.

Personally for me, unfortunately it would. The violence adds a lot of impact to the tale, especially how Andre Arlovski meets him demise, it's one of the shots that stuck in my mind after the movie had finished as just being one of those "wow" moments, and it's not even in the US edition.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I'm patient when it comes to everything but catching a movie I'm really looking forward to, so I went ahead and bought the US release. Won't get to watch it until Saturday, but I really hope the action doesn't lose TOO MUCH punch after all of the editing.

TBH u only miss extra gore, there's a post earlier in this thread with a link to an article where John Hyams explains the cuts

----> Check It Here

BUT

if you're a fiend like me you'll want the extra gore

Personally for me, unfortunately it would. The violence adds a lot of impact to the tale, especially how Andre Arlovski meets him demise, it's one of the shots that stuck in my mind after the movie had finished as just being one of those "wow" moments, and it's not even in the US edition.

I'm a stickler for wanting to see the "uncut" version of whatever I'm watching. But since the US region 1 DVD has extras (like the audio commentary) that I wanted, and I didn't want to wait, I decided I'd do a double dip on this title. Well, I watched the R-rated version, and I've gotta say- if I hadn't already seen the unrated version, and didn't know better, I'd have thought that this was an unrated version! It's still really bloody and graphic. I was disappointed by some of the missing stuff- especially one specific moment that One-Armed Boxer pointed out- but the cuts didn't ruin the film like I thought they would. So if you don't have a region free DVD player, the R-rated version is still worth seeing. But if you can play any region... you'll definitely want to see this uncut.

[ToryK]

I'm a stickler for wanting to see the "uncut" version of whatever I'm watching. But since the US region 1 DVD has extras (like the audio commentary) that I wanted, and I didn't want to wait, I decided I'd do a double dip on this title. Well, I watched the R-rated version, and I've gotta say- if I hadn't already seen the unrated version, and didn't know better, I'd have thought that this was an unrated version! It's still really bloody and graphic. I was disappointed by some of the missing stuff- especially one specific moment that One-Armed Boxer pointed out- but the cuts didn't ruin the film like I thought they would. So if you don't have a region free DVD player, the R-rated version is still worth seeing. But if you can play any region... you'll definitely want to see this uncut.

Yeah, the baseball bat to the head was the one part I REALLY wanted to see, but I guess I'll be fine. I'll be watching this in an hour or two. Yay, me!

[KUNG FU BOB]

Yeah, the baseball bat to the head was the one part I REALLY wanted to see, but I guess I'll be fine. I'll be watching this in an hour or two. Yay, me!

I absolutely loved the extras on this. But it was kind of a ballbuster that they cut out the super graphic baseball bat ending, yet they show it from several different angles in the making of footage! But... they censor the nudity in the BTS stuff?! What a strange world we live in.

[ToryK]

Watched it last night. An existentialist action movie...nice. Loved it, but I want to warn anybody who thinks it's going to be wall-to-wall action. Kinda-sorta spoilers. There's two brief skirmishes, a massacre, a car chase/fight scene that goes on for about 8 or 9 minutes, and the finale, where Adkins kills a bunch of UniSols, moves on to Lundgren, and then moves on to Van Damme, which goes on for about 10-11 minutes, altogether. The Arlovski fight and the finale are absolutely legend, though. Probably the best action movie of the year outside of The Raid and Looper. As for the story...

SPOILERS

Loved where the story went. The idea that Van Damme was presented as the antagonist when in reality, he is anything but, was pretty cool. Even cooler was how dark this movie gets. John's actually a pretty well-thought-out character. The movie ends with John (and the audience) finding out that his memories are a lie and Luc is innocent of the murders John has been fooled into believing he committed. John kills him anyway because the memories may not be real, but the pain is, very much so. Then he goes on to kill the government agent who's responsible for putting the false memories in his head in the first place, replacing him with a clone. He takes over where Luc left off, giving his life a purpose. Dark ending for an action film and it showed balls. Loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

[hanshotfirst]

Apparently this is Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning in the States. Peter Hyams won't be acting as DP this time, it seems. Redbox has it, I've been thinking about renting it just to see the fights. I haven't seen any of the other films, but I have a nagging feeling the plot won't be paramount...Glad to hear about the unrated DVD, it's one of the good things about today's market. Don't remember this hitting theaters anyway, it looks like it's more or less a DTV release that got a quick theatrical run to drum up interest.

[One Armed Boxer]

Apparently this is Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning in the States.

Yeah it went through a name change pretty early on in production, the title of the thread has just never been changed, we enjoy confusion.

I've been thinking about renting it just to see the fights. I haven't seen any of the other films, but I have a nagging feeling the plot won't be paramount

I think the reason I enjoyed the movie so much was because the fights are actually an integral part of the plot, they blend seamlessly together which makes it so good. I was surprised after watching it when I went to check out peoples reviews (my usual habit), a few people were saying it was a boring mess. Personally I thought it was a very brave and bold movie, and all the better for it, but to each their own.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I think the reason I enjoyed the movie so much was because the fights are actually an integral part of the plot, they blend seamlessly together which makes it so good. I was surprised after watching it when I went to check out peoples reviews (my usual habit), a few people were saying it was a boring mess. Personally I thought it was a very brave and bold movie, and all the better for it, but to each their own.

Yeah man, same here.

***SPOILER ALERT*** below...

When I saw this in the theater- the only screening of the uncut version on US screens, though it was going over really well, you could feel the audience starting to squirm a bit, like "What the Hell? Isn't Scott Adkins going to do his thing?". But after that buildup, when he punched that hurled, mid-air bowling ball the crowd went nuts! I think that slow burn of action, but not martial arts madness, made it that much cooler when he finally let loose. And it all made perfect sense within the parameters of the story. The movie is even more powerful and logical upon the second viewing.

[Tigerstyles]

Am I the only SEASONED one who thought this film really sucked ASS..

[KUNG FU BOB]

Am I the only SEASONED one who thought this film really sucked ASS..

Yes.

Haha ha... But you know what? I'm glad we all have different tastes. Otherwise things would get boring, like...

Hey, I saw SHAOLIN CRAB MASTERS and I thought it was excellent.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

Me too.

There are some films that most people really love that I just "don't get it" too. Seems like everyone I know digs the flick AZUMI. Ugh . For me, it misses in almost every way. Anyway, sorry to hear you didn't enjoy US4:DoR. BTW, I kept writing this loooong title out, until I saw Karlos abbreviate it like so in a PM. He showed me the light, and saved my battered typing finger (yup... only one ) from further hellacious spelling-it-out.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Am I the only SEASONED one who thought this film really sucked ASS..

No, you're not the only one. A buddy burnt me a bunch of new movies, and this was one of them... could'nt even finish it.

[KUNG FU BOB]

No, you're not the only one. A buddy burnt me a bunch of new movies, and this was one of them... could'nt even finish it.

Yo buddy, at least fast forward to the action scenes. I am not surprised that this film is getting such a love it or hate it reaction. But please trust me, the action scenes are great! Fast forward to the big truck chase, then start watching from the end of that. And then the finale is tops, including one of my favorite Dolph scenes ever.

[kingofkungfu2002]

The only thing I hated about the movie was those damn strobe effects. I mean I'm not epileptic but even I had to look away

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

I hate that too... not epileptic either but I can't stand strobes.

And KFB, I did sort of skip through some of the later action scenes but I had just stopped caring.