Universal Soldier
1992 · Directed by Roland Emmerich
Original language: English
- thriller
- action
- science fiction
The story
An American soldier who had been killed during the Vietnam War is revived 25 years later by the military as a semi-android, UniSols, a high-tech soldier of the future. After the failure of the initiative to erase all the soldier's memories, he begins to experience flashbacks that are forcing him to recall his past.
What it’s like
Gritty early-nineties action in washed-out, desaturated tones: dusty Nevada desert under hard noon sun, sickly fluorescent corridors of a military facility, and the smeared, grainy strobe of flashback memories bleeding in from Vietnam jungle. Director Roland Emmerich favors wide, slightly distant framing and rapid cutting during the set pieces, with muzzle flashes and explosions giving the frames sudden bursts of orange against cold blue-grey interiors. The score is synth-driven and pulsing, with brass stabs that punctuate the combat. The vibe is hard-edged, bruised and paranoid, the feel of a Friday-night rental with the lights low. Pacing is brisk and propulsive, with long stretches of tense quiet between explosive shootouts. The emotional register runs from cold machismo to a more fragile core: a damaged man slowly reclaiming his buried humanity, and a reporter drawn into his confusion. Intensity is high: frequent gunfire, brutal hand-to-hand fights, explosions, and some graphic bloodshed, with a few harsh moments of cruelty. Not gentle. For people who want muscular genre spectacle with a melancholy thread and a sense of dread about what the state does to its soldiers.
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