Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Soldiers Luc Deveraux and Sgt. Andrew Scott killed each other in Vietnam. But their demise proves to be just the beginning for the U.S. government, which brings both men back to life decades later for a secret anti-terrorism program. Known as "Unisols," the genetically enhanced soldiers are now unstoppable killing machines without feelings or free will. But when Deveraux's memory of his old life starts to resurface, he escapes from the program to find his way home, spurring Sgt. Scott to engage him on a superhuman chase across the country...leading to the ultimate clash.

I’ve always felt that this was one of Van Damme’s better action films and didn’t lead into the cheese that his films later became. Sure the concepts are a bit farfetched, but the production values and action sequences were fun enough. There are even rumors of a new film in the works!

The HD presentation is far better looking than I would have imagined and Lionsgate has done a great job with this one. The image is in pristine condition and shows great depth and fine detail. You can tell it has been cleaned up quite a bit, but fine detail doesn’t seem to be affected. Dimensionality is strong and colors are faithful to the era with a slightly muted quality. Shadow detail is good though some of the darker sequences have some slight noise and blur.

The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio but lacks the presence of most modern day soundtracks. The action sequences are pretty intense but the soundtrack lacks that airy spatial quality of the more recent films we’re seeing on the format. Dynamics are good and bass extension is impressive at times but there is a small amount of tinge that makes for an edgy mix. Surrounds do a good job of opening up the mix but some of the surround effects sound a bit gimmicky.

The Blu-ray presentation features an alternate ending along with some production features that look at the making of the film and feature some interviews. A feature length commentary and trivia track are also included.

Van Damme fans will be more than happy with this presentation. While the film does have a dated feel on the action side, it is still one of the stronger catalog titles for the action star and Lionsgate has done a good job with the presentation.