B's Remake Series: Universal Soldier

 Hollywood is the king of recycling. Every year there are movies and TV series in development, that are remakes, sequels, or spiritual continuations of successful properties.

This often done to invoke nostalgia, connect a property to a new generation. Or the biggest reasons, money and Hollywood is out of fresh ideas. When films are remade it's often to bring famous films to a new generation. Update a film that had a good plot and just failed in execution, or the technology wasnt there to fully flesh out the film. I will be providing a series of films, I believe are ripe for a remake in my "B's Remake Series". 

Starting off is 1992's "Universal Soldier"  starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. At the time Jean was becoming one of Hollywood's reliable action stars, while Dolph was not a bankable action star but had the size, menace, and enough acting to be a bad ass foe when one is needed. The poster featuring the two with machine guns in their hand, and their target head sets (dont know the actual term for them) and the trailer was all they needed to draw audiences in.

The film follows the two as reanimated soldiers amongst a team used for a secret military program. Both go rogue in their own way against the program, and against one another. The film put Jean Claudes martial arts skills against Dolph's brute force. There is some serviceable action scenes in the film, including the opening hostage scene, and a motel shootout. The Hoover Dam scene still holds up today with the introduction of the soldiers, the scene of them repealing down the Hoover Dam face first is a cool ass visual to this day. 

Where I think the film is ready for a remake almost thirty years later, is the technology behind reviving the characters  of Jean and Dolph. DNA engineering, stem cell use, and cybernetics are even more prevalent and has supporters and opponets more today than back in 1992. Even watching the movie when I was younger, I was intrigued by the idea of the 'Unisol" program as it's called in the movie. On the DVD there is a deleted scene where Jeans character meets the doctor who oversaw the program, it does provide some context but I believe was left out for pacing purposes. As such the movie leaves just enough information to let viewers know, theres way more to the story of that program. How their chosen, how their controlled, exactly what was done to these soldiers. It's a whole mythology behind it that should be explored further.

The film could also touch on the experiences of soldiers when their in war and the mental effects of it. The effects of PTSD is hinted at in the original, but I think there just wasnt enough known about it back then to elaborate on it in the film. That could be a subplot in a remake and play a role in the soldiers going rogue. 

There was a direct sequel released in 1999, that other then starring Van Damme didnt really connect with the original. Hell it left more questions then answers, if you're trying to make sense of the connection between the two. There's also been some straight to cable and DVD interations, that dont meet the standard the first film set. With Hollywood looking for old properties to revive, now is the perfect time for Universal Soldier.