Universal Soldier (1992)

Private Luc Deveraux and his sadistic sergeant, Andrew Scott, got killed in Vietnam. The army uses their bodies for a secret project - reanimating dead soldiers as deadly obedient cyborgs. However, their memories come back too.

Well-made, but silly action vehicle for its two muscle men would like to be as good as The Terminator, but isn't by a far cry.

Halliwell (no star): "Science-fiction hokum intended to boost the appeal of its two action stars, done with enough energy and containing more than enough mayhem to appeal to fans of action movies."

Maltin**: "Van Damme and Lundgren - well, it's not exactly Tracy and March in INHERIT THE WIND. Hunks are well cast as rival cyborgs...Has the requisite number of explosions. The director sly keeps the grocery store Muzak going during Lundgren's one big emoting scene - right after he eats raw meat from a bin."

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat.

A sequel omitting everything that made the original so entertaining: humor, irony, panache; the star cast are mainly stick figures in a CGI game with a ridiculous plot.

Independence Day (1996)

 

 

The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth; fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.

 

Successful rejuvenation of the 50s alien invasion/doomsday subgenre offers top-of-the-art special effects and action coupled with some good-natured tongue-in-cheek humor.

Halliwell*: "Enjoyably silly, jingoistic nonsense that found an appreciative audience for its sensational effects of blwing up the White House and most of the world; it sticks closely to the plot of The War of the Worlds, offering a technological version of a biological virus to knock out the aliens."

Maltin**1/2: "Spectacular - and spectacularly stupid - sci-fi saga...Big, Oscar-winning special effects are impressive, but the human stories are so dumb, the writing so lame, and some of the performances so broad they make some silly '50s sci-fi movies look brilliant by comparison."

 

 

White House Down (2013)

While on a tour of the White House with his young daughter, a Capitol policeman springs into action to save his child and protect the president from a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders.

From the director of Independence Day another piece of impossible and mindless mayhem, which again manages to be exciting and (I must admit) fun.

Maltin***: "Nutty and original, this action-filled popcorn movie is played "for real", then suddenly turns comedic; a moment later it asks you to invest in its characters and situations all over again. That it works is a testament to James Vanderbilt's clever screenplay, a top-notch cast, and director Emmerich, who keeps it all ontrack. Outlandish, inventive, and completely entertaining: a true guilty pleasure."