Okay. So, I know what you’re thinking, ‘Universal Solider: Day of Reckoning? Why the hell should I care about the sixth entry in a series I haven’t thought about in twenty years, if ever?’ The answer is simple; the movie is damn good and incredibly ambitious. John Hyams’ second foray into the franchise after Universal Solider: Regeneration – possibly the best direct-to-video film of all time – is a mind-bending and incredibly violent epic that owes more to Apocalypse Now and Mulholland Drive than it does to the works of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. It is a film that demands to be seen by any serious fan of edgy action, especially those who haven’t seen any of the others.

Recently, I got on the phone with Hyams to talk about the Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins vehicle, which can be seen on On-Demand, iTunes and in select 3D theaters. During our extensive interview we discussed the visceral violence, early script drafts of Regeneration, his literary and film theory influences, the NC-17 cut of the film, the use of limited perspective, crazy IMDb message board theories, a potential Manchurian Candidate themed sequel, getting dropped by an agency, how A Sound of Thunder turned him into a neo-luddite and much, much, much more. Hit the jump for the full interview and the top 11 things to know about Hyams and his film. 

Okay. So, I know what you’re thinking, ‘Universal Solider: Day of Reckoning? Why the hell should I care about the fifth entry in a series I haven’t thought about in twenty years, if ever?’ The answer is simple; the movie is damn good and incredibly ambitious. John Hyams’ second foray into the franchise after Universal Solider: Regeneration – possibly the best direct-to-video film of all time – is a mindbending and incredibly violent epic that owes more to Apocalypse Now and Mulholland Drive than it does to the works of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. It is a film that demands to be seen by any serious fan of edgy action, especially those who haven’t seen any of the others.

Recently, I sat down with Dolph Lundgren to discuss his work on the film, which also stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins. During the interview we chatted about the horrors of being a Uni-Sol, The Punisher (1989), what his character was trying to tell Van Damme at the end of Regeneration, getting his doctorate in mechanical engineering and much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

A new red-band trailer has gone online for writer/director John Hyams’ Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, starring Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins and Andrei Arlovski. This trailer leans heavily on the psychological mind-fuckery that comes with being turned into a universal soldier, but it’s equally focused on the action as well.  The only downside is the intermittent blasts of seizure-inducing strobes that flicker over cast intros or quotes from movie sites.  If you can get through that without experiencing an epileptic event, then you’ll be sure to enjoy the brutality of this red-band trailer.  Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is available On Demand starting October 25th with a theatrical release on November 30th.  Hit the jump to watch the new trailer. 

You’ve already seen them in action in this summer’s The Expendables 2, but now  stars Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme are branching out for Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.  The first trailer for the John Hyams film puts Adkins in the hero role out for vengeance when he discovers his wife and daughter were slain at the hands of Luc Deveraux (Van Damme).  “The Muscles from Brussels” isn’t alone in his villainous role this time as he’s brought Lundgren along for the ride.  Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is available On Demand starting October 25th with a theatrical release on November 30th from Magnet Releasing.  Hit the jump to see the official synopsis and first trailer for Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, along with movie images and poster.

Last month, Fantastic Fest announced the first-wave of movies included in their line-up.  Today, they’ve announced Wave Two, and there’s even more greatness on the way.  The big name additions are Rian Johnson‘s Looper, the horror anthology The ABCs of Death, and the Ethan Hawke horror flick Sinister.  While these are awesome films to have in the line-up and they’ll unquestionably pack the house, Fantastic Fest is all about finding the smaller genre flicks, and there are fifteen smaller movies in addition to the three I mentioned above.  Add that to that the 18 movies in the first wave, and there’s already 36 movies to discover.

Hit the jump to check out the full second wave line-up.  Fantastic Fest 2012 runs from September 20 – 27th.

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren were at the top of their game back in 1992 when they faced off for the sci-fi action flick Universal Soldier, and since the two action stars are enjoying a sort of comeback with The Expendables franchise, why not have the film in which they battled have a resurgence as well? Deadline has word that Universal Soldier will have a comeback of its own in the form of a new TV series. Stargate writer Damian Kindler will script the series for Fremantle Media North America and executive producers Allen Shapiro and Craig Baumgarten, the duo behind the original film which followed two once-dead, biologically-regenerated soldiers (Van Damme and Lundgren) who turn against one another when one of them has memories of his previous life.

Details on a new series from Charles Segars, creator and executive producer of both National Treasure films, after the jump.