Cyborg (Widescreen/Full Screen)

 

 

Create your own review

Cyborg,released April/89,was his second film after the groundbreaking film Bloodsport,released a year earlier.It's a futuristic potboiler and Van Damme's character of an intense,gunslinger for hire,shows alot of depth and is much more than just a one dimensional figure.Directed by the eclectic Albert Pyun,the movie at times has a "The Good,The Bad and the Ugly" feel to it,while the sound effects(punches especially)sound like they're straight out of a 70s Hong Kong movie.
The story involves one Gibson Rickenbacker(Van Damme)who is called a "slinger",someone who basically is protection for hire,in this post apocalyptic world.The reigning band of no good-nicks is head by Fender Tremelo(Vincent Klyn)who wants this warped world to stay like it is so he can reign supreme.However an underground group implants a cyborg(Dayle Haddon)with the formula for a cure to the plague that stains the land,and she heads to Atlanta where a like-group of individuals is awaiting her arrival to perfect the cure.
When the cyborg's protection is taken out Gibson agrees to take her to Atlanta.Fender and his gang are not far behind though and they capture the cyborg and take her to Atlanta themselves so they can control the cure and thus become demi-gods of sorts.
Gibson recovers from his clash with Fender and meets up with another young lady named Nady(Deborah Richter)who implores him to follow the cyborg to Atlanta and to protect her.Off they go but Gibson has other thoughts than just protection on his mind.It seems that Gibson at one point some years earlier had had a family of his own.It had started out as just a slinger protection job of a mom and two children.However once Gibson had gotten them out of the city and to a seemingly safe area,they fell in love and it looked like Gibson was giving up slinging and settling down.However enter Fender and his boys and girls and they tied Gibson,the mom and one child up with barbed wire,and dangled them in a well.The mom's other child stood by the well with the gang where she was given the end of the barbed wire to hold onto.She tried to hold them up but the weight was too much and the three plunged into the well.The child and mom perished while Gibson barely made it out alive.Fender took the remaining child with him.
With vengeance burning in his heart Gibson and Nady are hot on Fender's trail.Gibson catches up to Fender in an old abandoned factory where Nady is captured and injured.Gibson is forced to confront the gang but the odds are against him and he is forced to flee,carrying Nady.Gibson goes underground through a sewer and comes out into an open swampy area.Nady eventually comes to but Gibson cannot fight the onslaught of Fender's numerous gang members.He is captured,beaten and is crucified(nailed to a cross-actually a plank across a mast of a ship).
Fender continues to Atlanta but Gibson,while down is not out.Still surviving until the next morning the continuous pelting of bad memories of the family he lost give him reason to live.He is able to topple the mast and Nady reappears to help him out the rest of the way.
Gibson and Fender,in a rainy night in Georgia,have their final showdown.It's High Noon but at night and it is one spectacular fight scene.Fender dominates most of the fight until finally Gibson gets the upper hand and stabs him.It is now revealed that one of the young girls with Fender is none other than the daughter who survived the death of her mother and sister in that well years before.They hug but Fender suddenly arises again to wreak more havoc.Gibson with all his remaining strength sends Fender airborne with a flying kick which propels him backwards and onto a hook.While Gibson is reunited with the girl he hadn't seen for years,they both mourn the loss of Nady who died trying to intervene with Fender.Gibson escorts the cyborg to the labs where he is asked to join them.He refuses and off he and his new charge go to new adventures.
Director Pyun like visuals in his films and this one is no different.His placement of his actors is very important to convey a strong sense of menace and evil.The only person who knows of Gibson's past is Gibson himself and reminds one very much of the Man with no Name.Pyun is well known to be an admirer of Sergio Leone.And of course there are Pyun's symbolic touches(no holds barred or apologies) as in the scene of Gibson crucified.Like Christ himself you know Gibson will arise again to cleanse the sins of the world;in the form of Fender.
Pyun also makes great use of lighting and its contrasts.Watch for the scene in the sewer where Gibson flees through.There is a beautifully framed shot of Van Damme with legs spread horizontally between two concrete abutments above the sewer bottom;this predates by four years his famous "splits" on the kitchen counter in Time Cop.With subtle lighting above Van Damme his pursuer unknowingly passes right underneath him and he dispatches the bad guy in an instant.The plot may be thin at times but Pyun's direction,the editing and the bigger-than-life nature of the characters carries the film to a satisfactory conclusion.I found myself yelling out loud at Van Damme during the finale as if I was at a live event.Not something I do too often.
Technically the film has been transferred well and is in a 1:85:1 a/r,along with a fullscreen version. This is a one sided DVD and comes in a thick keepcase.Other than the theatrical trailer there are no special features at all.
As Van Damme films go this one(one of his earlier efforts with his star on the rise)is a good one which his fans especially will enjoy.You will notice the names of the good and bad guy are those of brands of guitars,but they could have been called Mickey and Minny for all that it mattered;the names are an identification mark and nothing more.The director makes the characters larger than life and it is they,rather than the plot,that really carry the picture.Pyun utilizes many interesting influences here not the least of which are the Hong Kong quickies and the westerns influence of the Man with No Name films.Recommended.

As far as JCVD movies are concerned this is terrific, and anyone expecting Schindlers List stay clear. I will recommend this movie to people who are fans of movies like Soldier (Kurt Russell) and even the other Albert Pyun movie Nemesis. Hey, i would go as far as saying that this film shares many qualities as Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. They both take the cake for having the best villians in the history of cinema, Fender and Vernon Wells. This movie really is a guilty pleasure and also contains many disturbing scenes and religious undertones predominant in the sci-fi genre; such as Blade Runner, but it also manages to understand clearly what kind of movie it is trying to be - a gritty and scary martial arts flick! I'll back this film up and also the underrated Christopher Lambert flick Fortress till the day I die. Just don't expect an intellectual martial arts film, I even doubt if there are many, except for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix and any other that takes itself too seriously. Just expect a good old fashioned B-Movie to watch with a couple mates and a 6 pack of beer with some intelligent (arguable) ideas padded throughout. The DVD is worth purchasing, as it features an interesting 8 page booklet, a fine non-anamorphic widescreen transfer with occasional grain, but rather clean and sharp with vivid colours. The dolby surround is a little dissapointing but still throws a lot of sound into the rear speakers. This works wonders with the terrific music score! Long live JCVD. A truly underrated star who has a deserved cult following. I know he's not the best actor on the planet, but his films have a cheesy charm all the same. I liken him to Keanu Reeves, a man who can't act well, but is damn entertaining nonetheless.

I hope you will forgive me when I tell you I have a crushing headache as I write this review. Why? Because I devoted several hours of this sunny day thinking about not one, but two, of Albert Pyun's films. Pondering the importance of "Ticker" and "Cyborg" to the cinematic world wore me out in ways I would not think possible. Pyun, if you are not familiar with his oeuvre, constructed his B movie credentials by releasing such classics as "The Sword and The Sorcerer," "Nemesis," "Mean Guns," and "Postmortem." He's a hack's hack in the hack world of zero budget schlock. Not to pound you over the head with it, but watching a Pyun film often resembles in no little way craning your head out the window to see that car accident on the freeway. Initially, you are intrigued by what you might see only to realize later how low you feel as a human being for looking at scenes of abject horror. Ok, I am exaggerating slightly. "Cyborg," the 1989 film that launched the dubious career of Jean-Claude Van Damme, is one of Pyun's better efforts. In fact, it is one of the few movies in his canon I can watch on a regular basis and not feel too badly about it the next day.

Here's another film dealing with life in a post-apocalyptic world. Gibson Rickenbacker (Van Damme) arises from the ruins to play the part of a Good Samaritan. He tries to help survivors of a plague flee from the ruined cities to the countryside, hopefully so they can reconstruct some semblance of a normal life. Rickenbacker, as the hero, of course has an unpleasant memory of one of his missions. He tried to save a family and ended up falling in love with a woman. You don't need me to spell out what happened next. Ever since this unfortunate incident, Gibson struggles with what he should do next. When he runs into a woman named Pearl Prophet (Dale Haddon), a cyborg attempting to carry a cure for the plague back to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, he must decide whether to resume the role of hero. Why not take part in helping Pearl carry the antidote? This mission could turn Rickenbacker into the savior of the world. Unfortunately for Rickenbacker and Pearl, Fender Tremolo (Vincent Klyn), a scary looking dude with weird eyes and a mechanical voice, and his gang of like-minded cyborgs have their own ideas. They think if they can capture Pearl and get her to Atlanta, they will control the future of the world.

When Prophet falls into the hands of Tremolo's gang, Rickenbacker decides to get her back. With the help of a mouthy young lady he picks up along the way named Nady Simmons (Deborah Richter), Gibson lurches from one violent confrontation to another. Thugs fall to the ground like leaves as the two pursue Tremolo with malevolent intent. Numerous showdowns in burnt out and broken down buildings provide Pyun and Van Damme with plenty of opportunities to showcase martial arts madness. Kicks, punches, and blunt and sharp instruments-anything you can think of that will cause damage to a human or cyborg body finds a use in this movie. And for the most part Pyun carries off the action well, much better than he has in many of his other movies. You are surprised that you actually root for this guy who speaks English like he just walked off a boat. Before feelings of giddiness carry you away, however, you need to reconcile yourself with a few of the cheesy aspects of the movie. Nearly all of the characters are named after musical instruments, the outfits look like the film crew robbed a New Wave band's wardrobe closet, and the dialogue tends towards the insipid. Still, "Cyborg" entertains as few Pyun films do.

"Cyborg" works largely due to the gritty, blasted urban background that the characters move through. It is here, in the ruins of civilization, where most of the action takes place. Moreover, the picture quality of the film (probably as a result of poor film stock) has a dirty look to it, which actually gives the movie a better, more realistic atmosphere. I even thought Pyun tried to inject a philosophical statement in the film (yeah, right) when we see Rickenbacker staked to that ship's mast. Is Gibson a Christ figure "rising" from the grave to help save the world? Maybe, but I'm probably reading more into "Cyborg" than the director intended. Sure, the acting could be better-lots better-and the fight scenes are a little over the top, but why else would you watch this movie? You don't expect Oscar performances and you don't get them. What you do get is an entertaining way to spend eighty plus minutes (the movie doesn't run for even an hour and a half).

The DVD version is strictly bare bones. If memory serves me correctly, the only extra on this disc was a trailer. Too bad, but a bit surprising considering this is officially a cult classic. It's interesting to note that none other than Cannon, the company that released TONS of low budget action flicks in the 1980s, helped fund this effort. Charles Bronson benefited from Cannon's attentions back then, so why not Van Damme? I recommend "Cyborg" not only to fans of action films, but even to fans of science fiction since the movie takes a stab at incorporating both elements under one umbrella. Is it intelligent cinema? Nope, but who says it needs to be?

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 47 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars This Movie Has a Message
I realize this movie is campy by today's standards, so only someone who watched it back in the day when it was a different era in movie making can appreciate it. Read more

Published on May 20 2004 by Roman S. Van Allen

5.0 out of 5 stars The sweetest end fight of all time
This movie is seriously retarded. The big fight scene in the end between Van Damme and this dude with white eyes lasts like ten minutes and nobody says anything during it - they... Read more

Published on May 3 2004 by Chad Kultgen

4.0 out of 5 stars Old school Jean-Claude
An old movie acting a little cheap, but its old right? Its another classic and a to own, But if you havent seen this movie then its time for you to switch to cable tv. Read more

Published on April 29 2004 by J. Caceres

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as bad as you might expect
Which leaves quite a bit of room. But even at that, this is still a pretty good movie, for what it is. Read more

Published on Dec 27 2003 by John S. Ryan

5.0 out of 5 stars I was a kid!!!!
I was a kid when I watch this film. Even though i am much older now I think this film is a cult classic. It is so real!!! Read more

Published on Dec 19 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars This movie was O.K
Im a big Van Damne fan,and when i saw this movie i expected alot more,but it was still good.I dont know if its worth watching.But atleast he gets to fight a dude.

Published on Dec 14 2003 by Chase

4.0 out of 5 stars BRILLIANT TRASH
Originally intended to be the sequel of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, a box office bomb, CYBORG is the post-apocalyptic story of a Slinger (hired protector) named Gibson Rickenbacker... Read more

Published on July 28 2003 by Don

5.0 out of 5 stars Van DAMN!!!!
Jean-Claude Van Damme was 28 when he made CYBORG, a low budgeted, post-apocolyptic martial arts adventure. Read more

Published on July 15 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Bottom Feeder Extraordinaire
This is a film that doesn't get any better with age. Even if I'm aging at the same rate. It's one Van Damme would be smarter to disown, not release as a 'deluxe edition' DVD... Read more

Published on April 17 2003 by Greekfreak

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Film, No other Actor will compare to Van Damme
This movie "Cyborg" made around 5 million dollars,
not much money, but this is the film that made Jean
Claude Varenberg [Van Damme]. Read more

Published on Jan 4 2003

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 47 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!