Cash Reese: Glass Shadow

How many sci-fi/action B-movies from the '90s featuring cyborgs do you know of that are actually any good? "Cyborg 2" is a shamefully underrated sequel to Albert Pyun's original from 1989 and it actually succeeds in surpassing its predecessor. The story has more heart & thought put into it (you get a little bit less action sequences because of this), the production values were decent and the special effects quite impressive for this type of production (especially the wide shots of a futuristic, post-apocalyptic city are well-crafted, echoing some of the visuals seen previously in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner"). It wasn't until producers read the script of "Glass Shadow", they decided to turn it into a sequel to Pyun's film. But "Cyborg 2" is pretty much a standalone film, merely just referencing the first film by adding some footage of it. A female cyborg (Angelina Jolie) and her trainer (Elias Koteas) form a leading duo we actually care about, while they're on the run from the corporation that employed them. Being hunted down by a bounty hunter (Billy Drago) and another female cyborg assassin (Karen Sheperd), the mysterious entity Mercy (Jack Palance) guides them through the city. There are many far worse cyborg movies out there, which usually revolve around showcasing some martial arts & blowing things up. "Cyborg 2" has some of that too, but still manages to be a little different.

In year 2074, a technological, deathly planet earth, in an urban, dirty post holocaust world, Cyborgs have replaced humans and the earth is caught in the grip of high powered corporate warfare . Kobayashi Electronics (Japan) and Pinwheel (USA) struggle to control the software programming and manufacture of Cyborgs . Cyborgs have substituted humans in every respect from the soldier in the field to the prostitute in the brothel . Billions of dollars are at stake and as usual the love of money proves to be the root of all evil . A mean enterprise (ruled by Allen Garfield) which makes Cyborgs orders to get rid of his competitors by means of murdering them . They plan introduce to Cyborg ¨Cash¨ (Angelina Jolie) , a liquid explosive, a McGuffin denominated ¨The glass shadow¨ that blow up . Technology specialist (Jack Palance) clues to Cash and she flees with the help of the human ¨Colt¨ and they have converted prey for a band of nasty bounty hunters (Billy Drago and Ric Young).

It's an old fashioned B movie with lots of fights , stunts , struggles and chases among protagonists and their pursuers . The film has some visual sophistication along with a ridiculous plot and even a minor romantic subplot between machine-cyborg and man . Despite a few nice touches is average and this is strictly fodder . ¨Cyborg I¨ (Albert Pyun) was a poorly made action movie , it was only known by Jean Claude Van Damme acting , however ¨Cyborg II¨ has much better casting . It stars Angelina Jolie , she told The New York Times about this movie : "After I saw it, I went home and got sick¨ . The motion picture was regularly directed by Michael Schroeder who at least tries some spectacular scenes . He also directed ¨CyborgIII¨ with Malcolm McDowell , Zach Calligan and Richard Lynch . Rating : Mediocre but entertaining .

I read a bunch of the other reviews on this site for this film and at first I was a bit shocked that people liked this film better than the original "Cyborg". But, the more I thought about I guess I might have to agree, the special effects are better, Angelina Jolie is in this one (need I say more?), the fights scenes are about the same, the acting is about the same and the story is equally bad. So, I guess I'd agree that this film is a little better than the original, but they're both pretty bad movies.

I think it's safe to say that Sci-Fi is my favorite genre and I think this movie was just awful. It had some cool things here and there, but overall was not very good. The only reason I can see to sit through this movie is to see the beautiful Angelina Jolie (she looks incredible in this film!)!!! The rest of the cast was ok, but definitely nothing special. I did enjoy seeing Sven-Ole Thorsen in the film though (from "Gladiator" and a good amount of Arnold Schwarzenegger films).

Unless you're a die-hard sci-fi fan and/or an Angelina Jolie fan, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see this film. But, if you do end up seeing this movie, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

There are 3 different kinds of B-movies. Most of them are just bad. Horribly, painfully bad. Some are just the right kind of bad to be fun to watch. And a select few are surprisingly well done.

Cyborg 2, like the original, falls into the third category. Yes, it has uneven fight scenes and some terrible dialogue, but it also has involving moments. You probably wouldn't want to pay a lot of money to see it, but it's good to watch on TV, especially late at night.

And of course, it feature Angelina Jolie in her debut performance, not counting Looking to Get Out. She does very well with the sometimes spare material, as does Elias Koteas. Both of them always manage good performances with even the worst scripts, and this script is actually decent.

Non B-movie fans should avoid this, but the rest, and I know you're out there, might actually like it.

I caught this movie late night on TV, and was expecting a low-budget campy "masterpiece", I was surprised with a pretty decent movie. Angelina Jolie's unique acting capabilities (or should I say lack thereof?) make her perfect as an android, and the other actors, while terribly average, are at least not terrible.

There is a plot; a fairly intricate plot at that, involving conspiracies and the lengths a couple (one human, one android) will go to pursue their illegal romance, with a "big brother"-type figure and android assassin thrown in the mix. The production and sets, also, were much better than I expected. I haven't seen the original Cyborg, so I can't really compare it to much else; granted this film is no Blade Runner, but as a late-night, futuristic guilty pleasure, its worth a watch.