Cyborg

Produced in the dying years of Cannon films, directed by Albert Pyun, starring an early Van Damme claiming to be "the first hero of the 21st century", claiming to be a "post apocalyptic battle" and with the title "Cyborg", somehow I don't think it will bring many to a state of disbelief when I announce that it's a very poor film. Cheap and tacky in every area, unless you're a huge fan of Van Damme it really should be avoided.

For Albert Pyun in the 80's and early 90's, a "post apocalyptic" movie was just an excuse to avoid any expense for sets and have a bunch of goons in ragged clothes running around large areas of open land or empty buildings. The "post apocalyptic" world Cyborg takes place in was filmed in North Carolina and looks like…uh…North Carolina.

There is action, but it's all rather dull and extremely forgettable and the overly dramatic musical score which accompanies it is extremely irritating. Plus there's no buildup to them, just randomly thrown together which throws away any excitement they may have had. On the plus side, the fights aren't half as bad as those I've seen in later Albert Pyun movies but Van Damme has done a lot better.

As far as acting goes, you'll get zero. Not that you'd expect award winning performances in a movie like this, but still, Van Damme has absolutely minimal dialogue and could pass off for somebody who doesn't speak any English simply being told to speak his lines phonetically. He is that poor, but at least it's evidence enough that he has tried in later movies. I do find many of his movies entertaining, this isn't one of them. The villains are the complete opposite, and they overact and make embarrassing howling and screaming when fighting Van Damme without being remotely scary in the least. Although it certainly doesn't say much for the state of humanity if the world was to be under threat for a second from these clowns!

The post apocalyptic genre is generally one of the weakest in the field of B-movies with the likes of Steel Frontier being one of the few exceptions and this is just about as poor as it gets. Not good enough to be worth watching or not even bad enough to be funny. At best it's tedious and dull so unless you're a huge fan of Van Damme I recommend you to stay away. On the plus side, it remains the best film by schlock director Albert Pyun I've seen to date but that's probably even more of a reason to avoid it than anything else.

Being an avid bodybuilder and martial arts enthusiast my whole life I've got to say I love this film not just because of Van Damme although I'm a huge fan but because of Vincent Klyn, I think his character Fender Tremolo is one of the most brutal evil villains of all time.

If you wanna see a formidable group of people just look at his gang in the movie, just one look at them will probably stop your heart beat.

In Fenders gang Most of the actors are bodybuilders or martial artists in the real world so I like that, even though the fights are choreographed It still gives me the added bonus knowing there real athletes not just actors.

It's not going to be nominated for any Oscar's, but if you like martial arts with a touch of post apocalyptic war thrown in with nice fights then you won't be disappointed.

This is an earlier van Damme effort -- and he's pretty wooden in this one, but the simple, linear storyline makes this movie an entertaining one, definitely a good "popcorn movie". The movie makes a few feeble attempts at humanizing the characters, but the flashback scenes used to show us that the main character is a tortured soul are contrived and occasionally laugh-inducing.

The plot -- get the life-saving data about a plague to the scientists across the barren 'no mans land' is thin, but carries this sci-fi vehicle pretty well, despite the fact that all the characters seem to be named after guitars. The fight scenes are, as usual, believable and exciting.

All in all, definitely not a good movie, but certainly worth an hour or so, if you like sci-fi. FOr some it might be MST3K material, but if you can get past the camp, it's not too bad.

"Cyborg" is actually passable stuff if you watch it in the right frame of mind (and that thought occurred to me only in the SECOND viewing); if you're expecting a movie made with artistry and professionalism or anything resembling class, you're in for a disappointment. But if you know that this is only supposed to be a low-grade showcase for Van Damme's rather impressive kickboxing skills, then you may like it a little. It IS primitive filmmaking, but a bit more elaborately staged than other Cannon releases (for example, the Bronson vehicles of the 80s). (**)

I used to rent this movie all the time as a kid, as I've always enjoyed apocalyptic movies, and I still do. This movie is the classic "hero's tale". It has some great action sequences, gore and cinematography. It was also made on a shoestring budget by one of my favourite defunct film companies, Cannon!