Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow

Cyborg II, sounds like some 2nd-rate movie. Is not. Not at all! I was surprised the very, very nice 'ambiance' this movie has. Good looking, convincing effects and surroundings, very good sound. It has even a nice (though somewhat unsurprising) story with nice characters. For me, 'Blade Runner' sets the standard for this kind of movies. But in some aspects, most notably the overall ambiance and 'sadness' this movie comes close. Let's call this movie very, very acceptable...

The VERY beautiful Angelina Jolie stars as an android named "Cash" in this exciting, futuristic and fast moving movie. Her "makers" or "god", of course is the famous Pinwheel Corporation; one of the largest android making concerns in the world. Things are very competitive in the future; especially in the artificial human business. Everything seems to be fine until one of Cash's female android friends reveals a sinister plan to eliminate rival corporate leadership; the plan involves injecting an undetectable explosive in her and then detonating it at the appropriate time. Terrified by this knowledge , she enlists the aid of her human martial arts trainer named "Colt". With his help, she battles past armed guards and escapes to the outside world. Jack Palance stars as "Mercy", a renegade android who assists other androids seeking freedom and appears mostly as a mouth on a television screen throughout most of the movie. Billy Drago gives his typically good performance as the tough, greedy and antagonistic bounty hunter sent after Cash and Colt. This movie, while limited in budget, has nevertheless earned a respectable place on my shelf along with the other great "B" movies. Add this one to your collection of fine science fiction films! Two thumbs up!

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 .

Seems this movie had a very low budget hence the reason it looks like it was filmed in someones' garage. I loved the looks of the younger Angelina Jolie - I'd never have known if I hadn't seen this!!!!!!!!

Michael Shroeder also included (about 5 seconds)footage of Van Damme and Dayle Haddon from the original 'Cyborg' which was a nice touch. It's a bit of honesty on his part as well I think, because Shroeder is acknowledging the pre existing story line. Not that this matters at all.

Jack Palance is the highlight though because of the way he says his lines - it is hilarious. No one ever speaks that way, (even though he's not a human character) but it sounds so cool. Even Angelina Jolie smiles at some of Palances' lines (Ie: The scene in the lab with the 'cyborg monkey'.)

Good as a diversion - nothing more. Thinking more about it, it's one of the few movies I've seen where the actors seemed to be having a fun time with the 'out there' script and plot.

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.