Il guerriero d'acciaio

It's a ripoff sure, but who watches a Cannon movie from the 90's called "American Cyborg: Steel Warrior" and expects originality? Gimme a break. Good acting? Good story? Psh. Forget that nonsense. This is a movie about spin kicks, bone breaking, shootouts, and lots of running. The special effects are on par with Nemesis (1992) and as a low budget sci-fi actioner, it doesn't disappoint. It has a fast pace (thank god) and lots of action. Those two things are essential for any low budget flick like this. I hate sitting through a movie with "cyborg" or "warrior" in the title, and it's slow and boring. The filmmakers behind these kinds of movies realized that they had martial artists on their hands and not actors. So they loaded the movies up (most of them) with fighting, and action, and if we're lucky- some female nudity. I don't remember if anyone gets naked in "American Cyborg: Steel Warrior" but I do remember plenty of decently choreographed ass kicking. More than all that, the set design (while nothing over original) is fantastic. They really went all out to create a post apocalyptic world here that's more that just empty wasteland. There are makeshift cities and hideouts here that are visually impressive and alive with color. Lots of rubble, ruins, and neon signs. Just the way I like it. It makes for a perfect backdrop to all the cyborg ass-kicking in the movie. Not to mention the movie has lots of varied sets and villains. I mean, by general standards on IMDb this should be at least a 5.2 Anything less is just unfair. Even Roger Ebert understood that you have to judge a movie based on what it's intended to do, and who it's intended for. As a late-night cable actioner, this movie is supposed to keep you entertained and nothing else. I loved it.

By searching on flea markets,sell-outs and conventions for exploitation, horror and grindhouse/b-flicks sometimes you come across pictures on VHS or DVD sleeves that attracts you. This was one of those. For only 1 Euro I picked it up, the cover made me think of a bad Terminator rip-off but it wasn't that bad after all.

Boaz Davidson was the director for this flick but as a director I didn't know him but as a producer he is quite famous, The Expendables (2010) is one of them. And he surely knew his stuff, still it's a B-movie and a complete rip-off of The Terminator with some Blade Runner post- apocalyptic feeling. If I got it right I saw a sign stating the year 1999. But the way it was shot and the way it was edited was rather surprisingly good. Even the places they are running through are well done. The effects used are a bit cheesy sometimes but still did worked out. The cyborg really looked believable for a B-movie and the mummy people were also rather scary.

The acting surprised me too. Naturally there not that famous in the big productions but still the cyborg was played by John Saint Ryan, a Brit I knew from G.B.H. (1983) directed by David Kent-Watson a rather brutal flick. Still almost unfindable even on VHS. After this flick he went to Coronation Street as Charlie Whelan. The other lead was played by Joe Lara (Austin) who is known for action and post apocalyptic flicks. The female was played by good looking Nicole Hansen, she's still in the business but never made it into a big production.

I enjoyed it even as it clocked in over 90 minutes. The story is very simple and easy to follow with a lot of running, fighting, crawling, explosions and cheesy shootings a la Rambo (you know, standing in front of 40 people and never getting shot). If you can find it don't hesitate to pick it up.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Me and my shlock buddy Bison Lewis just sat down to check out this turkey; and ended up enjoying the hell outta it!!!

Great villain - a rival to Vernon Welles in Commando (actually, no one can really rival Vernon in hammy villain status!)

Great terrible brilliant and awful, all in one!!

Best feature: the smiling foetus in a jar - the very future of humanity!!!

Rent and Enjoy!

I had the pleasure of seeing this Terminator ripoff at a very young age; preteen to be exact but that's not what I'm saying here. What I'm REALLY saying is that you can do a lot worse than watch this; something that I forbid anyone of actually doing. The acting is so relentlessly painstakingly bad it makes Faye Dunaway more alluring than the Mona Lisa! At least sci-fi has evolved to the point of excellence thanks in part to A Space Odessey, Star Wars Orig Trilogy, and of course the Terminator films. Poor Joe Lara. His career never recovered at this point. This piece of crap is nowhere near the level of those classic films so avoid this one at all costs. Avoid. Like the plague.

The end.

American Cyborg: Steel Warrior is a mostly entertaining affair - not as good as Van Damme's Cyborg (1989), but good enough. So, if you like all those cheesy post-apocalyptic B-trash movies made in the 80s and early 90s, you might dare to give this one some of your precious spare time. American Cyborg: Steel Warrior is certainly not the philosopher's stone or Holy Grail of post-apocalyptic wonderland, but it's fun in that wonderfully delicious cheesy way that this kind of movie provides to the right kind of audience. On the menu are a cyborg killing machine in leather suite, cannibals, freaks, some martial art moves and other pleasures. Recommended if you like movies such as Cyborg, Universal Soldier, Steel Dawn, Stryker, and Hands of Steel, among countless other spicy flicks of those times. Exact rate: 4.5.