After spending a long time searching for this movie, I finally found a store that had it on VHS for less than $1, and I immediately popped it in my VCR when I got home.
After reading about the plot I was hooked right away: In the future, kick-boxing has been overtaken by cryogenically enhanced fighters, only one man is still 100% human, but when he refuses to fight in the ultimate lethal tournament, the arrangers kidnap his girlfriend/manager and force him to compete!
The movie did not disappoint me at all, but that might be because I saw so many familiar faces in it, being an avid Albert Pyun-fan, he used the same set of actors he always does: Jahi J. J. Zuri is making his film-debut as one of the fighters, and Thom Mathews is also playing a sympathetic fighter in the tournament, being forced to fight in the competition by the evil mastermind Tung. Tung is played by Pyun's most frequent collaborator, the flamboyant Norbert Weisser, who is aided by always entertaining Tim Thomerson, who here plays the synthetic red-headed leader of corporate scumbags. Earl White and Chad Stahelski are also two guys Pyun uses often, and they're in the movie as Budokam fighters, of which there are plenty.
Although the star of the movie is not one of his regulars, Keith H. Cooke, known from "China O'Brien", here plays the last 100% human kick boxer in the world, Chance O'Brien (co-incidence? I think not), and he actually does quite a good job. The martial arts-superstar Gary Daniels (from "Fist of the North Star") is a great bad guy, with his icy-blue eyes and nonchalant attitude, and the woman both men love is also a Pyun-regular, Tina Coté, who hasn't done many movies yet, but always gives her best performances in Pyun's movies (like "Nemesis 2", "Mean Guns", and "Omega Doom"). This was actually the first movie I've seen where she did not play an obnoxious b*tch, so that was a new experience.
The fight-sequences in the movie are interesting, but after a while it does tend to be a bit tedious to watch, and at times fast-forwarding is probably a good idea to keep interest. If you like both cyborgs and kick-boxing this is definitely a movie you should watch, but if either turns you off, you should probably stay away, as that is pretty much all there is going on in this movie.
Highlight: Keith Cooke running around naked in the Phillipines. The abundance of man-ass is hilarious, but if you're homophobic, this might at first turn you off, but later we get to see Tina Coté's nipples, so there's something for both men and women in this movie, cyborgs or not.
