Eyeborgs

Slick Looking Conspiratorial B-Movie with a Multitude of CGI Surveillance Robots that are the Government's New Tool in a "Big-Brother is Watching" Scenario that is Beginning to Find its Place in the Cinema of the New Millennium. Rightfully So and Not a Minute too Soon.

With Cameras Everywhere but in Your Corn Flakes (that's next) in the Real World it is a Ripe and Relevant Scenario Ready for Debate. Freedom vs Security. Cue Benjamin Franklin.

This is a Scary and Creepy Film that At Times can be too Good Looking for its Own Good. Some of the Ominous Observing Robots can Look Cute and Cuddly and Maybe that's the Point. We are Your Friend. Just Like the Government is Your Friend and Bill O'Reilly is "Definitely looking out for You".

The Excellent Plot and its Twists are Above Average for its Type. It Packs a Wallop and it Tries Really Hard to Make its Points when the Point is, this Should be an Obvious Outcome of what's Taking Place in the Real World of Today. NSA Data Collecting and Cameras Up the Yin-Yang Cannot Lead to Anything Great.

Of Course, the Images are Sent Back to a Centralized Network (Skynet?) and Manipulated to Make it look like anything They want and that's the Flaw in the Argument Against the Peeking Patrols of Not Only Eyes in the Sky but Eyes Everywhere.

This is a Fine B-Movie that Thinks and Entertains with Some Gusto from a Talented Director. The Only Gripe is that Some of its Sting is Stifled by the Tone that Sometimes Can Make it All Seem too Much Sci-Fi and Not Enough Paranoid Conspiracy Thriller.

I saw Eyeborgs at its premier screening in St. Pete Beach, and it is a fun "killer robot" movie wrapped around a moral/political message. If you want to pay attention, you can catch the allegories to real-life situations equally involving privacy of citizens, and trusting the media and government. However, in essence it is a fun movie about robots being used to take over society. An independent film with a very high production value and excellent special effects. The robots, especially the "Reapers" are extremely well done. Very good performance by Adrian Paul as the Department of Homeland Defense Agent. I definitely recommend this movie for sci-fi fans.

As a Highlander Series fan I watched this film hoping for good things, but was disappointed.

At a high-level the plot and premise have real potential, but this potential is never realized because the actual script and directing are mediocre at best. Further the story flow is disjointed and uneven. Character development is also weak and you really don't get to know the characters or care about them much.

Adrian Paul's performance was competent, but uninspiring, probably due to mediocre dialog. Likewise, the other actors performances are hard to critique because they really did not have much with which to work.

Somehow, in spite of the above, the ever present cameras and Eyeborgs do create a really creepy atmosphere and made me think I do not want anything even close to a society infested with Eyeborgs.

So in spite of its many flaws, good special effects and just enough of everything else still allows Eyeborgs to achieve its objective of making us question an ends justifies the means approach to fighting terrorism.

EYEBORGS executes a simple B-movie premise with energy and efficiency: various characters encounter and are forced to battle against a new wave of 'eyeborgs', which are strange robotic critters that appear to be drones with legs. Said 'eyeborgs' have been taken over by a nefarious power, their forces growing while investigators attempt to uncover the conspiracy behind them.

What this all boils down to is an action-packed flick in which the protagonists are constantly fighting off attacks by the deadly machines. The hero duties are handled by Adrian Paul (TV's HIGHLANDER), playing his tough-guy routine with aplomb; also along for the ride is Danny Trejo, although he appears to be locked in a basement for his scant screen time.

What I noticed most about EYEBORGS is that the CGI effects are actually very well achieved. They're not 100% realistic, of course, but for what must have been a low budget they're excellent and the robots get plenty of screen time too. As usual, the script is what ends up lacking the most, but the plentiful action at least keeps this one entertaining throughout.

Eyeborgs on Blu-ray looks very good for an Independent low-budgeted film. Not surprisingly the Director was a former DP (Director Of Photography) and the visual effects won two awards. The story parallels the real-world anxiety during the Bush Administration with it's futuristic tale. The acting is a little shaky but most of it is the supporting cast with the exception of Supporting Actor extrordinaire Danny Trejo. The Eyeborgs themselves remind me a lot of the Ed-209's in Robocop (they even sound like them) at least the miniature ones do. The bigger Eyeborgs are another robot/creature entirely. The story rings true in lots of ways about losing privacy due to technology and too much power corrupts. You can read my full review here - http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/eyeborgs-bluray/