Cyber Tracker

Plot Synopsis: Los Angeles in the future. Crime is kept under control by Core Trackers, android assassins dispatched by the United States Computerized Judicial System to execute the guilty. Secret Service agent Eric Phillips prevents an attack on his boss, Senator Robert Dilly (the man who set up the USCJS), by the Union for Human Rights, a group of anti-machine activists. Dilly attempts to initiate Phillips into his private circle but the SS agent goes on the run after witnessing Dilly murder a UHR agent in cold blood. Dilly sends Core Trackers after him. Phillips joins the UHR group & helps them uncover a conspiracy involving Dilly.

"Cyber Tracker" is the first of a number of sci-fi / action hybrids directed by Richard Pepin, co-founder of PM Entertainment, a powerhouse of action films during the 1990s. Other Pepin films include "Hologram Man", "T-Force", "The Silencers" & "Dark Breed". Pepin films typically start with a major action sequence which lasts about 10 minutes before allowing the plot to kick in. The script for this film has a few plot holes – it is never clear what the conspiracy the heroes are trying to stop actually is. As for the acting, Don "The Dragon" Wilson may be tough but cannot act for beans, with little charisma. His co-stars are a lot better. The film's best bet are the action scenes, which throw up some impressive artillery fire, a huge bodycount & not one but three moments where a vehicle flies through the air, flips & hits the ground, exploding. The visual effects border on the cheap side & the musical score is low-key & shrill.

Those action mad loonies of PM Entertainment, Joseph Merhi and Richard Pepin deliver this somewhat fun Terminator rip off starring former kickboxing champ, Don 'The Dragon' Wilson.

Funny thing is, despite his obvious skills in the ring, I have never much liked Wilson's on screen fights and this film proved no exception. Even the final fight against martial arts star Richard Norton – a fight which should have been awesome, proved to be decidedly mundane.

But enough about the fights – what of the rest of the film you might ask?

Well, it's derogative stuff at best and clearly knows it but with Merhi and Pepin on board, plots invariably play second fiddle to the action scenes at any rate. In this regards, there are some admittedly cool sequences on offer which really elevate the film.

Acting wise? – Probably best not mentioned but overall a fairly fun little film that should keep action fans mildly amused for ninety or so minutes.

I've never really warmed to Don 'The Dragon' Wilson as an action star. I think I remember seeing one of his early nineties flicks in my teens years and thought it was a cheap looking, badly acted affair with crappy fight scenes and then some!

Mind you, I had been glued to the very best of Hong Kong action cinema since I was 6 years old, so it would take a lot to surpass that.

In a nutshell - Cyber Tracker is a typical early nineties sci-fi B- movie, with crummy acting, bad fashion sense, and dodgy effects, but plenty of watchable fighting and gunplay that delivers lots of unintentional humour!

In my opinion - Don Wilson is an odd looking man. That, along with his oddly shaped yet muscular body, can be very distracting when on screen. At times, he gets away with the acting side of things, but most times, fails to engage you with anyone he is portraying. None more so than in Cyber Tracker.

But we don't usually watch these kind of movies for the acting right? Or the story? Right?

Cyber Tracker came to us in the flood of early to mind nineties cyborg films, with the infamous Terminator franchise leading the way, and the fantastic Albert Pyun and Van-Damme feature, Cyborg, to name just a couple.

Set in the near future, and shot on empty streets to give a more abandoned look, Cyber Tracker's main problem is its cast and their acting abilities, followed by the action and fight scenes. While not completely unwatchable, it just lacks a certain kind of choreography, especially with the martial talents of Wilson and the always wonderful Richard Norton on hand.

Coming across as an opportunity wasted, the most of the action then turns to gunfire and explosions which passes the mark and helps get the viewer through to the end, offering a few more chuckles along the way.

Cyber Tracker isn't great, but it ain't so bad either. Its a harmless mid nineties action flick that passes the time with a hint of nostalgia...

Eric Phillips (Don Wilson) is a secret service agent who prevents the assassination of a senator however along the way he finds a conspiracy and has a tracker on his tail. The tracker by the way is bent on terminating Phillips. The most obvious inspiration for this low budget cheeseball action flick, is of course Robocop and while that film had some imagination and real energy, this just has a real life kickboxing champ running away from a robot. The movie isn't so awful as it is just empty and repetitive. The story is written in clichés and the characters are set up to be cut down by the various gunfire. Don Wilson, as usual, is terrible in the lead role.

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

This is one more film in a long series started by Terminator, about overmuscled androids fighting righteous humans. It is certainly hard to achieve something close to what the big budget Hollywood machine can do in effects, directing, and buying good actors. However, CyberTracker is not that bad - it has some logic, avoids awful acting, or too cheap effects. I have seen much worse in this genre. 5 out of 10 on my personal scale.