Cyborg (1989)

Prior to this movie's release back in the day, I can still vividly recall the trailer showing up in the mix of many a television advert, and truth to tell, every time I watched the trailer, I just needed to see this film.

As many films of this kind, the theatrical release was severely short lived, that being said, when this movie made it's bow on video, I practically sprinted to my local video store to hire it, now back in 1989 I had just turned eighteen, and I had just developed a fixation for any movie that had anything remotely involving kick boxing or martial arts of any description.

As the years have passed, such a fixation has since passed, but my enjoyment for this movie has never waned, it was at that time my first experience of a JCVD movie as well as movie being directed by the much maligned Albert Pyun.

Having practically watched everything that Messrs Van Damme & Pyun have made throughout their careers since, for me personally, this movie is the pinnacle of both their collective talents, granted Van Damme was just starting out, the only worthwhile film I seen him in since was the very cool 'Wake Of Death' and as for Albert Pyun, his career has really been more hit than miss, and going by his IMDb web page, littered with just a little too much controversy.

That aside, collectively, the whole show on display here rocks, granted the whole premise revolves around redemption and revenge in equal measure, Van Damme's lack of understanding in the English department, Pyun's visual eye more than compensates, plus he really does choreograph a good fight scene.

I read somewhere many years ago, that if Pyun had got his way, his vision of Cyborg would have been that of a black and white rock opera, now as he was at that time under the wing of Messrs Golan & Globus at Cannon Pictures, such a thing was never going to happen, especially as they were experiencing money problems, so a huge sigh of relief for all concerned.

As the years have rolled by, this movie hasn't aged one little bit, and any time I find it lurking in the television schedules, I always recall that first time I watched the trailer, the excitement, the hope that this was going to be something more than just another action movie....

Simply put, back then and to this day, this is a super cool action movie, plus Vince Klyn for all his over the top antics makes one helluva screen villain.

10/10

Fmovies: I first saw this movie when i was young and impressionable, but even to this day i still get pumped up after watching it. Granted the story line is full of holes and the dialogue kinda sucks, but when your watching a Van Damme movie who cares. I've been a big Van Damme fan for quite some time. Sure! he's a pitiful actor who should have his lines cut down to almost nothing, but he sure as hell can sell a fight scene. This movie is no exception. He won't win any academy awards with his performance but he does sell the i'm super p***ed and your gonna die look pretty well. That being the major reason why i enjoy the film. So if your looking for some solid fight scenes without a hole lot of plot, i highly recommend the movie. This movie is definitely under appreciated judging from the rating scale, all i ask is that some of these people relax a little and just enjoy a movie that doesn't have a plot line thats more complicated than a physics equation.

I love CYBORG, there isn't one intellectually stimulating moment during the entire 87 minutes (and 14 seconds actually..well on MY copy) That alone deserves recognition! But hey..Van Dumb WAS learning his craft here..it took another 27 movies before he mastered the art of screen inconsequentiality.

Cyborg is total fun. Where else ya gonna find a robotic damsel in distress, the good guy crucified without any lasting discomfort and the bad guy a vision in Armani leatherwork and wrap around Police sunglasses!

You can comfortably watch this movie......miss as much of it as you like while you cook dinner...and it makes not the slightest difference! I figure it was a class act! In MY book it beats the bejeesus out of THE ENGLISH PATIENT!

Cyborg fmovies. I used to rent this movie all the time as a kid, as I've always enjoyed apocalyptic movies, and I still do. This movie is the classic "hero's tale". It has some great action sequences, gore and cinematography. It was also made on a shoestring budget by one of my favourite defunct film companies, Cannon!

Produced in the dying years of Cannon films, directed by Albert Pyun, starring an early Van Damme claiming to be "the first hero of the 21st century", claiming to be a "post apocalyptic battle" and with the title "Cyborg", somehow I don't think it will bring many to a state of disbelief when I announce that it's a very poor film. Cheap and tacky in every area, unless you're a huge fan of Van Damme it really should be avoided.

For Albert Pyun in the 80's and early 90's, a "post apocalyptic" movie was just an excuse to avoid any expense for sets and have a bunch of goons in ragged clothes running around large areas of open land or empty buildings. The "post apocalyptic" world Cyborg takes place in was filmed in North Carolina and looks likeÂ…uhÂ…North Carolina.

There is action, but it's all rather dull and extremely forgettable and the overly dramatic musical score which accompanies it is extremely irritating. Plus there's no buildup to them, just randomly thrown together which throws away any excitement they may have had. On the plus side, the fights aren't half as bad as those I've seen in later Albert Pyun movies but Van Damme has done a lot better.

As far as acting goes, you'll get zero. Not that you'd expect award winning performances in a movie like this, but still, Van Damme has absolutely minimal dialogue and could pass off for somebody who doesn't speak any English simply being told to speak his lines phonetically. He is that poor, but at least it's evidence enough that he has tried in later movies. I do find many of his movies entertaining, this isn't one of them. The villains are the complete opposite, and they overact and make embarrassing howling and screaming when fighting Van Damme without being remotely scary in the least. Although it certainly doesn't say much for the state of humanity if the world was to be under threat for a second from these clowns!

The post apocalyptic genre is generally one of the weakest in the field of B-movies with the likes of Steel Frontier being one of the few exceptions and this is just about as poor as it gets. Not good enough to be worth watching or not even bad enough to be funny. At best it's tedious and dull so unless you're a huge fan of Van Damme I recommend you to stay away. On the plus side, it remains the best film by schlock director Albert Pyun I've seen to date but that's probably even more of a reason to avoid it than anything else.

Being an avid bodybuilder and martial arts enthusiast my whole life I've got to say I love this film not just because of Van Damme although I'm a huge fan but because of Vincent Klyn, I think his character Fender Tremolo is one of the most brutal evil villains of all time.

If you wanna see a formidable group of people just look at his gang in the movie, just one look at them will probably stop your heart beat.

In Fenders gang Most of the actors are bodybuilders or martial artists in the real world so I like that, even though the fights are choreographed It still gives me the added bonus knowing there real athletes not just actors.

It's not going to be nominated for any Oscar's, but if you like martial arts with a touch of post apocalyptic war thrown in with nice fights then you won't be disappointed.