Cyborg
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Movie Reviews of Cyborg
Movie Review: Old school Jean-Claude
Summary: 4 Stars
An old movie acting a little cheap, but its old right? Its another classic and a to own, But if you havent seen this movie then its time for you to switch to cable tv. Its always on all the time when i watch tv.Movie Review: Cyborg is just what you expect from Van Damme
Summary: 3 Stars
Funny how people write and say how aweful this movie is--they apparently aren't fans. This movie is exactly what a fan would expect to seen--lots and lots of martial arts and fighting. Think of this movie as a post-apocalyptic Bloodsport. This movie is a pure '80's cult movie. If you are looking for Oscar caliber acting and screenwriting, you are looking in the wrong place--Van Damme movies have never been intended for that and never will be.
Plot - C
A very overused post-apocalyptic plot is used where most of society is dying (or is already dead) from a plague and those that aren't dying are either searching for a cure or have resorted to barbarian-like creatures who rape and pillage every little town or city they come to. Enter Van Damme. He plays Gibson who is a freelance mercenary type who is payed to escort people through the city. He encounters the Flesh Pirates who are lead by a menacing leader named Fender. The cure to the plague has been placed into a cyborg (hence the name) and through a chance encounter, Gibson must escort her to Atlanta (which is apparently the headquarters of humanity--at least for the U.S.). Along the way, Gibson meets a female mercenary and they have a brief interlude. She claims to be a able to help Gibson, but really interfers with his progress (the typical damsel in distress). As he jouneys with the Cyborg, he has flashbacks of the life he used to lead before his life was shattered by a tragedy. With the Flesh Pirates after the cyborg (because apparently they don't want humanity cured) and Van Damme protecting her, it is a constant struggle to get the cyborg to Atlanta.
Van Damme is actually very convincing as the reluctant hero. He has hardly any dialogue in the movie, yet is able to express a range of emotions through expressions and actions (something very good for someone who is always being accused of having no acting ability). The fights are very well choreographed and all of the martial arts you would expect can be found in the movie. Perhaps the best fight is at the end in the rain with Gibson versus Fender. This is pure '80's Van Damme.
Acting - C
Van Damme is surprisingly good as Gibson. Though virtually no dialogue, his actions seem to mean more anyways. As for the rest of the cast, I can't say much. Most of it is either very underplayed or overplayed--no happy medium. But if you wanted a drama you wouldn't be watching this movie anyways, right?
Music/Soundtrack - B
It is basically techno-like music, but interestingly enough, it works quite well in this movie and embarrassingly I have to admit to owning the soundtrack.
Cinematography - C
Very bleak and apocalyptic. There are lots of deserted locales and marshes and warehouses (filmed in Wilmington, NC--as a NC resident, I can tell you that NC does not look anything like that for the most part). The lighting and camera work for the last fight is very good (it is night time and raining).
DVD - C
No real extras. It has the original trailer and some bio information. It does have a widescreen presentation which is nice. The image transfer is average and the sound is average. A basic DVD all around.
Overall - C
If you want action, it has it. If you want drama, skip it. If you want martial arts and to see Van Damme at his best, buy it. This is a cult movie, pure and simple.
Movie Review: Had potential, but in the end weak.
Summary: 3 Stars
Post apocalyptic movies always tend to be a mixed bag for several reasons. Since you can build the sets on a low budget it seems just about everyone has tried to make a movie set in a wasteland, and end up making a weak film. So here's another post apocalyptic film that seems to have a look and feel that's a cut above most of them, however it ends up not having much more to offer. It has the good stuff technically, but the script is rather basic, the characters are two dimensional, and there just isn't enough to truly stand out as one of the great wasteland movies.
The premise is interesting enough and it does get the movie started on the right direction. The problem is it doesn't really get any deeper than what you find out in the first 20 minutes or so. All the movie does is have Rickenbacker (Van Damme) run around chasing after the bad guys, getting into fights with them repeatedly. Sure they try to put a sub-plot about Rickenbacker's past and how it ties together with what's going on, and yes it does offer some depth to the story. But ultimately it doesn't do much to really be considered a strong back story. Even more disappointing is the fact the cyborg the movie is named after hardly does a thing at all besides being the hostage everybody wants. Kind of misleading if you ask me.
What gives Cyborg its graces are two things: some of the directing and some of the fight scenes. Jean Claude Van Damme is of course known for his martial arts movies so of course you get some pretty impressive fight scenes. Though none of it would be considered a strong caliber of choreography you still get some decent action. I will give director Albert Pyun some credit for taking what he had and giving it a polished look. Cinematography, camera angles, lighting, they all definitely set Cyborg apart from your standard B-movie type post apocalypse movie and kick it up to A-caliber status on production values alone. Unfortunately the rest of the movie wasn't as well done.
The acting is serviceable and works well enough, but isn't anything to write home about. The main bad guy looks really awesome and intimidating. I was hoping he was a cyborg too just because of the fact he looked so cool and was so amoral. The problem is the character doesn't go anywhere aside from wanting everybody to suffer. This sort of limited character depth hurts the movie's virtues. If they did more with these characters other than have them fight all the time there could have been a better movie coming out of this.
Martial arts fans might like this movie as long as they expect merely good fight scenes and not great ones. Van Damme fans will definitely like this one as he does get a chance to play a character different than any other he has done before or since. If you like post apocalyptic movies I supposed it's 50/50 for you. The wasteland concept is there and they establish it, but it doesn't fill you with that atmosphere like The Road Warrior or The Postman. To be honest this is a 50/50 shot for most of you. It really depends on what how good you want a movie before you turn away. Cyborg isn't really bad, but it's borderline weak.
Movie Review: cheesey movie but great haunting music
Summary: 3 Stars
I admit, the movie is not GREAT, but I love it. I have seen it so many times that I have come to love the music in it, however I haven't found that a soundtrack exists. The movie itself is set in the post-appocolyptic era. A plague has covered the world and people are dying fast. A cyborg has recently obtained information that would help find a cure, but she is being hunted by the "bad guys". Van Damme steps in to make sure her journey is safe. Along the journey, he keeps having flash backs of the love that he lost (to the "bad guys") and the children (I think her younger siblings) that were traveling with her. Van Damme comes to discover that one of the youngest children was not killed afterall, but was now grown up and traveling with the "bad guys". In the end, the guy gets the girl and the cyborg makes it to her destination safely.
Good (not great) action fights. Poor plot, but sort of like a cult classic (at least in my mind).
Movie Review: This movie was O.K
Summary: 3 Stars
Im a big Van Damne fan,and when i saw this movie i expected alot more,but it was still good.I dont know if its worth watching.But atleast he gets to fight a dude.