Nemesis

Nemesis
by Albert Pyun

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Merle Kennedy, Olivier Gruner, Tim Thomerson, Yuji Okumoto
Director: Albert Pyun
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-12-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Studio / Sterling

Movie Reviews of Nemesis

Movie Review: "Terminator" Meets "Hard Boiled"
Summary: 4 Stars

Albert Pyun's movies usually aren't worth much more than half a glance: though he's directed some of the more creative of celluloid premises, his films tend to be under/overdone action b-titles featuring poor casting and even worse acting, bare-bones production values, and a consistently bland color scheme that makes the movies boring even to look at. Though he never really outdid his breakout attempt ("The Sword and the Sorcerer") and lost just about all of his tinseltown value after 1993, he just managed to squeeze out one more good hunkajunk before going off of the cinematic deep end when he made "Nemesis": a sci-fi shoot-`em-up combination of "The Terminator" and John Woo's "Hard Boiled", and the launchpad of Olivier Gruner's Hollywood career.

The story: in the year 2027 - when America and Japan have merged into a single entity and robotic implants are all the rage - Alex the cyborg cop (Gruner) is strong-armed into accepting a final mission from his superior (Tim Thomerson, "Iron Eagle"): stop his ex-partner (Marjorie Monaghan, "Space Rangers") from smuggling data to the Red Army Hammerhead terrorist organization. However, even with a security bomb implanted into his heart, Alex begins to question his assignment when it becomes clear that the sides of good and evil and man and machine are not as clear as they seemed...

At the time, Olivier Gruner was fresh out of his kickboxing career as France's first-ever national champion, so go into this movie expecting a dramatic performance akin to those of Jean-Claude Van Damme. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't a lot of martial arts to be seen, but the film more than makes up for the sheer amount of bullets it blows through the sets. While there isn't quite as much shooting as in the aforementioned John Woo film, "Nemesis" really was the only respectable challenger at the time; I wouldn't be surprised if a consecutive fourth of the movie focused solely on Gruner and company waging a machinegun war on eachother. There's loads more interesting gunplay than was the timely norm, as well: prepare to see a lot of two-handed gunslinging, mid-air and on-the-slide firing (including an awesome instance wherein Gruner bulls-eyes an enemy while performing a backflip), and general ingenuity to spell out a perfect guilty pleasure for action fans.

Pyun's more competent in his directing here, as well: though it looks like most of the sets were there to begin with (in other words, they look cheap), he makes good use of them and leaves his usual technical snafus at home. Alas, the movie's special effects were well behind-the-times, even when the film was released: keep in mind that "Terminator 2" had come out two years prior, and the questionable robotics and stop-motion climax look fairly disappointing. The same can be said for the acting: since this is an action film and Olivier Gruner is an action hero, his performance can be excused, but with the exception of Thomerson, the rest of the cast is in need of help: campy Marjorie Monaghan, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa ("Mortal Kombat"), Merle Kennedy ("May"), and B-movie veteran Nicholas Guest needed to be hit with the script a few more times before they attempted their scenes.

As anything other than an action movie and "Teminator" knock-off, "Nemesis" deserves a lower rating, but if you know what to expect when going in, you'll be setting yourself up for an enjoyable 95 minutes. If you're new to Pyun's work, either get out while you can or watch this film; just know that, with very few exceptions, you won't be finding anything better than this in the man's portfolio.

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Summary of Nemesis

In the industrial wasteland just outside of Los Angeles, circa 2027, there's a covert war raging between the cyborgs and the humans. "86.5% is still human," insists superagent Alex (Jean-Claude Van Damme wannabe Olivier Gruner, complete with kickboxing credentials and thick Euro-warble), but as the cyborg conspiracy builds around him he discovers that humanity is more than simply a matter of flesh and blood. Borrowing elements from Blade Runner, The Terminator, Escape from New York, and The Road Warrior, and looking ahead to digital "data couriers" of Johnny Mnemonic, director Albert Pyun turns the sci-fi spy story into an engine for a visceral thrill ride of sleekly designed action sequences driven by a dancing camera and a breakneck editing rhythm. It's a glorious triumph of style over substance, the vigorous pace leaving the story far behind and nimble set pieces belying a tiny budget with ambitious action choreography and impressive displays of property damage. Apart from a few clumsy special effects at the conclusion and the requisite collection of scene-chewing performances, Nemesis is a thoroughly entertaining piece of sci-fi trash, a classic example of cinematic energy overcoming the obstacles of plot. --Sean Axmaker

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