Customer Reviews

Cyborg Soldier [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The sad thing about the work of director Sam Firstenberg and ex-action hero David Bradley is that far too few people miss them, these days. Admittedly, some of the junk they collaborated on isn't exactly the stuff fond memories are made of, but the few exceptional ones like "Cyborg Soldier" here are deserving of the B-movie cult status they never received. Sure, they're undeniably weird and have more than a bit of crudeness to 'em, but when you want low-budget action, you don't get much more staple than the offerings of ninja movie guru Firstenberg and karate champion Bradley.

The story: following the death of his partner at the hands of the arrested terrorist Starkraven (Morgan Hunter, Ring of Fire 3: Lion Strike), renegade cop Jack Ryan (Bradley, American Samurai) thought his days of dealing with this criminal were over, but when Starkraven escapes death row by being turned into a deadly cyborg and leads a cyborg legion against humanity, he'll need to both surpass the strength of a machine and a killer's cunning to end the robot reign before it begins.

The list of unaccounted-for instances of strangeness and occasional miswriting is a long one, and some folks probably won't be able to see beyond how it's never made clear how Starkraven goes from underworld criminal to cyborg messiah. Additionally, it remains implausible that the cyborgs can be stopped by a flare but not by gunfire, and the supposed futuristic setting has too strong a contemporary feel to it to seem authentic. Production values are generally passable and the cyborg makeup is decent, but the sparks and animated fire seen during gunfights aren't very impressive. Oh, and bravado-sounding organ music plays whenever the cyborgs are about; I'm sure this sounded a lot cooler in the filmmaker's head than it is in the movie.

What makes the film stand out is that it's undeniably one of the most well-rounded action opuses for leading man David Bradley. It's debatable whether he could've been the next Jean-Claude Van Damme, but he proves himself at least equally versatile in this outing via four hand-to-hand fights and a couple instances wherein he battles the cyborgs with guns and grenades. Not all of these scenes are as good as they ought to be, but the ones that do work stand out well enough. Jack's initial battle with Starkraven includes an effective pole fight using metal pipes, and later in the movie he has a scene wherein several agents try to jump him from a car and he fends most of them off while keeping the last one locked in the vehicle by repeatedly kicking the doors shut on him; it's a surprisingly cool bit of choreography, reminiscent of something Jackie Chan might do. A bit more of that kind of originality would've added another star to my rating.

There's not much to say about the acting, other than that David Bradley is much more entertaining when overacting like he is here than when he plays the stoic bruiser in some of his other films. Jill Pierce (Omega Doom) has a co-starring role as a pesky reporter but doesn't really get involved too much in the story until the end, when Jack gets her to help him by threatening her career. Sound weird? - well, as you've read, so is the rest of the movie, but that shouldn't deter you if you're looking for a pure popcorn adventure. Take a chance, all of you who've never heard the name David Bradley!

Don't go into this film looking for some well developed charactors deep plot or anything like that. Go into it on a hunt for cliches! There are so many used in this film I would find it very difficult to beleive it wasn't on purpose. The slow motion picking up of a kid while riding a motorcycle to get him out of danger. The classic lines "I don't need a loose cannon" "Well you need something" and the obvious cuts to stunt double who are quite obviously stunt doubles. It's just so much FUN! Also look out for the texan who stumbles into cockney.

Probably David Bradley's finest movie. Everything about this movie is perfect; from the acting to the action scenes to the marvelously clever dialogue. A sci-fi classic comparable to Soylent Green or Star Wars.