Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
DON'T TAKE IT SO SERIOUS AND HAM IT UP WITH RICH, October 9, 2009
CYBORG SOLIDER
Any one who has followed my reviews at all probably knows that I am a huge MMA fan so it is a no brainier why I got this. Rich Franklin who is a former UFC Middleweight Champion now fighting in Light Heavyweight stars in this movie and I mean stars in this film. Most films with a famous athlete promote a film as if that person is a star only for them to have nothing more than a cameo or small part at the most. I was not expecting this film to be an instant classic so expectations were low which in this case may have actually helped.
The film is obviously about a Cyborg who is guess what a solider, sounds like a famous JCVD movie to me. Rich actually stars as Isaac which stands for something but it escapes me at the moment, and he is going rouge. When he escapes a team is sent out on the hunt for him and the mission is to terminate on sight, yikes. Once free he comes along a police officer named Lindsey Reardon played by "Saved by the Bell" alum Tiffani Thiessen. Whether she likes it or not she is his new side kick or maybe hostage depending on how you look at it. The film goes from action to a road film back into action and from were I am sitting it was actually enjoyable, at least with the brain off.
Writers Christopher Warre Smets, John Flock, and John Stead [also director] created a cool if some what "seen this before" storyline but it works for this material. The film moves along at a great pace never really feeling like it is being held up. While you won't find too much originality in the script or from the story you will no doubt be entertained if you don't go in expecting a grand film. Rich Franklin who is a light heavyweight fighter for the UFC actually does a good job for his acting debut. I have heard a lot of things about his acting being wooden or robotic but keep in mind he is playing a Cyborg, a robotic thing. You can tell at times when he is trying a bit too hard but there are other moments like the café scene were you can tell by that time in the production he was getting a little more comfortable. That scene in particular is a favorite of mine as I find it hilarious even if it was not intentional, but the dialogue and delivery are perfect from Rich.
As far as the rest of the cast Tiffani Thiessen is our leading lady and does a good enough job in her role and is believable enough. I thought for sure she would have been a bigger star by now but she is good in this. As a matter of fact every one is good in this movie or at least for this type of movie. To enjoy this film you truly need to go in with no expectations and just let it entertain you, it is after all a flick with Cyborg in the title. I would recommend this movie to all who are looking for something fun and not so serious. A rental for most but for us MMA fanatics it is a must if only to ham it up with Rich.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Action packed movie!!!, October 30, 2008
Very gripping sci-fi film. It has a great cast - Rich Frankin from UFC, Tiffani Thiessen from Saved by the Bell and Bruce Greenwood from..... well, just about everything. The whole ensemble does really well together.
This film is action packed from beginning to end. Plenty of suspense. Plenty of action. The whole movie is definitely satisfying and will give you your adrenaline rush fix for the week
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Screwy Cyborg, March 9, 2009
"Cyborg Soldier" is a by-the-numbers bad DTV film, and therefore I will review it by-the-numbers.
Story: Isaac (Rich Franklin) is a prototype cyborg soldier who escapes from a government lab and kidnaps a local sheriff (Tiffani Thiessen, "Beverly Hills 90210") en-route to fleeing from a gang of mercenaries hired to bring him back.
Yes, it's a dull take on Universal Soldier: Isaac is trumped up on nanobots that give him rapid healing capabilities and greater-than-average strength; he's also had his memory wiped, so there are shades of Luc Devereaux via a couple of unexplained flashbacks. Lindsay Reardon, the policewoman, might as well be a blonde reporter for all the use that she is: the fact that she's an officer of the law is largely a moot point, since she requires her share of rescuing. Later on, the film does a slipshod job of explaining Isaac's past and existence, and doesn't even touch on why such a soldier needed to be created.
Action: The film's genre officially reads "action/sci-fi"; while there's plenty of sci-fi as far as the backstory is concerned, "Cyborg" suffers from a decisive lack of action: there is exactly one short, uninspired shootout between Isaac and the mercenaries, and four hand-to-hand fights - three of which do not top fifteen seconds in length and one of which, for lack of a better term, is a chick fight. The only worthwhile encounter is the final Isaac vs. mercenaries battle at the end of the film: while it's not longer than thirty seconds, it shows a basic cinefight know-how that the other fights lacked.
Indeed, this is where the film really surprised me: Rich Franklin is a former UFC champ, so obviously the man knows a thing or two about brawling...but you wouldn't really know by watching the movie. I hate to say so, but it's the ten-second Lindsay Reardon/Janice Fraser (Wendy Anderson, Spliced) brawl that seems the most spontaneous and natural; during Isaac's fights, every punch and kick looks too predetermined on everybody's part.
Acting: A fairly mixed bag. For starters, Rich Franklin is nothing short of atrocious in his vain attempts to channel Arnold Schwarzenegger; I really don't see him as a budding action hero at all. Luckily, despite her character's general uselessness, Tiffani Thiessen performs decently and does her best to keep the scenes between her and Franklin from going entirely underwater. Bruce Greenwood ("I, Robot") is probably the most interesting and complex character of the bunch as Isaac's creator and eventual bad guy. Wendy Anderson starts off promising but eventually goes off the dramatic deep end when her character has to get a bit intense. Aaron Abrams (Y.P.F.) has a respectable but thankless role as Greenwood's assistant. Lastly, stuntman Kevin Rushton (Universal Soldier 2: Brothers in Arms [VHS]) is passable as the lead mercenary but remains nonetheless bland and forgettable.
More so flawed than any of the acting is the script itself, which is filled with lines and events that probably sounded cool in the writers' heads but are silly on-film - like the gem quote "She's a woman!...in charge!" and Franklin's ceaseless Terminator impersonation, as well as Greenwood's way-too-rapid transformation into a villain and the aforementioned all-lady punch-`em-up.
Production: Surprisingly tight, aside from a few weird camera shots during a car scene. The low budget is visible via the fact that the secret government lab is seemingly run by no more than two people and the police department by no more than five. Not much said besides that means not much done wrong.
Essentially, it's a bad movie - plain and simple.
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