Tuesday, March 1

Cyborg (1989) - 1989 Cannon Video VHS

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Albert Pyun's sci-fi/fantasy/action mash-ups are strangely enthralling. It's like the director has a tremendously epic vision in his head, but when realized on film, something simply doesn't connect. Cannon's final bomb Cyborg is no different. According to Wikipedia, the original plan was a Pyun-powered Masters of the Universe sequel and live-action Spider-Man feature, but those plans were ditched when the nearly bankrupt Cannon had to cancel licensing deals with Mattel and Marvel. Pyun then wrote the screenplay for Cyborg over one weekend, had nearly no cash to work with, tight scheduling, and re-purposed sets...and it shows.

It's basically Mad Max's plot set in a more Road Warrior-like setting where a plague has destroyed North America. The ever-scowling, baritone Vincent Klyn upstages Van Damme with his Shogun of Harle...Hoboken villain. Crap, yes, but still lots of unintentional laughs and amazingly horrible fight editing. Watch for Ralf Moeller, the big guy in Gladiator, as one of Klyn's warriors. One of the hollowed-out building locations can also be seen in Pierluigi Ciriaci's Italian war actioner Delta Force Commando (1988) starring Fred Williamson, Brett Clark, and Bo Svenson. Love the cover art for this tape; it has that hard-to-explain element that makes you really want to watch the film by merely looking at the box.

5 comments:

Mister Bones said...

I actually have a comic book from this one that was used as a free promo to video stores way back when.

Craig Edwards said...

Cyborg was shot at the old Ideal cement plant in Wilmington NC - which was also home to the sets for Little Monsters, and later Dinohattan in Super Mario Bros. The whole thing about Spider-Man lived on, apparently - first Pyun was going to direct it here, then during the shooting of SMB, it became James Cameron's Spider-Man, and it was going to shoot in the cement plant, with New York street sets built there - and that production was going to last until time to make the Mario Bros. sequel. Of course, none of that happened. But it's wild that people thought Spider-Man was going to be shot here for like three or four solid years!

Direct to Video Connoisseur said...

This is one of my all time favorites. My friends and I refer to it as "the Direct to Video flick that made it to the big screen."

Andrew said...

Ah, I miss Canon Films....
Good old stupid action sci-fi.

I guess those made for the Sci-Fy Channel movies are the closes thing we have to that nowadays.

Franco Macabro said...

I remember loving this one when I was a kid, dont know how it will hold up watching it now, still, a re-watch is certainly in my plans.

Vin Diesel's Babylon A.D. had a similar plot to this one as well.

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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