Cyborg: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Cyborg: Collector's Edition

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Ahh, there’s nothing that makes the testosterone flow as much as watching Jean Claude Van Damme do a jump spinning slits kick to the face, or listen to that insanely drawn out kiai that he pulls off after every heavy move he does. After the 1988 smash hit that was Jean Claude’s feature film debut in Bloodsport, it was a given that he would be the next action star. Instead of going full tilt into another martial arts hero story, the young martial artist decided to take the role in a massive post apocalyptic adventure written and directed by Albert Pyun. At this point in his career Pyun wasn’t really noticed much at all. He had done a handful of sci-fi and action movies over the years, but nothing that anyone would ever remember except The Sword and the Sorcerer (he would then go on to become a cult icon for his horrific take on Captain America, as well as the Kickboxer sequels and a whole host of C grade cult films). The creation of the film was incredibly rocky, with Van Damme accidentally stabbing another actor’s eye out, horrible fights with the studio, and a final release which Albert Pyun considers a hacked up version of his original idea (a director’s cut supposedly floats out there, but I doubt it will ever see the light of day. Kind of like John Woo’s Hard Target, which also starred Van Damme).

In a world that has been ravaged by plague, and civilization fallen to a dog eat dog world, there is seemingly no hope. The cities have all fallen into rubble, with most of the world’s population killed off by some incurable plague, with little pockets of humanity hiding out in some of the remnants of the larger metropolis areas. The rest of the world is a place where the common man just survives as best he can, with “Slingers” (mercenaries) keeping the common man safe from the murderous pirates that terrorize the world. Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon) is a cyborg who has the final puzzle piece to curing the plague in her databanks, and is on her way to Atlanta to deliver it to her scientist creators. However, the vicious pirate Fender (Vincent Klyn) is hunter Peal so that he can keep the cure for himself and basically be the ONLY source for a cure (meaning he can basically become a god and terrorize those who won’t bow the knee to him as he wishes out fear).

Pearl’s only hope is in a young slinger by the name of Gibson (Van Damme), a quiet man who is willing to take Pearl to her destination. However, Fender steps in and nabs the cyborg before he can actually do anything. Furious at being bested by Fender, Gibson sets out to reacquire Pearl and get her to Atlanta in time to save humanity. The thing is, Gibson isn’t doing this out of the kindness of his heart, OR because he’s being paid. Instead he has a much deeper and more personal reason for upsetting Fender’s plan. He wants the most basest of human desires. Revenge. What unfolds next is a brutal display of feverish horror, non stop action, and Van Damme at the peak of his physical career culminating in mano e mano fight to the death between savages.

Cyborg Starts off with a quick little voice over about the bleakness of the world, but then just jumps into the action with the introduction of Pearl and Fender, never letting up until the end credits roll. Pyun’s little action film was originally supposed to have been a much bigger thing, with Pyun fighting hard to make thing into a long epic film, with less Karate and more bleak horror film. However, the studio balked at his decision and there was some changing of hands when the final film came to be edited. Pyun has argued for years that his director’s cut is coming (complete with a different score), but he has never been able to pull it out of the unedited footage, and I have serious doubts it will ever see the light of day on home video. With that being said, I’m genuinely impressed with how Cyborg turned out. With all of the editing issues, and studio conflicts (and Van Damme accidentally poking out a guy’s eye during filming, including a half million dollar lawsuit) you would expect a hacked up mess that doesn’t make sense. Instead, we get a very solid action film that plays a delicate balance between the horrific Mad Max level of waste and slaughter, with high flying spin kicks and a decent sci-fi story line (although the prosthetic and stop motion technology back then is pretty painful to modern audiences). The film flows quickly and evenly and it’s honestly one of my favorite Van Damme films. The end fight is much more akin to the Van Damme films most of grew up with, but the center of the film is brutal, bloody, filled with broken down technology and rusty knives. A post apocalyptic nightmare that makes Mad Max look almost comical in tone by comparison.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




Video:

The original press release for Cyborg touted a brand new 4K master, and all other hints at the process stated the same thing, but the Blu-ray box itself lists the master as 2K, so I’m assuming either something changed between when the film was originally announced, or one of them is a misprint. Luckily we had a good source to go on being that the MGM Blu-ray of Cyborg touts a VERY nice looking encode to begin with (one of the nicest of the MGM Van Damme films by a goodly margin). This new remaster is a little warmer than the original release, and a LITTLE more revealing on the detail, but both transfers are excellent. The rustic look of the post apocalyptic wasteland is revealing, with sharp contrast and great attention to fine details. You can see the sweat dripping down Van Damme’s dirty face, and the streaks of blood along the pirates grimy outfits. The grain levels are nice and healthy, with that sort of “80s” look to it that comes from good old fashioned 35mm film stock.








Audio:

This appears to be the same 2.0 DTS-HD MA track from the MGM disc (as is usually the case for these special editions), or either the same source and just re packaged by Scream Factory. Either way, the results is a middle of the road audio mix that is indicative of the shoestring budget and limited ability of Albert Pyun’s post apocalyptic adventure. The sound is a bit thin, but stable nonetheless, with good vocals and a decent amount of presence in the two mains. Side to side positioning is fairly limited, as the track doesn’t show much directionality, nor does it really have a whole lot of “punch” to it either. The musical elements show some depth here and there, and the end fight scene has a lot more power than I was expecting considering the rest of the track. Everything is technically well done, but it was a cheaply shot production in 1989, and from everything that I’ve heard about the issues they had with source elements, this is more than satisfactory.








Extras:

• Brand new 4K master from the original film elements (might be 2K)
• NEW Audio Commentary with writer/director Albert Pyun
• NEW A Ravaged Future – The Making of CYBORG – featuring interviews with writer/director Albert Pyun, actors Vincent Klyn, Deborah Richter and Terrie Batson, director of photography Philip Alan Waters and editor Rozanne Zingale
• NEW Shoestring Fantasy – The Effects of CYBORG – featuring interviews with visual effects supervisor Gene Warren Jr., Go-Motion technician Christopher Warren and rotoscope artist Bret Mixon
• Extended interviews from Mark Hartley's documentary Electric Boogaloo with writer/director Albert Pyun and Sheldon Lettich
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery

Final Score: ​

I can’t in good conscience say that Cyborg is some Citizen Kane of the action world, but it is a FUN film that is just plain intense from beginning to end. It was a completely different type of film for Van Damme after the success of Bloodsport, and Pyun’s post apocalyptic nightmare is just that. Nightmarish with hints of bloody gore and Van Damme’s trade mark martial arts and athleticism. I have to give mad props to all involved for making something so fun out of a production that was hampered so much from the director’s original vision (as Albert Pyun is MORE than happy to drone on about when given the chance). The Scream Factory collector’s edition is actually quite a nice upgrade over the old MGM Blu-ray as well. The video is a slight bit better, and while the audio mix is the same thin 2.0 track, the film ACTUALLY is pretty loaded with extras (the MGM Blu-ray had a trailer on it, that was it), along with some really cool reversible cover art and slipcover (the cover art reverses like usual to show the original VHS cover that I grew up with). If you are as much of a fan of Van Damme as I am, and love these collector’s editions from Scream Factory, then getting this is definitely worth it.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jean Claude Van-Damme, Deborah Richter, Vincent Klyn
Directed by: Albert Pyun
Written by: Albert Pyun
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 86 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 24th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I have seen just about all of Van Damme's movies. Will have to revisit this one.