6/01/2023

Cyborg Soldier (1994)

 


Cyborg Soldier (aka Cyborg Cop II) (1994)- * * *

Directed by: Sam Firstenberg 

Starring: David Bradley, Morgan Hunter, Jill Pierce, Ken Gampu, and Kimberleigh Stark





In the second installment of the continuing adventures of Jack Ryan (Bradley), an evil baddie named Jesse Starkraven (Hunter) kills Ryan's partner during a raid on a drug den in a warehouse. Instead of going to death row, Starkraven is spirited away by a secretive group called the Anti-Terrorist Group, or ATG. ATG, naturally, turns Starkraven - who, we ought to mention, is stark ravin' mad - into a cyborg named Spartacus. 


Spartacus, against all odds and against ATG expectations, gains some sort of independence and sentience. He kills a bunch of his captors and corrals his fellow cyborgs so that they can eventually take over the world. When Jack Ryan hears about this, he's not happy. He begins waging a one-man war against the evil cyborgs. That is, until a woman named Liz McDowell (Pierce) joins in to help him. Will Jack Ryan get revenge and rid the world of the cyborg scourge? Find out today...


The 'pack is back! That's right, our beloved hero Jack Ryan still has his fanny pack, and thank goodness. David Bradley gets a great entrance when Jack Ryan first appears on screen here. He's still a cool toughguy, or perhaps a tough coolguy. He wears a leather jacket, sunglasses, and rides a motorcycle. He's "born for trouble", as it is said multiple times throughout the film. A side character, Gloria (Stark) also wears a fanny pack in the film. So clearly Jack Ryan's style is catching on.


The film opens up with a classic action setpiece in the drug den/warehouse. There are stunts, shooting and blow-ups galore. In fact, all throughout Cyborg Soldier, things are always blowing up, or someone is yelling while shooting a machine gun, or there's an exploding helicopter, or David Bradley is beating up the baddies in some form or fashion.


What's good about this sequel is that it is markedly sillier than the original. There are many moments of ridiculousness and/or stupidity or silliness going on. In case it wasn't clear, we mean that as a compliment. Action combined with this sort of foolishness is one of the great charms of the DTV era, and Cyborg Soldier is a great example of that.


A lot of the supposed sci-fi that was present in the first film is toned down here even more, which is a good move as far as we're concerned. The filmmakers must have realized they didn't need it, for the most part. They already had a straight-up action movie, it just happened to feature a bunch of cyborgs.


While Morgan Hunter was perfectly good as the evil Starkraven, we thought that if this was a big-budget Hollywood movie, for example one directed by Michael Bay, that role could have gone to Ed Harris. But, of course, it's the DTV action we all know and love, and Cyborg Soldier delivers that.


So, if it's a combination of action and silliness that you seek, Cyborg Soldier is a fine example, and is well worth finding.


Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

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