Director: Michael Schroeder
Writers: Barry Victor & Troy Bolotnick
Cast: Zach Gilligan, Khrystyne Haje, Richard Lynch, Andrew Bryniarski
Certificate: 18
Running Time: 90 mins
Released: 25/11/94
Plot: Set some time after the end of the 'Golden Age', cyborgs are cruelly hunted by recyclers for spare parts to sell onto other 'borgs. Some recyclers are ruthless and hunt down healthy cyborgs regardless of what condition they are in. Lewellyn (Lynch) is the worst of the lot. When a 'borg, Cash (Haje), becomes mysteriously pregnant, Lewellyn chases her for the glory of the prize together with side kick Jacko (Bryniarski).
Review: DO ANDROIDS dream of electric sheep? Or do they dream of money the same as the rest of us? It's money of course! Cyborg 3 pictures a futuristic dystopia where our android cousins are prostitutes, murderers and thugs, only too happy to help out recyclers like the evil Lewellyn in collecting arms, eyes, legs and...well, anything in fact, from other cyborgs.
Not that all cyborgs are bad. Just some of them. One of the bad ones is the 'star' of Cyborg 3, Malcom McDowell. In total McDowell has a whopping two scenes that must amount to about 6 minutes of screen time. If that. He is killed by Lewellyn after they hangle over a new hand unit for Malcom. Which is quite dissapointing. His absence leaves the film bereft of anything resembling star talent to carry the film.
The principal story concerns one cyborg, 'Cash' becoming pregnant (don't ask) and escaping from the dirty claws of Lewellyn with programmer Evans (Gilligan) to seek the safe haven of the fabled 'Cytown'. Oh, and Evans lives in a cave for a reason that is never made clear.
It's a hard journey. Lot's of stuff gets blown up, for a start. But then all of a sudden they find Cytown, full of mangled 'borgs (imagine the crazy deformed toys in Syd's room in Toy Story), who seem grumpy then helpful and everything looks pretty rosey.
So they're safe, right? Game Over.
Of course not! Lewellyn launches an all-out assault with the help of some bikers (who have appeared from somewhere) and attacks Cytown. The 'good' cyborgs help defend Cash and Evans. It's a bit like a western, but without any tension.
By this point Cash has 'given birth' and is carrying around a little metal tin thing containing her 'baby'. Sometimes we get to see inside the metal tin thing (cue some very special low budget mid 90s CGI).
Lewellyn manages to corner Cash and demands Jacko to help him take the baby away. But Jack has a change of (artificial) heart and attacks Lewellyn. The other deformed cyborgs get back and everything is wrapped up. Literally, the film just ends, suddenly, after Lewellyn is killed. Whether he regretted his life as a mean recycler only Cyborg God knows. Do androids go to heaven? Now there's a question.
Cyborg 3 is an entertaining b-movie romp that falls way short of it's ambitions to be taken seriously as a straight sci-fi genre pic. While it contains none of the continuity/effect errors of many lovable budget affairs, the overall production is pretty awful, with mediocre acting, sloppy direction, hurried conclusion and it's 'star' dies at the start.
Brilliant!
No comments:
Post a Comment