#CyborgCop (1993) – A (Short) Movie Review

First of all, yes, I have this on DVD, along with the second one having bought them recently.

I’ve never seen this but kinda got the urge to after reading the SFX Magazine,RoboCop special, where it gains a mention.

Anyway, this movie stars straight to DVD action “star” David Bradley as Jack Ryan (no, not that one haha), who’s on the search for his who has been on a mission gone wrong and, ultimately turned into a Cyborg. Hence the name diverge movie. It easy to see why Bradley be a DVD only actor, he doesn’t really have the acting chops or charisma to carry a big movie. He’s not all bad though, he has some excellent fight scenes that are a cross of Van Damme/Seagal and he pulls them off ok.

The love interest is played by the lovely Alonna Shaw as Kathy. You may well know her from the Van Damme action flick, double impact. As with that movie she does a similar thing, showing off a bit of flesh. Doesn’t add anything to the story but is added anyway. To be honest the love scene is probably her best bit of acting in the movie. The rest? Very over the top and not executed well.
The main villain is Kessel, played by the usual dependable John Rhys-Davies. Wow, he doesn’t half ham it up in this. He may be British but the Northern accent he was putting on left a lot to be desired and very odd. Again, his performance is jot great and he’s done better.

Jack Ryan’s brother, Phillip, is played by Todd Jensen. Luckily for him, after his transformation into a ccyborg any acting skills go out of the window, not needing to do much. The other cyborg (no name) is played by Rufus Swart (RIP), again not too many skills needed to do what he had to do.

Within the movie the actions are ok for a low budget action flick and it does have its fair amount of explosions, which is always good. The finishing of the cyborg is something we’ll probably never see again either. Strange. 

Special effects are as you’d expect but I was particularly unimpressed with the cyborg arm and legs which were quite clearly made from rubber.

To be fair this is a movie I’d watch again despite it being pretty poor. Always quite enjoyed these cheap action flicks, although some are better than others and this isn’t too great.

For me it gets a 4/10.

Cheers and thanks for reading..,,,,

#Superman 2 – A (Short) Movie Review

Last night was a lovely relaxed night in our household after having a bit of good news for a change.  The wife was nicely chilled with a blanket and pillows on the couch so I was left to watch whatever I wanted.  So, after watching Superman: The movie a couple of nights ago, I decided to throw on my bluray copy of Superman 2.
 
From what I know Superman: The Movie and Superman 2 were filmed at the same time and, therefore, there is a lot of familiarity with the story and characters within.  Superman 2 starts off with a brief recap of the first movie which is nice before starting the new.
 
This movie brings in the 3 characters introduced at the beginning of the first movie who are imprisoned on Krypton and, inadvertently Superman brings about their escape here.
 
Obviously, we have Christopher Reeve back as the Man of Steel and, again, he just fits the role perfectly giving a great performance and we also have Margot Lane excellent again as Lois Lane .  There’s also the wonderful; Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Valerie Perrine as Miss Teschmacher and Marc McLure as Jimmy Olsen – all back from the first movie.
 
As were introduced in Superman: The movie we have the 3 villains of General Zod, played by the ever-excellent Terence Stamp who gives the role his all, Ursa played by the evil but rather sexy Sarah Douglas and the silent but deadly Non played by Jack O’ Halloran.  A great cast I’m sure you’ll agree.
 
The action is ramped up in this movie with some great scenes such as the villain’s arrival in Houston and their “battle” with the armed forces.  For me though, the battle in Metropolis between Superman and Zod, Ursa and Non is an absolute joy to watch, a fantastic spectacle that holds up very well today.
 
There’s the love story that blossoms between Clark/Superman and Lois, there’s the effects of Superman having his powers taken away and much more.
 
It’s another great superhero movie, but I don’t think it stands up to the first.  There are a few moments that border on slight slapstick and set a little scene for things to come in 3 and 4.  But that’s not to say that it isn’t great, it really is and I love it.  I just prefer the first one.

There is also another version of Superman 2, The Richard Donner cut, however I haven’t seen this so can’t comment on it. I am looking for it though and plan on buying the Christopher Reeve DVD set where this is included.
 
For me, it’s an 8 out of 10……………
 
Cheers and thanks for reading