Cyborg was the final of Van Damme’s 3 movies with Cannon films, following Bloodsport and Kickboxer.
Originally conceived as a sequel to Dolph Lundgren’s Masters of the Universe movie, when the Masters popularity had faded, the script was retooled into a stand-alone movie for Belgian martial-arts superstar Jean Claude Van Damme.

The movie tells the story of Gibson (Van Damme). Gibson is a ‘slinger’ in post apocalypse USA, when he stumbles upon a gang of ‘Flesh Pirates’ (It’s what the back of the box calls them…) attacking a Cyborg named Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon – Tilt-a-whirl), after saving her, she reveals that she is carrying information on the cure for a deadly plague which is sweeping the land, but she has to reach a base in Atlanta.
But she is captured by the pirates, led by the evil Fender (Vincent Klyn - Kickboxer 2), so Gibson, with the help of a girl he meets by the name of Nady (Deborah Richter – The Banker) sets off across the land towards Atlanta, as Fender has stolen a ship and is travelling via water and will be there soon. Gibson and Nady cut them off as they reach land, but outnumbered and outgunned, Gibson is left for dead, crucified on a cross protruding from a ship.
After Nady cuts him free, the pair set off again, as it turns out, Gibson has met Fender before. Years ago, he was hired to take a woman and her younger sister and brother through to a safe area. But he fell in love with the woman, and became a father figure to the children, until one day Fender attacked, leaving them for dead down a well.
But , one the little girl survived, and is now one of Fender’s pirate army, but she still sports a necklace Gibson gave her.

The dynamic duo cut off Fender and the gang again, and this time Gibson takes all of the henchmen to town, until only he and Fender remain, as you would expect, a big fight is next, especially after Nady is struck down trying to help, and the little girl, Hayley (Haley Peterson in her only role) has returned to Gibson’s side…

Despite Van Damme being the only real ‘name’ actor attached to the movie, the acting standard is pretty decent, with no one standing out as being particularly appalling. Van Damme is, well, 80s Van Damme. If you have ever managed to enjoy his performances, then you shouldn’t have a problem here.
Vincent Klyn is clearly having fun in his role as Fender, as he sneers and menaces his way through the movie.
The reason there is no terrible acting on show may be down to the fact that there isn’t really all that much dialogue in the movie, which actually works quite well.
The whole ‘feel’ of the movie is worked well. The sets genuinely look good, and there really is a ‘post apocalypse’ thing going on, unlike a lot of genre movies that feel the only way to depict a post apocalypse landscape is by going to the desert.
The sets are the only real special effects in the movie, and the are pretty good. The only other examples I can think of are the white eyes of Fender, which are probably contact lenses, and the plague victim, which is also fairly impressive.

The music is really quite cool and fits the movie perfectly, thumbs up here.

The major downsides to the movie are that some things are never truly explained at all. Such as Fender. Pearl tells Gibson that he cannot kill Fender, as he is too powerfull, and the white eyes, give the viewer the impression that he is not human, yet no explanation is ever given to this. What exactly a ‘slinger’ is is also never defined. I guess they are some sort of guide’s through dangerous areas, but once again, not a shred of explanation. The crucifixion may also be a bit much for some, hell I like Van Damme, but Jesus he isn’t. with that said, I would be a hell of a lot more likely to go see The Passion of Christ if Jesus kicked the cross until it broke and went and Van Damme kicked the Romans onto meathooks.

On the plus side, the movie is pretty fun. The fights are all pretty good, and the whole movie is just a 1980s action Sci-Fi movie stereotype. the movie also get props for the best use of Van Damme's trademark splits.
The movie gets a lot of unnecessary stick, and I personally enjoyed it quite a bit, and its much better than some of the tripe Van Damme has appeared in (Black Eagle anyone?). another thing that always slightly annoyed me about it though, was the fact that the Cyborg was really a supporting character. I mean, when you see a Van Damme movie called Cyborg you are expecting either Jean Claude to be the half man,half machine or for him to be fighting it.

Seeing as I hadn’t seen this movie in full until the last few days, I also never noticed something else Savate stole from a Van Damme movie, the whole hanging over a well via a rope attached to someone’s arm, only Cyborg does it nastier by using a little girl and barbed wire, instead of Olivier Gruner and some rope.

At the end of the day, Cyborg is a flawed, if enjoyable piece of 80s action cinema, if you grew up watching 80s action movies and tv shows, and like, or at least can handle Van Damme, then chances are, if you give it a chance, you will enjoy Cyborg, just don’t expect any sort of cinematic revelation, its far from Jean Claude’s worst effort, but is by no means his best either.

Year: 1989
Titles: Cyborg

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age