Leofwine_draca
Although set in the same world as the Van Damme original, CYBORG 2: GLASS SHADOW is a low rent, low budget B-movie that has very little to do with the story, look, or feel of that action film. Instead this is a movie that models itself closely on BLADE RUNNER, with a dark and moody look of shadowy buildings, rain-lashed streets, and fluorescent lighting.The erstwhile hero of the piece is a youthful Elias Koteas, who finds himself on the run with a young female cyborg when she's assigned a suicide bombing mission. Angelina Jolie plays the cyborg, which will be the most interesting thing for today's viewers; this was her debut adult role and she's surprisingly decent playing a robot conflicted with human emotions. This is a Jolie before she was encumbered with extensive tattoos and plastic surgery; at 17 years old she brings a breath of freshness to her role, one which would be missing just a few years later in her career.Sadly, the usual shortcomings of the B-movie genre are here: action scenes ruined by poor choreography, a clichéd story, poor dialogue, and a general cheapness to the production. Koteas gives an assured performance but it's not enough to save the film. There are supporting parts for familiar players like Ric Young, Arnie double Sven-Ole Thorsen, and the underrated Billy Drago playing a typical villain. Jack Palance is also here, albeit briefly, chewing up the scene in an over the top cameo. Fans of robotic stuff will find the sci-fi elements kept to a minimum although there's at least one good fight scene to enjoy when Koteas and Drago go mano-a-mano late on in the proceedings.
Scott LeBrun
In her first major role, a teenaged Angelina Jolie plays "Cash" Reese, a cyborg designed by the powerful Pinwheel Corporation. Pinwheel is at war with the Japanese outfit Kobayashi for control of the lucrative robotics market. Cash's purpose in "life" will be to charm her way into the Kobayashi headquarters and detonate the liquid explosive that she is carrying inside her. But before that can happen, she takes it on the lam with her nice guy combat instructor, "Colt" Ricks (Elias Koteas). Assisting them for much of their journey is the mysterious "Mercy" (Jack Palance), who, for the most part, is only partly visible on various screens.Co-writer / director Michael Schroeder deserves credit for taking this as seriously as he does. There's a minimum of camp and silliness, resulting in a rather sober and affecting love story as well as a tried and true futuristic sci-fi actioner. The relationship between Cash and Colt is handled in poignant fashion, and Mercy is likewise treated with quite a deal of dignity. The movie isn't terribly slick, and is somewhat clunky, but engaging nonetheless and vividly designed. (It's too bad that the Region 1 DVD is mostly fullscreen when this was clearly shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio.) Peter Allen did a fine job with the emotion-rich music score.Angelina looks great, and delivers an appealing performance. The always excellent Koteas acquits himself well as her love interest. Allen Garfield (who dedicated his performance to the late Ray Sharkey), as corporate creep Martin Dunn, Karen Sheperd, as nasty cyborg Chen, and especially the scenery devouring Billy Drago as slithery cyborg hunter Danny Bench all size up as worthy villains. There are brief appearances by Ric Young, Tracey Walter, and Sven-Ole Thorsen. Palance is deliciously hammy much of the time, with his exaggerated delivery of expository dialogue. (You're sure you'll have a pretty good time when you hear Palance uttering the opening information with real gusto.)Ultimately, this is on the routine side, but Schroeder does show some ambition beyond making a mere B movie.Seven out of 10.
DigitalRevenantX7
Earth, 2074. The field of cybernetics is dominated by two corporations – Kobayashi Electronics & Pinwheel Robotics. The execs over at Pinwheel plan to destroy Kobayashi by sending in Casella 'Cash' Reese, a female cyborg containing 'Glass Shadow' (a powerful plastic explosive), to a conference & detonating her. With the help of Mercy, a mysterious cyborg who projects himself onto TV screens, Cash & her human combat trainer Colton Ricks escape the compound & flee across the city. With Pinwheel troopers & a psychotic bounty hunter after them, they attempt to make it to freedom.CYBORG was a low-budget, mindless post-apocalyptic martial-arts flick that featured Jean-Claude Van Damme taking on numerous thugs & trying to rescue a female cyborg. It became a cult film & inspired two sequels.While the first film was nothing more than a series of watered-down heroics that had almost no plot, "Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow" is the complete opposite, a futuristic sci-fi film with an intelligent storyline & a Cyberpunk atmosphere. It is also the rare occasion where a sequel proves to be better than the original."Glass Shadow" is set sometime after the events of the first film, although the continuity is somewhat screwed up (society had collapsed in the original & a nasty plague had swept through the world). The society here is akin to a corporate-run city, nothing like the original (there are a few clips taken from the original shown on TV screens). The storyline is quite simple – female cyborg is created as a walking bomb, said cyborg tries to flee her fate, her creators send in bounty hunters to catch her – but done in an intelligent manner.The acting is superb, with due credit given to Jack Palance, who gives one of his best performances, as the cyborg warrior / poet who appears on TV screens like a ghost; Elias Koteas, who plays his role in deadpan fashion & Tracy Walter shines in a cameo as a doctor. Angelina Jolie, in the days before she became a superstar, gives a robotic performance as the cyborg Cash, although this fits in with the rest of the film. The visual effects in this film are excellent, most notably the opening scene with a cyborg being built, some prosthetics work & an exquisite model city.
awood-24
I'd like to point out these excellent points in favor of this movie:#1 Angelina Jolie sex scene #2 Foley artist outdid themselves #3 plot was quite thick #4 DVD does includes trailers and chapter stops#5 no animals were harmed in the making of the movie #6 homages to blade runner through out the film #7 burning trash cans #8 funny guy with no legs #9 Voice overs by Jack Palance added a real dynamic element to the film. #10 Sage advise, for example "When you dine with the devil bring a long spoon". #11 Angelina Jolie was only 18! To sum it up: an evening of entertainment was provided.
AD
