Albert pyun double feature: Cyborg & Nemesis

Legendary B-movie director Albert Pyun sadly passed away last week, so here's a look at two of his most iconic features.

First there was the collapse of civilization. Anarchy. Genocide. Starvation. Then, when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, we got the plague. The “Living Death,” quickly closing its fist over the entire planet. Then we heard the rumors - that the last scientists were working on a cure that would end the plague and restore the world. Restore it? Why? I like the death! I like the misery! I LIKE THIS WOOOOOOORLD!!!!

It’s on that cheerful note that we’re welcomed into the post-apocalyptic grunge nightmare of Cyborg, one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s earliest starring roles. Albert Pyun was somewhat infamously lined up to direct an adaptation of Masters of the Universe for Cannon Films before the financing fell through… and in order to utilize the existing sets and costumes, he threw together this irresistible piece of junk about Pearl Prophet - the titular cyborg - who has crucial data stored in her head that she needs to get to a team of scientists stationed in Atlanta. Unfortunately, she falls into the clutches of Fender Tremolo (Vincent Klyn) and his notorious band of flesh pirates - the only one who can save her is Gibson Rickenbacker (Van Damme), a mercenary-for-hire known as a “slinger”… who has his own personal score to settle with Fender (and yes, you might have noticed that all the characters are randomly named after guitar manufacturers and other musical brands… don’t ask me why). 

Cyborg is that rare film in which its low budget actually works in its favor. As futuristic settings go, this is, without question, one of the creepiest, most unnerving urban hellscapes you’re likely to come across - just pure, unrelenting nightmare fuel. The film is basically low-concept trash… but there’s also nothing else quite like it in the JCVD canon, certainly nothing of this particular sci-fi action-fantasy vintage. The Belgian star’s fighting skills aren’t necessarily well-showcased - at least compared to contemporary efforts such as Bloodsport and Kickboxer - but Pyun does stage one terrific chase sequence that includes Van Damme getting the drop on an unsuspecting Dee Snider lookalike by doing the splits in a sewer entryway... and ends with him being crucified to a beached ship’s mast. You won’t find comparable Christ imagery in, say, Death Warrant, that’s for sure. ​

As Fender, Klyn can barely form a coherent sentence, let alone act, but he does have formidable screen presence. His rain-soaked showdown with Gibson is all taut sinews, corded neck veins and bruised knuckles, but the climax also has an emotional context that’s maybe, just maybe a teensy bit affecting? Yeah, don’t tell anyone. Cyborg isn’t exactly essential viewing, and yet… it absolutely is. As Pearl says near the end “It’s strange… but I feel he’s the real cure for this world.” She might as well be referring to the Jean-Claude Van Damme filmography.

Don’t even bother trying to parse the plot of Nemesis, which takes place in an android-filled cyberpunk future of 2027. Cybernetically-enhanced LAPD counterterrorism operative Alex Rain (French kickboxer Olivier Gruner) is charged with tracking down and eliminating his onetime lover Jared (Marjorie Monaghan), who’s supposedly stolen state secrets and joined forces with an underground militant group called The Red Army Hammerheads. However, it turns out a new breed of sophisticated synthetic is replacing high-ranking human leaders (including Rain’s boss, Police Commissioner Farnsworth), as part of a sinister conspiracy to eradicate humanity once and for all. Rain must stop them. Or something like that. ​

The main reason (frankly the only reason) to watch Nemesis is the pure B-movie gusto Pyun brings to the action set pieces, which are staged with just the right hint of free-wheeling derangement. Bullets spray the screen by the hundreds. Cyborg antagonists twitch and jerk as their bodies are riddled with gunfire, their faces ripped away to reveal the metallic exoskeleton underneath. Pyrotechnics detonate indiscriminately. Shotguns blast holes through the wall the size of trashcan lids. Characters do gun-blazing backflips for no particular reason. Otherwise, the film is a disappointment. The atmosphere is flat - it doesn’t read cyberpunk at all. Almost the entire movie takes place during daytime, in wide-open, non-urban jungle and desert exteriors. Blade Runner this ain’t (heck, it’s not even Split Second). Gruner is a decent enough action hero, but his acting makes Van Damme look like Richard Burton. Somehow this movie spawned four sequels. One was more than enough.