Van Damme adds some acting to his action (Cyborg (DVD))

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Cyborg (DVD)
Date:	26/11/08 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good acting, raw talent from Van Damme

Disadvantages: Not such good acting in this early Van Damme film

With Jean-Claude Van Damme still emerging onto the screen, but having made a big name for himself with an impressive performance the year before in Bloodsport, 1989's Cyborg promised big things from the Muscles from Brussels. However, rather than retain the working formula from 1988's Bloodsport by limiting the plot and letting JC martial art his way to the credits, director Albert Pyun gave him a bit of a dramatic role to contend with, and the results are kind of mixed.

Part of the appeal of Van Damme is his prowess at martial arts, and while Cyborg gives him the chance to exercise these skills and showcase them a little bit for the viewers, the plot keeps these moments apart from each other and rather stinted. Van Damme plays Gibson Rickenbacker, as a sort of bodyguard assigned to protect the safe transport of a cyborg, carrying a sensitive antidote across a barren wasteland in a post-apocalyptic world where it seems to be each to his own, in a traditional 1980s/1990s fantasy plotline that is ridiculous yet effective.

JC is required to give a bit of a dramatic turn as the man with the best character name I've ever heard of, and this only works part of the time. The actor did a stellar job of doing what he is good at, defending the cyborg Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon). However, even his fighting skills can't prevent her from being captured by the evil Fender and his troops, and he spends the rest of the film tracking her down again, keen to keep his word and retain some semblance of self-pride and worth.

He adopts a kind of one-by-one demolition of Fender's gang, similar to the Predator against Arnie's troop of marines in the jungle in the film of the same name - Predator. Here, however, JC's acting hasn't developed as much as Arnie's had, and the dramatic elements are probably better left out.

All in all, the film is well made, with the emphasis on the action rather than the acting, and this is the sensible move, with Van Damme further proving his worth as an action star who is not afrais to do some acting as necessary, even though this was not a forte of his at the time. It was in later roles that he would get the chance to put some acting into his performance, as more money was freed up for his films and he became a bigger star. However, these earlier films show the raw talent of a star such as him, and I recommend this film.

Cyborg is not the most popular film and so getting a DVD is not as easy as you would think, although a copy with no extras on will set you back around the £4 mark from most online retailers where you can find it.

Summary: A decent offering from the Muscles from Brussels, but nothing special