Bullet Points: Cyborg Soldier
If you ever wanted to see a movie with the word “cyborg” in the title that starred a former Saved by the Bell cast member, then 2008’s Cyborg Soldier is the movie for you.
And if you ever wanted to read a review about 2008’s Cyborg Soldier, then this review is for you…
- Fled: The movie starts off hot with the sights and sounds of a security breach as a soldier is escaping a top secret facility… but this not just any soldier, this is an enhanced cyborg soldier (played by former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin). The soldier makes it to the outside world and escapes into the woods. It is at this point that the local authorities receive a call from Old Man Jenkins about a trespasser that was on his property and heading in the direction of an old mine. Deputy Lindsey Reardon (Tiffani Thiessen) responds to the call.
- Men in Black: Reardon finds the cyborg soldier running down the road towards the old mine. Reardon drives along side of the cyborg soldier, rolls her window down and asks him what he is doing, he simply replies that he is running. When she asks him if he’s running to somewhere or from somewhere, he simply replies that he is running. This behavior is suspect, so Reardon then speeds up and pulls up in front of the cyborg soldier to block his path… but the cyborg soldier is unfazed, in fact he manages to get her gun in the blink of an eye and tells her to take cover. At that point a van filled with some private security types that work for the facility the cyborg soldier escaped from rolls up and open fire on the cyborg soldier. But the bullet resistant cyborg soldier shoots back and is able to neutralize the situation long enough that he and Reardon can drive off. But there are other wheels in motion… Reardon has seen too much and she is quickly painted as an accomplice of the “escaped convict” Isaac.
- Cabin in the Woods: The cyborg soldier, who we learn is named Isaac, may be bullet resistant, but Reardon’s police cruiser is not… her engine block was damaged during the shootout and Reardon and Isaac now find themselves hoofing it. The duo happen upon a hunting cabin and they go inside so Isaac can repair himself… and by repair himself I mean pull bullets out of his torso while the nanobytes in his blood stream heal the wounds. The whole time Reardon watches in equal parts awe and disgust. Once he is back to 100% goes outside to do a perimeter check, knowing full well the guys in the black van are still hunting them. Reardon finds some car keys in a jacket inside the cabin… next thing you know Isaac and Reardon have some wheels again in the form of an “Elky”.
- El Camino: Isaac and Reardon end up stopping for some food at a road side diner… it is there where Isaac firsts pours an entire sugar dispenser down his throat and then orders everything on page two of the menu… very Universal Soldier of you Cyborg Soldier. After a brief run in with some State Troopers in the diner, the guys in the black van and the head of the project that created Isaac, Dr. Simon Hart (Bruce Greenwood, Passenger 57) have caught up with Isaac and Reardon and it isn’t long before we get a big action piece and the El Camino going off a cliff… fortunately for Reardon, Isaac was programmed to survive and Isaac manages to get both of them out of the car before it plummeted.
- Cyborg: Lindsey Reardon decides it is time to find out who Isaac was before he was turned into a cyborg. Reardon uses her wits and manages to get her co-workers out of the police station thanks to a fake call she puts in, all so she can fingerprint Isaac and use the computer to learn more about Isaac… what she finds is not good, Isaac is really Dr. Wesley Hill. Hill was convicted of murdering his wife and two daughters!? Is our hero really a stone cold killer!? There’s only one man who can answer that question… Dr. Simon Hart. And that’s when Isaac makes his way back to the facility that created him setting up a Frankenstein’s monster confronting Dr. Frankenstein type scenario!
Cyborg Soldier managed to embellish the positives and hide the negatives. For example, if you have a guy with no previous acting experience like Rich Franklin, it never hurts to cast them as robotic cyborg that is not required to show a wide range of emotions… Bruce Greenwood is a highlight and makes for a more reality based “mad scientist” and doesn’t go over the top… The real surprise for me was how effective Tiffani Thiessen was in her role as Deputy Lindsey Reardon. She was a strong character who used her smarts and police training to navigate the unique experience she found herself in. Reardon also helped bring out the human aspects of Isaac and the two characters played off each other well.
Let’s enhance this review with some Bonus Bullet Points technology…
- AKA: Cyborg Soldier is also known as Cyborg: The Ultimate Weapon.
- For Those In The Know: ISAAC is actually an acronym for Intuitive Synthetic Autonomous Assault Commando.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Rich Franklin rescue a lost girl in the woods and reunite her with her mother, then Cyborg Soldier is the movie for you.
