Crew
Director – Sam Firstenberg, Screenplay – Greg Latter, Producer – Danny Lerner, Photography – Joseph Wein, Music – Paul Fishman, Special Effects Supervisor – Janine Wenland, Cybornetic Effects – Image Animation (Supervisor – Steve Painter), Production Design – John Rosewarne. Production Company – Nu World.
Cast
David Bradley (Jack Ryan), John Rhys-Davies (Dr Kessel), Alona Shaw (Cathy), Todd Jenson (Phillip Ryan), Rufus Swart (Quincey), Ron Smerzak (Captain Callan), Anthony Fridjon (Captain Hogan), Shalom Kenan (Steve), Steven Leader (Frankie)
Plot
DEA agent Phillip Ryan is part of a drug sting operation on the Caribbean island of Saint Keith. However, the operation goes wrong and all the others agents are slaughtered except for Ryan who is taken captive. He is then used as an experimental subject in the drug lord Kessel’s attempts to create an invincible cyborg warrior. When Phillip fails to return, his brother Jack, a former DEA agent, heads to Saint Keith to find him.
Cyborg Cop is an sf/action hybrid, one of a number of such direct-to-video intended productions. The production company Nu World and distributor Nu Image specialise in and have made and released dozens of such similar films, including various Project Shadowchaser sequels and the Operation Delta Force films.
The title Cyborg Cop suggests that the film is a clone of RoboCop (1987) – but it isn’t. In fact, the title is somewhat specious – the cyborg cop is a DEA agent, not a police officer. Even allowing the blurring of such distinction, he is merely a cop who is transformed into a cyborg rather than a cyborg law enforcement officer. The credits also misspell ‘cybernetic’ as ‘cybonetic’. In another ill-informed move, the film names its hero Jack Ryan, the writers seemingly never having been acquainted with the hero of Tom Clancy’s thrillers – see The Hunt for Red October (1990).
The film is written to cliché. The action is adequately conducted and in Cyborg Cop‘s favour, one has to say that it goes through the moves with a passable competence. It at least takes itself seriously and comes without any gratuitous or mindless action or offensively macho attitudes. The only recognizable name is John Rhys-Davies who gives a thoroughly OTT performance with an awful sometimes there, sometimes gone Midlands accent.
Nu World made two sequels:– Cyborg Cop II (1994) and Cyborg Cop III (1995). Star David Bradley and director Sam Firstenberg returned for the first one only.
Sam Firstenberg’s other films of genre note are:– Ninja III: The Domination (1984), Avenging Force (1986), Cyborg Cop II (1995), Spider II: Breeding Ground (2001) and The Interplanetary Surplus Male and Amazon Women of Outer Space (2003).