Editorial Review:Description:Martial arts wizard Jean-Claude Van Damme carves out a dazzling new domain as the future's most fearsome warrior in this adrenaline-charged sword and sci-fi thriller. Filled with non-stop action, Cyborg is a wild ride from start to finish – a post-apocalyptic battle against the ultimate evil. Deteriorating from social anarchy and a deadly plague, 21st Century America has descended into a seething, barbaric nightmare. Only Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon), a beautiful half-human/half-robot, has the knowledge necessary to develop a vaccine. But during her desperate quest to gather data and bring a cure to the world, Pearl is captured by cannibalistic Flesh Pirates who plot to keep the antidote for themselves...and rule the globe! Now, only the awesome fighting skills of saber-wielding hero Gibson Rickenbacker (Van Damme) can rescue her – and save what remains of civilization.
Amazon.com:Jean-Claude Van Damme, a.k.a. 'the Muscles from Brussels,' had only a few movies to his credit when he played the hero in this lame postapocalyptic action flick from 1989. It's really just another martial-arts movie, dressed down with near-future trash and dirty sets that have 'low budget' written all over them. Van Damme plays the protective escort for a half-human, half-cyborg woman whose programming contains a possible cure for a plague that's threatening to wipe out the entire population of Earth. But the woman is kidnapped by Van Damme's evil nemesis (is there any other kind?) while they are en route to her Atlanta headquarters. That leads Van Damme right into a lion's den of sadomasochistic torture and torment. If you've made it this far (and if you have, why?), you're probably a founding member of the Jean-Claude Van Damme fan club. To everyone else: Don't say you weren't warned--this is the kind of movie in which naming characters after electric guitars (Van Damme's character is named 'Gibson Rickenbacker') qualifies as clever screenwriting.
--Jeff Shannon
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Van Damme Becomes a Star
Using costumes and some effect intended for a sequel to the live action MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, CYBORG is a bleak and apocalyptic film best known for securing the film career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film takes place in a future United States that has been decimated by a plague and internal violence. The film begins in New York City. A female cyborg named Pearl Prophet (Dale Haddon) has retrieved information stored within her memory that when brought back to Atlanta (former headquarters of Centers for Disease Control) should bring about a cure for the plague that has killed and is killing so many others. Unfortunately, Pearl runs into a group of pirates led by Fender Tremolo (Vincent Kyln) a big and ugly villain who grunts a lot and who has scary-looking eyes. While running away from Fender, Pearl runs into Gibson Rickenbacker (Van Damme). Gibson is a wandering do-gooder who has spent the last several years of his life training for the day when he would meet Fender again and get his revenge for killing his loved ones. In their first encounter, Gibson is left for dead. Of course, he's not dead but is just unconscious under a pile of rubble. After crawling his way out, Gibson follows the path of Fender, determined to save Pearl and get his revenge. Also, while following Fender's path, Gibson rescues a young woman named Nady Simmons (Deborah Richter). Gibson eventually meets up with Fender again and battle and mayhem ensue.
CYBORG was directed by Albert Pyun. Pyun has gained a reputation as being a modern Ed Wood. He's directed over forty movies, usually on a shoestring, and will probably be forever infamously known as the man who directed the CAPTAIN AMERICA movie that was never released in U.S. theatres. There are some people who are huge Pyun fans. If you know what you are getting into and are in the right mindset, then a Pyun film can be bearable to watch. But there's a reason besides the huge amount of projects and cheap budgets that Pyun is compared to Ed Wood. His movies have terribly written scripts with bad dialogue and nonsensical plots, usually full of holes. His films usually also have a huge amount of violence. CYBORG has all of those elements as well as a cast of characters named after guitars and other musical instruments.
There's only one reason that I watched CYBORG. Several years ago while flipping through the channels late at night I came across the most memorable scene in the movie. I won't give that scene away, but I was so mesmerized by what I saw that I decided to rent the movie and watch the whole thing. The rest of the movie pales in comparison to that scene, but the scene is worth watching.
CYBORG isn't a good movie. It's a bad movie, but not quite bad enough to be campy. If you enjoy fighting movies and can get past the weak plot, cheesy costumes, musical instrument-named characters, and terrible dialogue, then you might enjoy CYBORG. For everyone else, I would recommend only out of curiosity.
Rating: 
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A JCVD 80's Movie to own
I just bought the DVD and haven't seen Cyborg for 15 years or so.
This movie despite the 1980's MTV band costumes is a great movie for having a couple of hours of fun.
best move: the nail out of JCVD's boot as he does a jumping spinning hook kick.
the cheese: the bad guys popping out of the mancover -- sort of like a Monty Python skit.
But good stuff!
Rating: 
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Anarchy, Genocide, Starvation - perfect setting for a JCVD movie
The Jean Claude Van Damme Review Matrix (JCVD-RM)
1.Who is he? Gibson Rickenbacker, a post-apocalyptic fighter who helps people affected by the plague
2.Which family member/friend must be avenged? His entire family was murdered
3.Does he take his shirt off? Yes, in the rain.
4.Does he have sex with a C-List actress? Yes, some cute brunette (Dayle Hadden)
5.Is there a tournament? No, just a battle for survival
6.Is training needed for this tournament? No tournament here, but judging by how badly he beats down the enemy lackeys, it doesn't appear that training is needed.
7.Does he do the splits in training or in the tournament? Several times
8.Does he punch someone in the balls? No, but he engages in a little five-on-two grab move during one fight
9.Does he do a series of flying or 360 kicks? Constantly
10.Is his enemy unbeatable? Fender Tremolo (Vincent Klyn) is a cyborg who has nearly glowing eyes and a robotic voicebox similar to that of a tracheotomy patient. He also has a gang of cyborgs at his disposal.
11.Does he overcome an injury or other hindrance? Yes, at one point he literally gets crucified
12.Does he win? Despite the fact that he's absolutely pummeled by Fender, and a car door, he somehow manages to win via meat hook.
Perhaps the most violent of JCVD's flicks, the action in this one is pretty good. The fight sequences are a little choppy at times, with the mega-pause between hits, but overall the choreography is solid. A few gory scenes are a bit of a shocker, specifically the crucifixion scene. Amidst the post-apocalyptic setting, however, everything seems oddly appropriate for a movie approaching B-Movie status. Classic JCVD, it's great.
Rating: -
I LIKE THIS WORLD!!
Here we go again! Another love it or hate it film. "Cyborg" is notable for a number of reasons. It is a showcase for Van Damme's considerable Martial Arts talent. It shows a world totally devoid of the concept of mercy. Since no one in this film can act their way out of a paper bag, the lack of dialog doesn't hurt it either.
Back before his run-in with Cocaine, Van Damme was trying to tap into the Martial Arts film genre as Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris did. He almost succeeded, were it not for the Coke. Since then, he has been seen in a number of films that only die-hard Martial Arts fans would know, or care about. The last film I saw him in that had very little to nothing of Martial Arts in it was "Legionaire".
"Cyborg" is a tale set in the somewhat near future, where a plague has decimated the Earth's population down to a few scattered camps of humanity. Albert Pyun inserted a bit of unorthodoxy, in the form of character names. Van Damme's moniker is Gibson Rickenbacker, and his nemesis goes by the moniker of Fender Stratocaster, played by Vince Klyn, who's only claim to fame is this film.
A cure has been found by a group of Scientists in an underground bunker. It is worthless, however, unless they can get it to another lab located in Atlanta, Georgia. A woman (Dayle Haddon) who, by all intents and purposes, is another Scientist, volunteers to undergo a transformation to turn her into a "Cyborg", hence, the title of the film. Presumably this is done so she cannot contract the plague, and possibly die before reaching Atlanta.
Gibson Rickenbacker is a loner with a dark past. He plays a "Slinger", or hifalutin' future-talk for mercenary. He meets "Pearl" (the Cyborg), while fighting off "Flesh Pirates" (catchy, huh?). She tells Gibson of her plan to go to Atlanta, but Fender has other ideas. He is the BMOC of the "Flesh Pirates", and He's not diggin' that Gibson or Pearl wants to save the world, so he goes to Atlanta to destroy the cure, and the Scientists with it.
During this period in Hollywood, there was a small contingent of filmmakers who contracted Custom Knifemakers to create some of the most beautiful knives ever seen in film (these were not dime-store specials, but real custom collector pieces). The film "First Blood" started the craze with "Survival Knives", and the trend just took off. You still continue to see them, they're just not the center of attention as they were before. They are all over this film. Every piece you see is a custom creation!
"Cyborg", while far from perfect, is a first-rate Action/Sci-fi/Martial Arts film. Great for a boring afternoon!
Rating: -
CYBORG - Van Damme
This was one of Van Damme's earlier movies in his career.
Van Damme is one of the better action heroes in my opinion.
This movies has non stop action, if your a fan of Van Damme
this movie is a must have!!
I rate this movie a 8 from 1to10!!
