Cyborg 3: The Recycler (1995)

Just perfect...

Excellent but underrated film

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I fell in love with Cyborg (starring Van Damme, of who I am not a great fan of) when I was a kid and saw it countless times. Later when I saw Cyborg 2 I never really connected with it because it wasn't a true sequel in my opinion. Recently I re-watched Cyborg 2 on Netflix. Even though it wasn't the best movie ever made I really appreciated this movie this time around. I had no idea who Agelina Jolie was when I was younger but was pleasantly surprised to re-discover that she played the part of Cash in Cyborg 2. I loved her acting in this movie. I thought she did a fantastic job for a young actress working a somewhat low budget flick. The love story of the human/cyborg relationship was interesting and made for an enjoyable plot. This movie was a true love story wrapped in a low budget sci-fi shell. A definite tear jerker for some. Jack Palance deserves mentioning here a he was unforgettable as always.That being said....Cyborg 3 is an utter waste of time. Its the biggest steaming pile to ever disgrace my new 42" flat screen LCD. I was really pumped to see Cyborg 3 on Netflix especially after just re-viewing 2 a short while ago. I was enthusiastic about watching this movie since I have been a fan of the original for years and years. I was entirely disappointed in this movie.When Cash finds out shes pregnant she freaks out and begs the doc to remove it immediately. This reaction is completely out of character for Cash. The love she shared with her human companion was so palpable she would have cherished this gift, this miracle and defended the child to the death. Maybe I missed something here and the child wasn't fathered by her lover and was placed in cryo suspension back at Pinwheel (any one else notice the Umbrella similarity in the logo?). Either way its still complete bullshit for Cash to act that way. It seems everything she does is out of character and I can understand why Angelina Jolie stayed as far away from this project as possible. Cash is portrayed in this movie as a scared, whiny, complaining brat. The actress playing her brings no depth to the part what-so-ever. She was created as a cool as a cucumber espionage unit, a warrior and a true survivor. This movie was an utter disaster and I can't believe Malcom McDowel actually played a part in it, maybe he was dead broke at the time. Sad, considering this man has played memorable parts in a number of great movies such as a Clockwork Orange and went on to perform in many more great movies such as Star Trek Generations. Also worth mentioning is his role in the game Wing Commander IV as Admiral Tolwyn.CYBORG 3 - Avoid this movie at all costs. The directing is HORRIBLE, with some parts making little to no sense and other parts nearly watchable at all. Most of the actors portrayals were pretty mediocre and Zach Galligan's acting wasn't that great either. Decaff was the only cyborg actor worth giving props too. The only actor in the entire movie worth watching at all was Richard Lynch. The only reason I would recommend this movie to a friend would be for the Cyborg boobies.All in all, pretty pathetic.

Years after the fall of the last of the great corporations, the world has fallen into a new dark age where cyborgs are harvested for their parts. Cash, a female cyborg, travels to a wasteland doctor to receive news that she is pregnant. On the run from Recyclers (bounty hunters who hunt cyborgs), Cash tries to find her way to Cytown, the mythical refuge for cyborgs."Cyborg 3: The Recycler" is the third (& last so far) entry in the CYBORG trilogy. The first film was originally planned to be a sequel to MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, but was quickly rewritten into a standard post-apocalyptic martial-arts fest that became something of a cult classic due to its cheesy action scenes. CYBORG 2: GLASS SHADOW was a sequel that actually improved upon its predecessor but was not widely seen (& was dismissed by those few who saw it as cheap fodder).This film, for one thing, tries to be a meld of the first two films (the first was a cheesy action film while the second was a smart Cyberpunk story) but unfortunately falls short on both counts. The budget was obviously lower than CYBORG 2, with the film being set in the desert wastelands (like so many post-apocalyptic action films of the 90s were), shot around old industrial buildings to conserve costs.The film's story centres on a plot device, that of a pregnant cyborg, that is as interesting as it is absurd (this film is not the first to try that idea; the anime OVA series ARMITAGE III uses it to a greater extent). But the film falls into the same trap that so many low-budget sci-fi action films fall victim to, in the fact that the snags (synthetic organisms) featured are nothing more than androids. The visual effects amount to nothing more than prosthetic arms & makeup effects.The acting is pretty standard for this kind of film, with the lead actress (Khrystyne Haje) being the single worst performer on display. Instead of being joyed at the news she is pregnant, she acts all whiny & sullen. Her co-stars are much better, Malcolm McDowell being the usual gangster type who enlivens the scenes he appears in & Richard Lynch has a lot of fun as the chief villain. Of particular note is Andrew Byniarski, playing Lynch's right hand man, who would later appear in THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake & its prequel.

I've read some other comments about this film and most of them said that this is a low budget film. Maybe it's true, but that didn't seem to me when i watch this film. The special effects were quite good for a movie made in 90's and also there were some good action sequences. What else did i liked about this film were colorful characters and pretty weird music. I've seen the first two Cyborg films and i think this is worth watching sequel. Like the first two films this one also has a good plot(maybe even better than in the first film) and lots of action(this time there is more shootouts and car chases). One of the cyborgs is played by Evan Lurie who is known for some roles in martial arts films so in the end there are some good martial arts scenes.

Cash (Now played by Khrystyne Haje in for Angelina Jolie) has wandered to a post apocalypse wasteland (after her protector has died from old age, said protector was played by Elias Koteas, an actual decent actor) and now she finds that people wander through the rubble looking for cyborgs to trade for scrap metal and cash. She leads a group of burned out cyborgs (That includes William Katt, Evan Lurie and a human scientist played by Zach Galligan) against bounty hunter Richard Lynch. Malcolm McDowell has two minutes of screen time as Lynch's employer. Cyborg 3 does manage to be better than the other two entries but it still is a largely dull feature. The problem this time is that the ideas with potential are never used well, the action sequences are routine and the name cast such as McDowell, Katt and Galligan are given little to do. Haje is indeed a whiny heroine and Lynch is too over the top(as usual) and the film lacks the inspiration or ambition to be as fun-bad as it's hilarious predecessor. (The one with Van Damme, the second one is just dull.) Also disappointing is the science fiction angle which almost aggressively resists any good idea it has. As an action flick this is routine and by the numbers B-movie stuff and it is competently made, that's the only thing positive I can say about it.*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)