For some reason I never got around to watch the first "Cyborg" movie, the one from 1989 starring Jean Claude Van Damme. It just always reeked of low budget, and thus I avoided it as if it was on fire. I didn't know that they had made a part two and three to the movie, before I stumbled upon "Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow" by sheer random luck, and now saw that there is a "Cyborg 3: The Recycler" as I looked up "Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow" here on IMDb.If the first movie is anywhere near as catastrophic as this second movie is, then I have been avoiding it for a good reason. Because, while this sequel has Elias Koteas and Angelina Jolie in it, as well as the iconic voice of Jack Palance, then the movie was a shambled mess of a chaotic movie trying to make sense.The story is about cyborg Casella Reese (played by Angelina Jolie) whom is carrying a high-explosive compound inside her, as she is designed to be the ultimate espionage cyborg. With the assistance of Colton Ricks (played by Elias Koteas), the renegade cyborg is freed into the chaotic world outside the confines of the PinWheel corporation.Right, well I am sure that the storyline worked well enough on paper and for the ones who wrote it. But it didn't really translate all that well on the screen. I found the movie to be a somewhat cluster of random scenes put together in order to achieve a wholesome end result. But it wasn't successful.I felt my interest in the storyline dwindle quite shortly into the movie, and director Michael Schroeder failed to lead me back on track, because the movie never progressed into something that had any real interest in terms of an attractive storyline.The acting in the movie was actually good, despite the talents having virtually nothing to work with.As for the special effects, which are quite important in order for a Sci-Fi movie to prove effective, then the special effects department that worked on "Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow" didn't really achieve anything worthwhile, impressive or memorable. And for a futuristic movie, then I was really amazed with what had to be a very antique phone booth with a rotary wheel dial standing in a junk yard, fully functional and operational, and requiring no coins or other payments to use.After having seen part two, then I still feel discouraged from actually sitting down and watching the original 1989 "Cyborg" movie, despite having it in my DVD collection. And I am even less interested in watching part three after this disastrous movie."Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow" scores a mere three out of ten stars here from me, and I do feel very generous with that rating.

Not quite as bad as the rating suggests and has enough to make it watchable, but at the end of the day it just felt like a waste of potential. I forgive that it has little in common with the original Cyborg, the cheesiness and (sort of) the low budget, but not so much that it didn't do enough with its intriguing concept or let its talented cast properly shine.The best asset for me about Cyborg 2 was the performance of Jack Palance, most of his screen time is voice only but that does not once stop Palance from still being a blast as Mercy, one of the few in the cast who actually sounded like he was having fun. Who can't help love his lines either, on the most part the script was not that great at all but the outrageous surrealism of Palance's dialogue and the way he delivered it(literally just going for it no matter how little sense it made) made for enormous entertainment. Billy Drago is a sneeringly over-the-top but also chilling villain and Allen Garfield brings a little wit to his role.Cyborg 2 starts off promisingly, showing some imaginative visuals and some intriguing story set-up. Some of the futuristic special effects are nicely done too, there is a good attempt at a dystopian futuristic atmosphere that can come over effectively and the photography succeeds in being both dream-like and nightmarish.However, with the exception of Mercy's lines the script is rather weak, a lot of it reminiscent of gibberish that was in serious need of a proof-read or two. Some of it only succeeds in confusing the story even further and the characters are literally less-than-one-dimensional stereotypes, Mercy was the only character that actually seemed like the writers cared about halfway developing and even he was severely underdeveloped. The story concept-wise is intriguing, but while effort was made into giving the film atmosphere not as much attention was paid giving it momentum and such. Cyborg 2 drags a lot and changes tone shifts and plot points so frequently the story felt tonally weird and structurally choppy, which just didn't feel right. The action scenes are uneven, some have verve and fun but too many others are sloppily choreographed and lazily performed.While Cyborg 2 is not a amateurish looking film, there are instances where low budget is obvious, the sets are dreary and generally unimaginative, some editing lacks polish and the film is frequently lit far too darkly. The synthesised music score just felt at odds with the film, it sounded cheap and like it would belong more at home in a film from the late 70s-early 80s, plus to me it lacked energy. While it's true that Cyborg 2 has little to do with the first Cyborg it does incorporate a few flashbacks to tie them together, the trouble was they were rather brief and at the end there was not much need for them to be there. It was completely understandable why they did it and it was laudable, but with the way the story was written here their inclusion didn't add very much. Palance, Drago and to a lesser extent Garfield were fun, but Angelina Jolie's(in her lead role debut) acting inexperience shows no matter the effort in as sparely written a role she could have possibly gotten and Elias Koteas is even blander than his very underwritten hero character, while the rest of the cast were average or below.Overall, watchable but mediocre. Notable for it being Jolie's lead actress debut and those fond of Palance and Drago will find pleasure. But at the end of the day, with not enough done with the story and the cast not having enough to shine, it felt like a waste of potential. 5/10 Bethany Cox

In her first major role, a teenaged Angelina Jolie plays "Cash" Reese, a cyborg designed by the powerful Pinwheel Corporation. Pinwheel is at war with the Japanese outfit Kobayashi for control of the lucrative robotics market. Cash's purpose in "life" will be to charm her way into the Kobayashi headquarters and detonate the liquid explosive that she is carrying inside her. But before that can happen, she takes it on the lam with her nice guy combat instructor, "Colt" Ricks (Elias Koteas). Assisting them for much of their journey is the mysterious "Mercy" (Jack Palance), who, for the most part, is only partly visible on various screens.Co-writer / director Michael Schroeder deserves credit for taking this as seriously as he does. There's a minimum of camp and silliness, resulting in a rather sober and affecting love story as well as a tried and true futuristic sci-fi actioner. The relationship between Cash and Colt is handled in poignant fashion, and Mercy is likewise treated with quite a deal of dignity. The movie isn't terribly slick, and is somewhat clunky, but engaging nonetheless and vividly designed. (It's too bad that the Region 1 DVD is mostly fullscreen when this was clearly shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio.) Peter Allen did a fine job with the emotion-rich music score.Angelina looks great, and delivers an appealing performance. The always excellent Koteas acquits himself well as her love interest. Allen Garfield (who dedicated his performance to the late Ray Sharkey), as corporate creep Martin Dunn, Karen Sheperd, as nasty cyborg Chen, and especially the scenery devouring Billy Drago as slithery cyborg hunter Danny Bench all size up as worthy villains. There are brief appearances by Ric Young, Tracey Walter, and Sven-Ole Thorsen. Palance is deliciously hammy much of the time, with his exaggerated delivery of expository dialogue. (You're sure you'll have a pretty good time when you hear Palance uttering the opening information with real gusto.)Ultimately, this is on the routine side, but Schroeder does show some ambition beyond making a mere B movie.Seven out of 10.

In year 2074, a technological, deathly planet earth, in an urban, dirty post holocaust world, Cyborgs have replaced humans and the earth is caught in the grip of high powered corporate warfare . Kobayashi Electronics (Japan) and Pinwheel (USA) struggle to control the software programming and manufacture of Cyborgs . Cyborgs have substituted humans in every respect from the soldier in the field to the prostitute in the brothel . Billions of dollars are at stake and as usual the love of money proves to be the root of all evil . A mean enterprise (ruled by Allen Garfield) which makes Cyborgs orders to get rid of his competitors by means of murdering them . They plan introduce to Cyborg ¨Cash¨ (Angelina Jolie) , a liquid explosive, a McGuffin denominated ¨The glass shadow¨ that blow up . Technology specialist (Jack Palance) clues to Cash and she flees with the help of the human ¨Colt¨ and they have converted prey for a band of nasty bounty hunters (Billy Drago and Ric Young).It's an old fashioned B movie with lots of fights , stunts , struggles and chases among protagonists and their pursuers . The film has some visual sophistication along with a ridiculous plot and even a minor romantic subplot between machine-cyborg and man . Despite a few nice touches is average and this is strictly fodder . ¨Cyborg I¨ (Albert Pyun) was a poorly made action movie , it was only known by Jean Claude Van Damme acting , however ¨Cyborg II¨ has much better casting . It stars Angelina Jolie , she told The New York Times about this movie : "After I saw it, I went home and got sick¨ . The motion picture was regularly directed by Michael Schroeder who at least tries some spectacular scenes . He also directed ¨CyborgIII¨ with Malcolm McDowell , Zach Calligan and Richard Lynch . Rating : Mediocre but entertaining .