Oh, glorious cheese! This falls into that category of so bad it's good. Direct to video, rental goodness. You have a pile of recognizable B movie stars who many would be hard-pressed to name, but would know their faces, over-the-top special effects, terrible (albeit entertaining) dialogue and a score that feels like it was stolen from one of the Rambo movies. If you took Terminator, Cyborg, Johnny Mnemonic & Blade Runner, starring a budget Jean Claude Van Damme knockoff, then add a touch of Cannon Films for good measure & mixed it into a cocktail you'd have this film. One thing Nemesis manages to be is entertaining. Maybe not for the right reasons, but if you grew up perusing the rental isles of your video store and had a love for low budget sci-fi/action films you need to check this out. This isn't something everyone will appreciate, but those who do will enjoy the hell out of it. Is it a good movie, not at all, is it entertaining, yes, yes it is.My Rating: 5/10

Nemesis is starts during the future year of 2027 in Los Angeles as cyborg cop Alex (Oliver Guner) shoots a robotic terrorist who has vital information on the 'Red Army Hammerheads' terrorist organisation, while trying to escape with the information member of the Red Army Hemmerheads blow him to pieces. Jump forward 'Six Months Later' as Alex has been rebuilt by the LAPD & is more machine than human, Alex has become a data smuggler but his old LAPD boss Farnsworth (Tim Thomerson) forces Alex into one last assignment. An assignment to find & capture his former partner Jared (Marjorie Monaghan) who has sold top secret information to the Red Army Hammerheads who plan to assassinate top Government officials. Alex has no choice but to accept, the LAPD fitted a bomb in his robotic heart & if he steps out of line, bang. However Alex has been used as a pawn in a wider & more sinister plan by the cyborgs who intend to overthrow humanity & rule the Earth themselves...This Danish & American co-production was directed by Albert Pyun who for me is one of the very worst director's still working today, he maybe isn't quite as bad as either Jess Franco or Jim Wynorski but he's right down there with them & just because Nemesis is considered one of his best film doesn't stop it from being any less crap or make it any more worthwhile. The script is a mess, it tries to mix all the futuristic films of the time that dealt with cyborgs & lawless futures such as Robocop (1987) & The Terminator (1984) both of which are far superior to this awkward mess of a film. The biggest problem with nemesis is the lacklustre story (cyborgs in the future want to take over), the seemingly random way it develops (even though the film states that Alex is a really bad data smuggler the LAPD want him to undertake a vital mission), the questions that never get answered (why do the cyborgs want to replace humans with perfect robotic duplicates that act & look exactly like the human they are replacing, what is their big plan, what is the Red Army Hammerheads big plan & why is Alex so important for it?), the events that are never explained (why does the LAPD allow Alex to go to Rio de Janeiro & become a data smuggler, what's with the pointless puppy to dog scene at the start?) & a really dull plot that gets about five minutes of exposition the whole film between boring scenes of people running around shooting at each other. The script is totally humourless & is really dull, the dreary politics between the cyborgs & humans almost put me to sleep, there's never any real indication that Nemesis is set in the future apart from the cyborgs themselves & who is controlling Alex? Who is controlling Farnsworth? The whole script is just loose, it occasionally throw's in some dialogue that is supposed to sound serious about cyborgs wanting to take over the planet but otherwise Nemesis is a plot less & uneven sci-fi thriller with a few forgettable action scenes tossed into the mix.The opening gunfight was alright, even though the bad guy's can't hit Alex from about ten feet away in open ground. I mean Alex is running though a building site & these bad guy's are right behind him shooting but none of them ever hit him. He, of course, hits & kills them easily. There are three separate sliding scenes, Alex slides down a rubble pile, he slides down an old fun park slide & then down the side of a hill. There are a few explosions too but almost all the so called action here is just people who can't aim properly shooting at each other. The climax is a real rip-off of The Terminator as a cyborg metallic robot skeleton has a fight with Alex while hanging out the back of a plane. Don't ask. Despite being made almost a decade later & despite the advances in special effects the robot fight at the end of The Terminator looks a thousand times better. The film is shot with very muted colours & the usual bright neon lighting that so many sci-fi films seem to have. There's not much blood or gore although there is a bit of nudity if that's what your after.Although filmed between November & January 1992 Nemesis wasn't released until the beginning of 1993 & you can see why, shot in Los Angeles, Arizona & Hawaii. The acting is alright but what on Earth is Brion James doing? Why the bad German accent? Future Hollywood star Thomas Jane has a small role & why kill of the babe in boots at the start? They even put her on the front of the DVD box yet she is killed off within a few minutes, she was the prettiest one & has the biggest gun. Nice going Pyun you klutz.Nemesis is a terrible sci-fi action thriller with dull action scenes, an almost random plot stolen from other much better sci-fi action thrillers, a future that looks about twenty years out of date already & some questionable special effects. Not good, not good at all so why on Earth did Nemesis spawn no less than three sequels? Nemesis 2: Nebula (1995), Nemesis III: Prey Harder (1996) & Nemesis 4: Death Angel (1996) all again directed by Pyun.

I saw NEMESIS back in the mid 90's where it probably looked a lot better but the age factor with this film isn't really the issue, if you watch it today the effects will obviously be dated but the main thing that still stands out about this film after all these years, is that its very energetic, you never once get bored of watching it because despite the fact that this is now an old film, its still one of the most entertaining rides I've ever been on, the pace keeps the film moving and the direction by on and off director Albert Pyun is well handled.The acting by the cast is better than you'd expect from a film of 90's low budget standards, Olivier Gruner certainly gives one of his better performances in this film and it features a good performance from the late Brion James.Overall, NEMESIS is one of my old favorites from way back, now its part of my DVD collection and its as good as it was the first time I saw it.Also this is the kind of film Albert Pyun directs on one of his on days, if you want to know what he does on his off days, check out the NEMESIS sequels and that URBAN MENACE junk, not to mention the MAX HAVOC series

Nemisis has all the making of an average action movie with a its own style Also has plenty of comedy tons of action and just kicks a#$!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grunner is a far better actor that he is given credit for, he does lack actual skill but makes up for it with real abilities fighting especially. This is a landmark of 80s-90s SCI FI back when a b movie could still change the genre. Merle Kennedy adds a certain interest to the movie for different reasons. She makes a good sidekick, b movie extraordinare Tim tomerson also leaves a memorable performance. A must watch for fans of Terminator, Robocop, The only people who should dislike this movie are those who dislike, nonstop action