''Cyborg 2'' (released in some countries as ''Glass Shadow'') is a 1993 American
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
action film
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
directed by Michael Schroeder. It was produced by Alan Silver and Raju Patel. Schroeder, Mark Geldman, and Ron Yanover wrote the screenplay. The film is a direct sequel to 1989's ''
Cyborg
A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Jean Claude Van Damme, and the second film in the ''Cyborg'' film series.
The film stars
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
Billy Drago
Billy Eugene Burrows (November 30, 1945 – June 24, 2019), known professionally by his stage name Billy Drago, was an American television and film actor. Drago's films, where he was frequently cast as a villain, included Clint Eastwood's wester ...
, Karen Sheperd, Allen Garfield and Renee Griffin in supporting roles.
The film takes place in 2074, years after the original film, and follows Cash Reese, a new cyborg developed for corporate espionage and assassination. She rebels against her creators after revealing they plan to destroy her by using her as a suicide bomber to take over a rival company. On the way, she falls in love with her combat trainer and encounters a renegade cyborg.
''Cyborg 2'' was released by
Trimark Pictures
Trimark Pictures was an American production company that specialized in the production and distribution of television and home video motion pictures. The company was formed in 1984 by Mark Amin as Vidmark Entertainment with Vidmark Inc. (later T ...
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
In 2074, the cybernetics market is dominated by two rival companies: USA's Pinwheel Robotics and Japan's Kobayashi Electronics. Androids known as 'cyborgs' are commonplace, used for anything from soldiers to prostitutes. Casella "Cash" Reese is a Pinwheel prototype cyborg developed for corporate espionage and assassination. She is filled with a liquid explosive called "Glass Shadow". Pinwheel's CEO, Martin Dunn, plans to eliminate the entire Kobayashi board of directors using Cash as a suicide bomber to precipitate a hostile takeover of the company and obtain a
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
over the cyborg market.
Cash is programmed to mimic human senses and emotions such as fear, love, pain, and hate. Guided by Mercy, a renegade prototype cyborg who can communicate through any electronic device, Cash and her combat trainer Colton "Colt" Ricks escape the Pinwheel facility so Cash can avoid self-destruction, something that most corporate espionage cyborgs face. They are relentlessly pursued by Pinwheel's hired killer or "wiretapper", Daniel Bench.
Bench must also deal with a rival bounty hunter named Chen (another cyborg), who plans on killing Ricks and reprogramming Cash to have her blow up Pinwheel instead as a means to punish the company's director, Dunn, as reprisal for an earlier act from Dunn that displeased her. However, Chen and Ricks get into a fight, which results in Chen getting electrocuted by a fuse box.
Mercy is later revealed to be a human/android hybrid who was created by Pinwheel in an attempt to create the next stage in human evolution. Mercy escaped before they had a chance to erase his memories. Ricks and Bench fall into a boxing match to find out who lives and who dies, namely going to the African coast, which results in Bench getting mutilated by a rotating fan, resulting in his death. Cash and Ricks escape to a new life in Africa after winning the tournament, while Mercy confronts Dunn, blaming him for ruining his life.
Dunn explains to Mercy his motives to be his work only for mankind's benefit. Unmoved, Mercy then activates his own Glass Shadow bomb, killing both Mercy and Dunn as well as destroying Pinwheel headquarters. After the skirmish and Pinwheel's downfall, Cash has remained young and beautiful while Ricks continues to age. When Cash realizes that Ricks has finally died of old age, she decides to shut herself down, remaining in a dream state forever.
Cast
* Elias Koteas as Colton "Colt 45" Ricks, Cash's combat trainer and love interest.
*
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
as Casella "Cash" Reese, a
gynoid
A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction films and arts. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like an ...
created by Pinwheel for corporate espionage and assassination.
* Jack Palance as Mercy, an old renegade cyborg who aids Cash moving against Pinwheel.
*
Billy Drago
Billy Eugene Burrows (November 30, 1945 – June 24, 2019), known professionally by his stage name Billy Drago, was an American television and film actor. Drago's films, where he was frequently cast as a villain, included Clint Eastwood's wester ...
as Danny Bench, an assassin who works for Pinwheel.
* Karen Sheperd as Chen, a bounty hunter rival to Bench.
* Allen Garfield as Martin Dunn, former CEO of Pinwheel, a powerful technology company which created Cash, and seeks to take over the company by using Cash as a suicide bomber.
* Renee Griffin as Dreena
* Ric Young as Bobby Lin, who runs the fight promotion and gambling of 'The Blade' - underground and highly illegal snuff combat that takes place under the propeller blades of a ship in a dry dock.
* Tracey Walter as "Wild Card"
Additionally, both
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian martial artist and actor. Born and raised in Brussels, his father enrolled him in a Shotokan karate schoo ...
and Vincent Klyn appear in flashback scenes as their roles Gibson Rickenbacker and Fender Tremolo from the original 1989 film, respectively.
Reception
Critical response
''Cyborg 2'' was poorly recieved by critics and audiences. As of , It currently has an audience score of 20% on the review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
.
Alan Jones of the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' rated the film three out of five stars and called it a "''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...
''-inspired violent fantasy".
In 2014, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' selected ''Cyborg 2'' as Jolie's worst film.
Angelina Jolie has said that after she saw the film, she "went home and got sick".
Sequel
''Cyborg 3: The Recycler'' was produced and released in 1995, once again directed by Michael Schroeder.