'Nemesis' is director Albert Pyun's best film and happens to be the first title I saw from him. It established audiences to Olivier Gruner and features established faces Tim Thomerson, Brion James & Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Delivering a mix of sci-fi and action comparable to the original 'Terminator' with similar special fx. Shades of 'Blade Runner' too, but be wary of any scene requiring people to talk.
Alex (Gruner) is an LAPD officer in the year 2027 when humans are at war with cyborg terrorists. On a mission doing battle against them, he's gravely wounded and wakes up to find himself rehabilitated but less than the 86.5% human he once was. He gets his revenge on the person who left him this way, retires, but finds himself down and out once again. Offered a mission by Commissioner Farnsworth (Thomerson) to track down his former cyborg boss and lover Jared (Marjorie Monaghan) who's stolen security plans, he's given an extra incentive to say yes as a bomb has been attached to his heart which is scheduled to detonate in three days time.
The plot is slightly disjointed, but that's made up for by plenty of big guns, big explosions and decent special effects. Gruner gets to wear a bad wig, be burnt out & emotionally despondent while spouting philosophical dialog with his heavy accent. Not to be outdone, Brion James cops some horrible accent as well. Albert Pyun puts some fine locations to good use and provides atmosphere with certain camera shots, setups.
At the end of the day, 'Nemesis' survives on fun action pieces and there's quite a few of them. Working with a decent budget, Pyun gets to showcase some style here and it works out pretty well. I could tell you the movie has been recut in a few alterative versions and it was followed by a bunch of dtv sequels (without Gruner), but that doesn't change the fact that this is the directors pinnacle. It made it to theaters and made a splash on home video and is a decent watch for action fans.
Alex (Gruner) is an LAPD officer in the year 2027 when humans are at war with cyborg terrorists. On a mission doing battle against them, he's gravely wounded and wakes up to find himself rehabilitated but less than the 86.5% human he once was. He gets his revenge on the person who left him this way, retires, but finds himself down and out once again. Offered a mission by Commissioner Farnsworth (Thomerson) to track down his former cyborg boss and lover Jared (Marjorie Monaghan) who's stolen security plans, he's given an extra incentive to say yes as a bomb has been attached to his heart which is scheduled to detonate in three days time.
The plot is slightly disjointed, but that's made up for by plenty of big guns, big explosions and decent special effects. Gruner gets to wear a bad wig, be burnt out & emotionally despondent while spouting philosophical dialog with his heavy accent. Not to be outdone, Brion James cops some horrible accent as well. Albert Pyun puts some fine locations to good use and provides atmosphere with certain camera shots, setups.
At the end of the day, 'Nemesis' survives on fun action pieces and there's quite a few of them. Working with a decent budget, Pyun gets to showcase some style here and it works out pretty well. I could tell you the movie has been recut in a few alterative versions and it was followed by a bunch of dtv sequels (without Gruner), but that doesn't change the fact that this is the directors pinnacle. It made it to theaters and made a splash on home video and is a decent watch for action fans.