Knights (1993)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

Albert Pyun

Writer (WGA):

Albert Pyun (written by)

Release Date:

25 August 1994 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

He said it takes a cyborg to kill a cyborg. She's going to prove him dead wrong.

Plot:

In the future, a kickboxer and a robot lead a revolution against ruling cyborgs. |

Plot Keywords:

Cyborg | Strangulation | Throat Slitting | Grand Canyon | Forest

Cast

Kathy Long	...	Nea
Kris Kristofferson	...	Gabriel
Lance Henriksen	...	Job
Scott Paulin	...	Simon
Gary Daniels	...	David
Nicholas Guest	...	Farmer
Vincent Klyn	...	Ty (as Vince Klyn)
Ben McCreary	...	Chance
Bob Brown	...	1st Marauder
Jon H. Epstein	...	Matthew
Burton Richardson	...	Marauder guard
Nancy Thurston	...	Woman Bandit
Edmund Tyler Wrenn	...	Boy
Brad Langenberg	...	Master Builder
Clare Hoak	...	Mother

Runtime:

France:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Kings Road Entertainment

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious stunt double in Gabriels's fight scenes.

Quotes:

Job: Death is the future.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Viki Williamson Night" (1995)

"It makes sense, doesn't it? To kill us, you must be metal."

Set in a post-apocalyptic environment, cyborgs led by warlord Job rein over the human population. They basically keep them as livestock, as they need fresh human blood to live off. Nea and her brother managed to survive one of their attacks when she was a kid, and years have past when she came face-to-face with the cyborgs again, but this time she's saved by the cyborg Gabriel, who was created to destroy all cyborgs. Job and his men are on their way to capture a largely populated city, while Nea (with revenge on mind) pleads Gabriel to train her in the way of killing cyborgs and she'll get him to Gabriel.

Cheap low-rent cyborg / post-apocalyptic foray by writer / director Albert Pyun (who made "Cyborg" prior to it and the blistering "Nemsis" the same year) is reasonably a misguided hunk of junk with some interesting novelties. Very little structure makes its way into the threadbare story, as the turgid script is weak, corny and overstated. The leaden banter tries to be witty, but it pretty much stinks and comes across being comical in the unintentional moments. Most of the occurring actions are pretty senseless and routine. The material could've used another polish up, as it was an inspired idea swallowed up by lazy inclusions, lack of a narrative and an almost jokey tone. The open-ended, cliffhanger conclusion is just too abrupt, especially since a sequel has yet to be made. Makes it feel like that that run out of money, and said "Time to pack up. Let's finish it off another day (or maybe in another decade). There's no rush." However it did find it rather diverting, thanks largely to its quick pace, some well-executed combat and George Mooradian's gliding cinematography that beautifully captured the visually arresting backdrop. Performances are fair. Kris Kristofferson's dry and steely persona works perfectly as Gabriel and a self-assured, psychically capable Kathy Long pulls off the stunts expertly and with aggression. However her acting is too wooden. A mugging Lance Henriksen gives a mouth-watering performance of pure ham, as the villainous cyborg leader Job who constantly having a saliva meltdown. Scott Paulin also drums up plenty of gleefulness as one of the cyborgs and Gary Daniels pouts about as one too. Pyun strikes up few exciting martial art set pieces, involving some flashy vigour and gratuitous slow-motion. Seeping into the background is a scorching, but mechanical sounding music score. The special effects and make-up FX stand up fine enough. Watchable, but not quite a success and it's minimal limitations can be a cause of that.