Nemesis

Albert Pyun, (1953-2022), was a prolific director of low-budget fantasy and science fiction films, many released direct-to-home video. His movies were seldom good, but they were frequently enjoyable. Pyun often came up with clever ideas, but lacked the creative or financial resources to develop them fully. His best-known pictures include “The Sword and the Sorcerer,” (1982), starring Lee Horsley, and “Cyborg,” (1989), starring Jean-Claude van Damme. There is one Albert Pyun movie, however, that stands above all the others. He conceived of a story about a conflict between cyborgs and humans. He wanted the main character to be a thirteen-year-old girl played by actress Megan Ward, but his backers insisted that he cast French kickboxing champion Olivier Gruner as the hero. The plot was assembled from elements familiar to fans of such movies as “Blade Runner,” (1982), and “The Terminator,” (1984). Pyun also hired actors who had appeared in other recent science fiction films, including Tim Thomerson, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Marjorie Monaghan and Brion James.

This week’s movie was “Nemesis” from Imperial Entertainment in 1992, directed by Albert Pyun from a script by Rebecca Charles, (which is a pseudonym for Albert Pyun). Gruner stars as “Alex Rain,” an LAPD detective who is 86.5 per cent human with a few cybernetic enhancements. He is tracking cyborg terrorists. (Pyun uses the word “cyborg” in this film instead of the more accurate term “android.”) Rain is critically wounded in a protracted gun battle with terrorists. He is rebuilt, and during a vacation after his recovery he finds himself a central figure in a fight between humans and cyborgs, and he isn’t always sure who is who. Allies include “Angie-Liv,” (Tagawa), “Jared,” (Monaghan), “Julian,” (Deborah Shelton), and Alex’s energetic sidekick “Max Impact,” (played by the adorable Merle Kennedy). Enemies include the unstoppable killing machine “Commissioner Farnsworth,” (Thomerson), and his partner “Maritz,” (James).

The plot is derivative and baffling, but it really only exists to move the story from one action scene to another. Olivier Gruner acts flatly through the dialogue scenes, but he excels in the fight scenes. The stunt work is simply amazing, and the gun battles expend more ammunition than many real-life wars. This movie offers little to appeal to the brain or to the heart, but it is a genuinely enjoyable thrill ride from beginning to end.

Albert Pyun directed three lower-budgeted sequels to this movie. Gruner did not return for these pictures. The new hero was “Alex Sinclair,” played by female bodybuilder Sue Price. These movies were: “Nemesis 2: Nebula,” (1995), “Nemesis 3: Time Lapse,” (1996), and “Nemesis 4: Death Angel,” (1996). In 2017 Dustin Ferguson directed “Nemesis 5: The New Model,” the last movie in the franchise so far.

In 2013 Albert Pyun announced that he was suffering from multiple sclerosis. Fans of his films reached out to offer support and encouragement. In 2017 Pyun’s wife Cynthia Curnan revealed that Pyun was struggling with dementia. He eventually entered hospice care, and passed away in 2022. One of his last films as a director was called “Cyborg Nemesis: The Dark Rift,” (2014). It was never completed or released.