Back when video ruled mom and pop stores across the country
filled the shelves not just with the latest hits but made for video features
that came about to fulfill the need for more product. Some of these were
terrible and most were low budget but among them were some of the most
inventive and interesting films you could find. Among those was the movie
NEMESIS, directed by Albert Pyun and starring Olivier Gruner.
The movie takes place in 2027 and the world is completely
different. Human beings have had their lives extended by replacing body parts
with cybernetic enhancements and androids exist. Alex Raine (Gruner) is an
enhanced assassin and bounty hunter who works for the LAPD. Disillusioned by
the way the world is going he is wounded during a fight with a group called the
Red Army Hammerheads. He takes most of them out but one escapes leaving him
food for thought. He later tracks down this last android and kills her before
leaving the LAPD and holing up in Baja. While there he is visited by his former
lover and android Jaren (Marjorie Monaghan).
Time passes but the force won’t let him lie low and he is
kidnapped and brought back for one last mission by his old boss Commissioner
Farnsworth (Tim Thomerson). It seems Jaren has stolen classified information
about a summit between the US and Japan and is planning to leak that
information to the remnants of the Red Army Hammerheads. Farnsworth also
informs Alex that during his last reconstruction a bomb was placed inside of
him and is set to detonate in 3 days. He has that long to find Jared and
retrieve the information.
Alex flies to the last known location for Jared in the south
Pacific. There he meets Julian (Deborah Shelton), a friend of Jared’s who tells
him what is really taking place. Synthetic androids are replacing the actual
people in high government positions and Farnsworth is one of them. Jared was
smuggling the information out to prove this when she was killed. But that
evidence was stored onto her memory core. Julian injects him with a device to
prevent the bomb inside of him from exploding at least until the androids can
decode the device.
Attacked by Farnsworth and his team Alex escapes. He now has
little time left to find the head of the Red Army Hammerheads and to pass along
the information left him by Jared. With Farnworth and his team hot on his heels
he sets out to do so, fighting along the way with anyone who attempts to
intercept him. Can he make it in time or will Farnsworth and the androids take
over?
Made on a low budget you wouldn’t be able to tell from the
methods employed by Pyun to get the most bang for his buck. No budget films
were his bread and butter and finding a better director to accomplish this is a
difficult task. Pyun not only presented movies like this one with a ton of
creative energy in them as well as high level production values for the money
involved.
The film was only the second for Gruner but you wouldn’t
know it. The French actor began learning martial arts when a child, was part of
the French version of the Green Beret and was a competing kickboxer before
turning to acting. Much like Jean-Claude Van Damme his handling of the English
language got better as time passed but the movies he made early on like this
one called more for his fighting than his speech abilities. Still he not only
makes the character believable but his martial arts and acting skills are
perfectly suited for the film.
The movie didn’t get a mainstream theatrical release across
the country but did get a major push when it came out on VHS. It was one of the
big hits in the direct to video market, enough so that the film was followed by
three sequels. Those who grew up wandering the aisles of those mom and pop
stores are likely to remember the cover artwork and seeing the film for the
first time. Now MVD is releasing the film on blu-ray format as part of their
MVD Rewind Collection.
With box art that resembles those old video store titles
complete with stickers asking you to “Be Kind Rewind” it is certain to stir up
some old memories. But they’re not limiting it to just that, including a number
of extras as well. These include a director’s cut of the film complete with
commentary track by Pyun, an introduction by Pyun, an introduction by Gruner,
an afterword by Pyun, making of featurettes, an interview with Gruner, a making
of on the stunts and effects, a making of on the visual effects, “The Saga”
featurette, “Killcount” featurette, trailers, TV spots, a collectible
min-poster and more.
Fans of the film will rejoice at being able to finally own a
grand version of a film that deserved much more credit that it received when
released. And those who were too young to be around back then can have fun
discovering it for the first time. And if you enjoy it be aware that MVD is
planning on releasing all of the sequels as well. Maybe a NEMESIS watch party
is in your future.
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