Cyborg 2087

From the titular year, a cyborg called Garth A7 (Michael Rennie) is sent back in time to 1966 in order to stop an event that will lead to the subjugation of humanity. Garth A7 enlists the help of humans, while two super-soldiers from 2087 arrive to eliminate him.

The idea of a time-traveling cyborg, sent by a group of freedom fighters to stop a scientist from developing an advanced technology, is familiar indeed! James Cameron simply must have seen this movie. Even the scene when Garth A7 shows a scientist the proof that he's a machine is extremely reminiscent of a similar revelation in Cameron's T2! Of course, this film had neither the astronomical budget, nor the advantage of a Cameron to direct it. In spite of this, CYBORG 2087 is a lot of fun to watch, and deserves to be rediscovered...

A cyborg from the future is sent back to the 1960s.

60s Outer Limits, 60s The Invaders and 60s Irwin Allen all rolled into one!

The plot has shades of a couple of Limits episodes, the lack of fancy hardware gives it a touch of QM's The Invaders and the general presentation/casting reminds me of Irwin Allen.

Michael Rennie is here, but don't expect The Day The Earth Stood Still 2 - you will not get that!

The DVD picture quality is fine and, despite some slow moments, I generally had a ball with Cyborg 2087. However, I viewed it as a blast of the 60s, younger viewers who only want science fiction thrills might find it all a bit too old school?

Often dismissed as a "quickie" movie using a great deal of television elements, "Cyborg 2087" is a prime example of what Hollywood was trying to do between the late fifties and mid-sixties: get people (especially the kids) away from the television set and back into the movie theaters. This film tried (sometimes successfully) to combine two popular genres of t.v. at the time; westerns and science fiction. Half-human robots, having a "shoot out" in a western town using ray guns to rescue the girl (played by a former "Mouseketeer", no less). Listen for the Paul Dunlap soundtrack, which should be familiar -- it was used for several t.v. shows, movies, and even Hanna Barbara cartoons! Also, check out the "hip lingo" used by the teens.The sad part is to see classically-trained actor Michael Rennie trying to make a living wearing a silver spacesuit after being typecast as a "sci-fi guy" in "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

Michael Rennie of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" fame stars as Garth A7, a cyborg sent by a future civilization back to 1966. His mission is to make sure that the revolutionary "radio-telepathy" technique being engineered by Professor Marx (Eduard Franz, "The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake") does not come to fruition. The thing is, in the future, this technique will be misused by evil minds and bring out about chaos. Once he is back in the past, Garth gets scientists Carl Zellar (Warren Stevens, "Forbidden Planet") and Sharon Mason (Karen Steele, "Ride Lonesome") to help him out, while being hunted by assassins dubbed "Tracers".

If this premise sounds familiar, it should: it was also utilized around this time by Harlan Ellison, as an episode of 'The Outer Limits' titled 'Soldier'. Of course, it would eventually be appropriated again, famously, by James Cameron for "The Terminator". While this ultimately upbeat diversion is nowhere near as atmospheric or grim as Camerons' film, it's certainly a reasonable bit of entertainment. Its obvious low budget and TV movie-like nature will inevitably invite descriptions like "cheesy". It does get positively goofy when, at one point, Zellars' daughter (Sherry Alberoni, "Nightmare Circus") and her friends (including a young John Beck of "Rollerball") groove to some hip tunes while he's trying to perform an operation on Garth. Various people get zapped by Garths' odd weapon, which really does no more than paralyze living things, rather than kill them. The music, while credited to Paul Dunlap, seems to consist of stock cues (such as one memorably used in "Night of the Living Dead"). Franklin Adreon (a TV veteran whose theatrical credits also include stuff like "Panther Girl of the Kongo") directs capably, if not stylishly.

The cast gives a straight faced go at this material. Rennie is good as a character committed to being ruthless in pursuit of his goal, yet who might just find some humanity after all. Wendell Corey ("Rear Window") is a sheriff, Harry Carey Jr. ("3 Godfathers") a pesky reporter, Adam Roarke ("Hells Angels on Wheels") Corey's deputy, and Jo Ann Pflug ("MASH") appears fleetingly at the outset as one of the people sending Garth on his way.

Lightweight and unmemorable stuff, yet it does show one a decent enough time, and should be interesting to see for fans of cult science-fiction.

Six out of 10.

I saw this flick as a 10:15 pm, Sat. night presentation on a local Chicago TV station. It was presented as a World Premier movie, not just a television premier. This was a minor trend in the mid/late 1960s TV world, preceding made for cable stuff. (A technology of the future.) It may have been regional, but, I recall several movies of the ilk. Probably, theatrical films that were deemed not worthy of standard distribution. Sold to TV as part of standard film 'packages'. Other titles include Dimension 5 with Jeffrey Hunter, and, a few that I can't recall. Anyway, this is not a review, complaint, or thanks. Just some info.