Assassin

An ex-CIA operative is convinced by his old boss to return to action one last time to help track down a rogue agent who is going around killing people connected with the Agency. The only trouble is that the said agent is seemingly a lethally designed cyborg.

This is a mid-80's TV movie, so it's probably fair to say that expectations should be lowered accordingly. Seeing as it was released in 1986, it's only fair to surmise that it derives much of its influence from the recent smash hit film The Terminator. Obviously, it's a very poor man's Terminator though. But its combination of sci-fi with paranoid political intrigue was not such a bad concoction to be fair. It's delivered with just enough effort to ensure it's watchable. But it's best to accept in advance that the thrills on offer in this one are of the bargain basement variety.

Dou you already heard that old story of an US's agency calls back those former collaborators when some situation running out of control??, How about Schwarzenegger's COMMANDO or even Lambert's FORTRESS 2: RE-ENTRY also RAMBO III just name a few, it's happened with Robert Conrad to be back with full power to stop a hitman that going mad after many killings, they just don't aware him that in fact he is dealing with a powerful Cyborg, what a double-crossing.

I thought that he'd returned just by the gorgeous Scientist Karen Austin working as supporting high tech computer, the top-secret Cyborg's developing was under oversight of Robert Webber, now they ought stop the hybrid-human when he has to be recharging his plutonium batteries for a thirty minutes only, meanwhile it is impossible to break, (why they figure out a dynamite for instance or a bazooka, certainly not it will destroy the whole concept). Well it should be asking too much.

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First watch: 1987 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 5.

Ex-government agent, Henry Stanton (Robert Conrad) is brought out of retirement to track down a rogue agent named Golem (Richard Young). Golem is on a murderous rampage, killing with his bare hands and collecting secret data.

Stanton soon discovers that he's not up against a mere man.

Sort of a made-for-TV version of THE TERMINATOR, Conrad is really good in his intrepid role. Young's Golem is fantastic in all of his / its bulletproof, fireproof, virtually-unstoppable glory!

Highly entertaining...

This mid-80s made-for-TV sci-fi thriller takes its cues from The Terminator, with a human-like robot assassin, created by a top secret government agency, programmed to kill those on a hit list compiled by its deluded, deceased designer. Ex-agency operative Henry Stanton (Robert Conrad) reluctantly comes out of retirement to try and stop the renegade mechanical menace, aided by attractive robotics expert Mary Casallas (Karen Austin).

Writer/director Sandor Stern is no James Cameron, but he still manages to deliver a fair bit of tension and some hokey fun from the premise, with his murderous machine (effectively played by Richard Young) interfacing with an ATM to extract cash, taking a couple of high dives from several stories up, leaping over moving cars, opening up compartments in his body to modify himself, and even bedding a desperate bar floozy when his mission calls for it (he's anatomically correct and can go for hours on a full charge!).

The plot does get unnecessarily convoluted and clichéd at times, with Henry haunted by his past, developing a relationship with Mary, and discovering that his superior has been hiding a terrible secret, but Stern just about keeps the pace going right up to the hilariously explosive ending.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Making TV-movies in the 1980s wasn't all that difficult, in fact. The only thing you needed was enough guts to shamefully rip off an R-rated blockbuster and re-enact it straight-faced, as if you invented everything yourself! It's what writer/director Sandor Stern did, at least, and it worked surprisingly well. "Assassin" is a blatant copy of James Cameron's "The Terminator", although obviously a lot milder in terms of violence and less disturbing when it comes to atmosphere. For example, the cyborg here is also a gentle lover and he (or "it") allows for the innocent Sarah Connors to escape.

Former secret agent Henry Stanton is called out of retirement to stop and destroy a hi-tech but loose cyborg, programmed to kill off a bunch of prominent people that were on the hate list of its deceased creator. The mean machine, wittily named after the folklore creature Golem, is as strong and indestructible as T-800, but he dresses fancily and interrupts his mission to bunk up with a woman who's a dead ringer for Linda Hamilton. Nice! Oh, he must also recharge his batteries after 72 hours of action and adventure, so he's basically the prototype of Elon Musk's Tesla EV-model.

The first hour of "Assassin" is quite enjoyable, thanks to a couple of neat stunts and reasonably suspenseful moments. It is cool how we, together with the amazed and reluctant agent Stanton, discover just how superior and sophisticated the cyborg is. The plot loses its energy and wit, rather ironically, after Golem finishes his battery charging session in the hotel room. After that, the film turns into a mundane and derivative cat-and-mouse thriller, with cliched revelations and a standard finale.

Worth mentioning: the rather unknown and unsung writer/director Sandor Stern did return greatly once, two years after this, with the unique 80s horror gem "Pin".