Manborg (2011)

"You're bonkers, Manborg. I love it!"  - Justice

A soldier is brought back to life as a cyborg, fighting demons alongside a group of survivors in a dystopian future.
Starring: Matthew Kennedy, Adam Brooks, Meredith Sweeney, Conor Sweeney

Link to IMDB

Hell has come to Earth, as an army of demons wage war against humankind. We witness a soldier being killed in a brave but futile attempt to kill the leader of the demons, Count Draculon. Fast forward years into the future, when the demons rule and humans are slaves, and that same soldier awakens as a cyborg. He was created by Dr. Scorpius, a man that works with the demons to turn humans into cyborg slaves, but Manborg has retained his humanity and freewill of the soldier he was before. He's quickly captured by the demons for malfunctioning, and thrown into prison with three renegades that are part of the human rebellion. The prisoners are forced to fight in a coliseum as entertainment, but Manborg will need to gain their trust if they want to survive.

Working as a team, they escape the prison and hide in the wastelands of the city. Together, they will need to form a plan before getting revenge on the armies of Hell. Manborg also has some serious contemplating to do, as he comes to terms with his past and the machine that he's become.

Justice, Mina and #1 Man

With all this craziness going on, the movie flies by at a quick 60 minutes. Movies that are designed to be "bad" or "cult" almost always fail, but Manborg works very well in keeping the tone and style that pays homage to the action, sci-fi and karate movies (as well as video games) of the 80s and 90s. Some of the humour falls flat, especially the Baron's crush on Mina, but overall the laughs keep coming.

"It's never too late to be a hero."  - Manborg

You will notice the extensive use of green screens instead of traditional sets, but don't let that dissuade you, it still retains the retro aesthetic as best it can and there are many cool practical effects too. With a tiny budget of only $1000, the green screen was a necessity.
Just like Manborg himself, underneath all the technology and chaos this movie has a lot of heart.



Be sure not to miss:
- Laser skateboards!
- Justice starts as a bit of a dick, but he became my favourite. His reaction to seeing homeless people is some of the most memorable dialog.
- So... the gates to Hell opened because of a computer glitch? Okay.

Internet review:
"Manborg is clearly an homage to crazy 80s movies, because the future looks like an aerobics class! With lasers and monsters!"  - AnnaleeN

Should I watch it?
Recommended! Beer will help make sense of some of the wackiness.

Where can I find it?
I used the sharesix link here.

Manborg gets...