Cyber Tracker Reviews

Neatly knocking off THE TERMINATOR, THE STAR CHAMBER, and the Judge Dredd comic series, this showcase for martial arts legend Don "The Dragon" Wilson combines martial arts, science-fiction, crime-solving, and guerilla rebellion. An Energizer Bunny among futuristic adventures, CYBER TRACKER just keeps on going, powered by high-flying kung fu and dynamic assaults with other deadly weapons. In the near future, law and order proponent Senator Dilly (John Aprea) joins forces with his right-hand aide Mike Ross (Richard Norton), Security Chief (Abby Dalton), and automaton manufacturer Mr. Rounds (Joseph Rushton) to maintain the peace via the Computer Justice System. Programmed to carry out death sentences, the Cyber Tracker (Jim Maniaci) is bounty hunter, judge, jury, and executioner. Dilly's bodyguard Eric Phillips (Don "The Dragon" Wilson) saves the Senator from an assassination attempt by anti-robotic renegades. But while eager to rout the miscreants, Phillips can't condone Dilly's cold-blooded murder of a scientist disenchanted with CyberCore's bastardization of the American legal system. Overnight, honest cop Phillips becomes a fugitive tracked by one of the all but infallible cyborgs. Phillips knocks the killing machine out of commission and circumvents the all-points-bulletin out on him, but is kidnapped by anti-android terrorists who want to recruit his talents. While Phillips learns the inner workings of this "Void the Droid" rebellion secretly headed by TV journalist Griff (Stacie Foster), Senator Dilly, the Security Chief, and Mr. Rounds hold a pow-wow and send a second android to replace the one Phillips destroyed. Before the anti-cyborg zealots can infiltrate the lab at CyberCore headquarters, the second lethal android eradicates most of them. Survivors Griff and Phillips sneak into the Aquarius Lab, access Operation Echo, copy a top secret file, and throw down the gauntlet to Mike Ross, who seizes one Echo disc from them. Phillips kills Ross, but Griff fails to gun down the Security Chief before she activates another cyborg, which Phillips manages to pulverize. Revealing the Senator as an android, Phillips discredits the Computer Justice System. Using her spare disc, Griff programs a Cyber Tracker to pay an unfriendly visit to exiled creator Rounds. Most movies this plot-heavy are slowed down by all the exposition, but not CYBER TRACKER. This multi-genre hybrid hits climax after climax without wearing out the spectator; its only real weakness is that the martial arts sequences have a certain sameness. While star Don Wilson delivers his lines to clunky effect, he's got the right stuff as an action hero and shines with ample romantic chemistry in his scenes with Foster. It's a pleasure to see old-time B-movie regular Abby Dalton back in the sci-fi swing as an ice cold right-winger; in fact, all the villains are entertaining. What sets CYBER TRACKER apart from other low-budget android movies is its sturdily constructed script, which shows how easily a lawman can find himself outlawed by a corrupt system. Filled with adrenaline-pumping fun for action enthusiasts, this martial arts/armed combat combo ends with a quote from Ayn Rand and is actually compelling enough that such a gesture doesn't seem pretentious. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, adult situations.)