Merrick here...
Back in 1989, director Albert Pyun brought us the now-legendary CYBORG, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a mercenary tracking a cyborg through a plague-ravaged, post-apocalyptic America in an effort to retrieve her - and the cure she possess - from the hands of ill-intentioned assholes. It's now looking like Pyun is planning to remake his own movie (is a remake OK if the original filmmaker is doing it? Interesting to think about...)
Per an e-mail exchange this morning, Pyun reveals that he has engaged in an "acquisition process" with MGM and now has the backing of the same entity who funded DONNIE DARKO, MEMENTO, and MONSTER.
Vince Klyn (the big bad in the original CYBORG) and Terrie Batson (the love interest in the 1989 version) are already onboard the remake in as yet unspecified roles. Pyun is in talks with Michael Pare, Sasha Mitchell, and Olivier Gruner - who would appear as a band of "Slingers" (i.e. mercenaries ) a la THE PROFESSIONALS.
Once the script is ready, hopes are to work out Rutger Hauer and Michael Dudikoff's association with the picture as well. There aren't many more details availablejavascript:submit_mid('sp_ig') at the moment, but Pyun did indicate that we can expect more "car/vehicle mayhem" (with an emphasis on practical on-set work rather than CGI), and the inclusion of a martial arts fight sequence the director has always wanted to put on screen.
Here's a trailer for the original iteration of the movie...
A Director's Cut of the film is forthcoming - reflecting Pyun's original intent for the picture, it's a bit different than what we saw released. Learn how to be notified about its issuance HERE! A preview of the work has been brought online, and is viewable via the embed below.
THIS piece by our friends at TwitchFilm describes the Director's Cut thusly...
just last week we heard that the Pyun edit had survived and the director had received a VHS copy of the film dubbed from the workprint telecine the day before he left the film. This is Pyun's version of the film, as close as he ever got to completing it. It's a version that would have been rated X for violence. A version that includes a rock score by Tony Riparetti and Jim Saad. A version that has all of Van Damme's dialogue - including extensive narration - dubbed by another actor. And Pyun is making it available to fans.
[EDIT]
A few notes on what you're going to see. One, Pyun has clearly added a rudimentary credit sequence in to fill the blank gap that was left for it so we don't have to look at blank screen while listening to the score. Credits and titles are always one of the last things to be done, so none of that would have existed in this version. Two, video and audio quality are grainy and a bit degraded as it comes from a VHS copy (ie low quality) from a telecined, unmastered work print (ie also low quality). Don't be expecting BluRay here. You'll also notice that this was cut together from a pair of VHS sources as neither is 100% complete on its own.
Here's a tease of said Director's Cut. More on this version in the coming days.
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