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By Robert Scucci
| Published
I’ve got to say that my life is pretty good these days, as the biggest problem I’m having lately is looking up information about obscure sci-fi flicks on Tubi only to realize they all have multiple titles depending on the markets they were trying to reach. One such Fred Olen Ray film, 1995’s Cyberzoneloves to change the stationery, as it also exists as Droid Gunner and Phoenix 2. Really, none of these titles work, and I would much rather call it Blade Runner with Sex Botsbut that would be too on the nose.
The reason I constantly seek out schlocky, trashy B-movie titles like Cyberzone is because they’re just so fun and outside the box. You can expect that from any one of the over 200 Fred Olen Ray joints in his filmography, but this one is absolutely bonkers compared to 1988’s Terminal Force while still carrying the same sleazy energy that keeps bringing me back to his filmmaking.
Oh, Jack! Fetch Me My Sex Bots!
Cyberzone is a straight-up blast and wastes no time introducing us to Jack Ford (Marc Singer), a futuristic bounty hunter living in the year 2077. Fifty years prior, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake destroyed the West Coast, submerging California entirely and making Phoenix, Arizona, the busiest sea and spaceport on the New West Coast. Jack spends his days hunting down androids for chump change, but his life changes when he’s offered the gig of a lifetime. He’s summoned by the exceedingly wealthy Mr. Reginald (Cal Bartlett), who operates out of the same set used in Bio-Dome (1996).
Mr. Reginald lives in a fortified suburb, far removed from Jack’s stomping grounds, which are irradiated, polluted, and relegated to the dregs of society, where every man fends for himself. Mr. Reginald has deep pockets, and he needs help tracking down his four pleasure bots, which were stolen by an intergalactic smuggler named Hawks (Matthias Hues), who plans to deliver them to a crime lord named Chew’Bah (Robert Quarry), who lives beneath the newly constructed New Angeles, an alleged utopia that forbids any form of carnal pleasure. In Chew’Bah’s ideal world, he’ll have a monopoly on sex, drugs, and gambling, giving people what they want, but at a steep price.
Jack is reluctantly teamed up with a robotics expert named Beth (Rochelle Swanson) because he’s not trusted to bring the fembots back in one piece. The problem is that Jack doesn’t trust Beth to fend for herself in the futuristic ghettos, where bodies are sold as currency and she could easily be sold into slavery for $10,000. It’s a classic odd-couple setup because Beth claims to be fluent in martial arts thanks to her extensive simulated training protocols, but she dresses like a sheltered bureaucrat.
Since this is a Fred Olen Ray film, we know that Beth is actually an absolute smoke show, and when she’s forced to throw hands, she’s not only competent but frighteningly good at close combat, impressing Jack, who just wants to finish the job and collect his bounty.
The Humor Comes From Lack Of Enthusiasm
While it’s obvious that Cyberzone has taken more than a few pages from the Blade Runner playbook as far as its aesthetic goes, we get more of a buddy-cop experience here. Jack and Beth’s dynamic evolves into your typical romantic tug-of-war because they come from two very different worlds, but the real charm comes from Matthias Hues’ portrayal of Hawks, the most reluctant smuggler you’ve ever seen in a film.
When he first successfully captures the sex droids under the guise of “reconfiguring their oral programs,” he couldn’t look more bored. The only things he cares about are making sure his ship reaches its destination in one piece and collecting his fee. He’s surrounded by babes who will do anything he wants, and he brushes them off on several occasions because they’re distracting him from his navigation system. The look of frustration on his face is not only palpable but reliably hilarious every time this happens.
Beth’s shift from prude bureaucrat to smoking-hot femme fatale of the wasteland is sudden, but she leans fully into it when it’s time to deliver a proper beatdown, and her character arc is surprisingly satisfying when all is said and done. She evolves from a blissfully ignorant cog in a sanitized world into a ballsy heroine after finally catching a glimpse of how the other side lives.
As you would expect, the special effects in Cyberzone are crude, but they succeed in getting the job done. If anything, a big-budget production might actually take away from its charm. Thanks to its willingness to lean fully into its schlock and awe delivery instead of trying to be something it isn’t, Cyberzone remains a memorable outing because it embraces its sleaziness while operating within a familiar retro-futuristic framework that any sci-fi fan can get behind.
As of this writing, you can stream Cyberzone for free on Tubi.
