Manborg

Director - Steven Kostanski (Father's Day)
Starring - Matthew Kennedy (Father's Day, Bio-Cop), Adam Brooks (Father's Day, Inferno of the Dead), and Conor Sweeney (Father's Day, Heart of Karl)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Comedy/Horror/Sci-Fi/Action
Tagline - "Revenge is back"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     Sometime last year I heard that Troma was going to release the Astron-6 exploitation film, Father's Day. I waited patiently for the film to be released but it seemed like Troma was always pushing the release date back.  Then finally in August my pre-order arrived.  I was lucky enough to get the bad ass 4 disc Bluray/DVD combo with soundtrack.  I watched that movie about four or five times in a week and decided it was time to order the Astron-6 DVD.  I ordered that mother fucker four different times and every time amazon.com sent me an email that the film was unavailable.  Finally, on my fifth attempt I received my copy of the Astron-6 collection.  After I watched it I fell in love with the company and have been following their releases ever since.  When I first heard about Manborg I could not wait to see it but I forgot to keep an eye on the film and the release date passed me up that is why this review is so late to the party.
     The film opens with Hell's army waging war on all humanity.  A young soldier witnesses his brother as he is gunned down and then fed upon by their fiendish leader, Count Draculon.  The soldier rushes to his brothers aid and is killed in the process by Draculon's firing squad.  We then jump in time and the young soldier has been repaired and is now half machine making him Manborg.  He awakens in a futuristic world where Hell's army has eradicated most of humanity.  Manborg teams up with a ragtag group of resistant fighters to wage war on Draculon's army and to exact revenge on Draculon for what he has done to humanity and his brother.
     This movie fucking blew me out of my seat and made me shit my pants.  From start to finish we are treated to every 70s and 80's action and sci-fi cliche that made those movie so enjoyable.  Astron-6 does not make movies to entertain the masses, however, they make films to entertain themselves and that is evident throughout their entire catalog of films.  The acting in this one is over the top just like all the other Astron-6 films and shorts.  The cast is not trying to win an award for their acting skills, instead they are making the films fun and filled with acting cliches like the films they are paying homage to.  The story is unlike anything I have ever seen.  I can not think of a another film that mixes horror, sci-fi, comedy, action, war, and exploitation in a way this one did.  I also can not think of another film with any kind of plot similar to this one.  I'm sure with all the action films released in the 70s and 80s that some may have a plot very similar but I have yet to see one.  Finally, this film is a special effects masterpiece.  It is visually stunning in almost every way you look at it.  The film has great practical effects, amazing claymation, and the CGI is done is such a way that it only enhances the scenery and backdrops making the film looks so much bigger than it actually is.  Overall, this movie has everything a man needs to get a boner except boobs.  If you don't have fun with this movie then you need to check your pulse.  I highly recommend it!