Low budget releases from United Pictures Corporation always give off the appearance of a garish TV movie, from directors Franklin Adreon or Francis D. Lyon. It was a genuine casting coup to have Michael Rennie on hand for 1966's "Cyborg 2087" to play cyborg Garth A7 from the year 2087, sent back in time to modern day 1966 for a secret mission that can alter the future for the better. Our only clue to his condition as half man/half machine (the full term is 'cybernetic organism') is a plate on his chest from which a ruby shaped homing device must be removed to prevent two 'tracer' assassins from the totalitarian future from tracking him. Karen Steele and Warren Stevens are the two scientists who come to his aid, Eduard Franz the target of all this trouble, about to present a perfected form of radio telepathy that will ensure socialist rule in the 21st century, so Garth must convince him not to do so in the short amount of time before the demonstration. Another Arthur C. Pierce script with good ideas later put to more impressive use in Arnold Schwarzenegger's TERMINATOR films, Wendell Corey looking as zonked as he did in "Women of the Prehistoric Planet,' sadly stuck with all the most groan-worthy lines as the exasperated sheriff. Only 15 years since Klaatu in "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Rennie obviously trades on his previous role but with little to do but keep running there's almost nothing he can add, the climactic fistfight proving a real letdown for those expecting sci fi thrills.
Review of Cyborg 2087
