Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Screened at Luna Cinemas Leederville as part of the Trash Classics season programmed by VHS Tracking.

“The dolphin will take you to the data.”

I remember seeing Johnny Mnemonic when it first came out. I was a kid and thought any movie that I saw at the Greater Union cinemas in the Westfield shopping mall was a good movie. After Johnny Mnemonic, I was unsure: “I think it was good?” Like I was convincing myself. Now having seen it a dozen times in the intervening decades, I do love it, even as it remains imperfect and not good to some degree. Existing as a first draft to what the Wachowskis would later perfect at the end of the 1990s with Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, which is more entertaining and satisfying in every way: better action and special effects, more philosophical, more iconic.

Still, I appreciate the junky and janky quality of Johnny Mnemonic. When I saw the henchman “Baldy,” with his big trench-coat and dark shades, holding a huge machine gun, as if he stepped out of a cheap cyberpunk paperback cover, I was delighted. The crisp dated computer graphics as we enter the pulsating electronic vistas of cyberspace on a big cinema screen was overwhelming. The parade of supporting actors, all bringing their unique and diverse energy to the sprawl: Udo Kier, Henry Rollins, Ice-T (king of the reaction shots in the movie’s last thirds, and giving video game style narration in the hacker climax). The movie throwing weirdness at you, like a woman’s face on a computer screen resembling a new age album cover shouting at an impassive Takeshi Kitano. And the absolute MVP, the reveal of super-hacker Jones as a psychic dolphin strapped into the internet, every close up and cut away and dolphin cry making me laugh with joy.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Trash Classics screening and made it such a fun night, particularly the winners of the Keanu Reeves impression. The performance of “I want room service!” really set the audience up for when that scene happened. Much gratitude to Umbrella Entertainment for providing the giveaway of a Lord Of Illusions blu-ray, and to the Luna staff for all of their help, especially those filming the doco Starring Luna.

And it turned out to be a perfect movie for Good Friday with Dolph Lundgren’s Christ-styled cyber-assassin and his one-liner before attacking Johnny Mnemonic, “It’s Jesus time!”

Mars Express (2023)

Mars Express (2023) is a French animated movie that recently screened at the Fantastic Film Festival. What caught my eye was that Mars Express is firmly in the cyberpunk genre, inspired by Blade Runner and Japanese anime like Ghost In The Shell. Set in the 23rd century, the Earth is a sprawl where lower class humans are left to menial work, and are striking against robots taking their jobs. While Mars has been colonised for higher class people and a virtual shield projects blue skies.

During an investigation on Earth, two private detectives – Aline Ruby (voiced by Lea Drucker), a human, and Carlos (voiced by Daniel Njo Lobe), a cyborg in that he was human but whose consciousness has been uploaded into a “back up” android – hunt a hacker. They are working on behalf of a tech guru named Chris Royjacker (voiced by Mathieu Amalric). Even though the recon mission goes south, back on Mars they are given another case: a parent wants to find their daughter, Jun Chow, who has been studying cybernetics at the Alan Turing school; her and her roommate are missing.

As Aline and Carlos begin their investigation, they become aware of a bug affecting robots. Robots are in servitude to humans, and there are hackers who are setting robots free, often punished and deactivated by police forces. There is a potential programming code that is tied up to Jun Chow’s disappearance and a conspiracy afoot.

The directorial debut of Jeremie Perin, Mars Express has an elegant and detailed animation style. Effectively paced as a narrative, clipping through twists and turns, and drawing you into its future vision. There’s great world-building to how the future society work – such as neural-link telepathic communication between people – and there’s an involving sense of characterisation between Aline, a recovering alcoholic, and Carlos, who has difficulties adjusting to his new life as an android.

It’s got it all: a night-club scene, a freeway action scene with self-driving cars, a mansion shoot-out, strange organic cybernetics and nifty cyborg designs. Mars Express is available to rent or purchase online (through the Apple store etc). Recommended.

Automatic (1995)

“This guy is cool!” – security guard under his breath, watching a cyborg on a monitor wipe the floor with a crack team of mercenaries.

Automatic (1995) is a sci-fi action flick Die Hard knock-off which is mostly shot in the shadowy interiors of a corporate building, the HQ for robot/manufacturing company RobGen. Some movies are “warehouse action flicks”, this one is mostly a “conference room action flick”! Watching a DVD upload onto YouTube meant that the film was mostly swimming in darkness, as if you were watching a LaserQuest match from the sidelines with a florescent bar for lighting.

French martial artist Oliver Gruner (from Nemesis) is once again playing an emotionless cyborg, thankfully wearing a buttoned-up white shirt, so you can actually see him. When the sleazy boss of secretary Daphne Ashbrook attempts to sexually assault her after hours in his spacious office, the cyborg steps in and terminates him. This concerns John Glover – back playing a chipper yuppie CEO after Gremlins 2 but this time more evil – who wants to ensure his series of “Automatics” – his production line of buff-male cyborg security systems – won’t grow hearts and malfunction en masse. Sleazy Jeff Kober and his team of mercs are sent to “retire” these employees, and cover up the situation. What follows moves at a quick pace, an on-going chase through corridors, elevator shafts, ventilator ducts, and giving plenty of opportunities for Gruner to do a roundhouse kick or two, and fire off a bulky futuristic machine gun.

Clocking in at 90 minutes, Automatic is enjoyable straight-to-video cyberpunk trash with enough action and John Glover chewing the scenery to keep your attention. Bonus points for including character actor Troy Evans (you won’t know the name but you’ll recognise him) as that schlub security guard and Penny Johnson from The Larry Sanders Show as comic relief. Obviously echoes Robocop, Total Recall and Terminator, and has enough flashes of old-school computer graphics and fleshy mechanical props to appeal to any cyber-head. On YouTube. Recommended.

Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990)

“Adios, bozo – this time I’m downloading you straight to hell!”

Powering through 1990s cyberpunk cinema, particularly direct-to-video terrain, and the glistening vistas of anime await. Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990) is some cyberpunk anime that I’d never heard of before, but on the title alone was compelled to check out; fundamentally three 45-minute episodes stuck together to experience in a two hour chunk. An OAV (original animated video) set in the future, the year 2808 to be exact, where three criminals have been conscripted to become “cyber police.” They must close cases or their handler, Juso Hasegawa, the police chief in charge of their special unit, has the kill-switch on the explosive collars around their neck. Our three anti-heroes are: Sengoku Shunsuke, a trash-talking punker; Goggles, a huge mohawked hacker; and Benten, an androgynous assassin who resembles a glam rocker. Each episode centres their story on a different character in the team, so there’s a feeling of variety watching it in one go, particularly since there’s also a different threat or villain including: a demonic A.I. that takes a towering automated building hostage; a military-funded cyborg killing machine out for a test run; and evidence of vampirism within the corporate elite. This is the usual cyberpunk anime type of deal, but all entertaining and evocative. There’s great cyber city backdrops and bursts of hectic action from the director of Ninja Scroll, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, though not as sicko as that particular movie, and it’s comparatively like Cowboy Bebop before Cowboy Bebop happened as well. For me, Cyber City Oedo 808 is defined by the brilliant English dub where they really lay on the coarse language with the glee of a teenager cursing a blue streak for the first time in their f-ing life; for example, Sengoku to his humourless robot assistance: “Haha. What a fucking mess! A whole city out of control, all because some shit-for-brains computer got hijacked. What’s that saying? To make a mistake is human but to really fuck things up you need a computer. Ain’t that right, shithead?” Great soundtrack too. Lots of fucking fun, dicksplash. Watched an upload on YouTube. Recommended.

Fortress (1992)

Fortress (1992) is one of those movies from my youth that I never sat through from start to finish, but feel like I absorbed through osmosis. It was always on TV, and flipping between channels, I usually caught key scenes. Much like Escape From Absolom and Wedlock, Fortress feels like the moderately budgeted children of Total Recall’s smash success as a sci-fi quasi-cyberpunk action flick, reiterating the Verhoevian mix of gratuitous violence and a hint of kinked up sexuality, enough to implant itself upon a generation of teenage boy memory banks. Like I always remember in Fortress that people’s guts explode due to the intestinal device they implant in the prisoners, or the “enhanced” warden (Kurtwood Smith) spying on the prisoner’s sex dreams.

In the dystopian future, America has a one child policy and abortion is outlawed. Ex-soldiers Christopher Lambert and Loryn Locklin are captured trying to smuggle across the Canadian border with their second child to be (their first died). Lambert is sentenced to the “Fortress”, an underground, multi-level corporately-run prison that institutes control through intestinal devices that are remotely controlled and can inflict intense pain or can be set to explode. And there are floating robot cameras that can even intrude upon the prisoner’s mind. Despite being a corporate drone cyborg, Kurtwood Smith has eyes for Lambert’s wife, to the point of offering her a deal as a live-in “companion”. It’s up to Lambert and his motley crew of cellmates to bust out, including Clifton Collins Jnr, Tom Towles and the Re-Animator himself, Jeffrey Combs, stealing scenes as a tripped-out hippie hacker nerd with glasses that make his eyes bug out. Also stars Vernon Wells from Mad Max 2 and Commando as a thug prisoner with “187” tattooed on his forehead.

Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), he demonstrates his skill with orchestrating impactful violence and dramatic stakes. The middle of the movie is actually more of a drama as Lambert is broken by being mind-wiped (in a spinning contraption), and the disparate prisoners begin to work together when the prospect of escape is possible. It does feel like a cyber update of a WW2 prison break flick and even the villain is given some shading by struggling with romantic feelings as a cyborg and also just being a cog in the bigger corporate machine (helped by the strong acting of Kurtwood Smith). Lambert is a good lead with his intense stare and Tarzanesque bouts of pain and yelling, particularly when strapping on a boxy machine gun arm and plugging away at cyborg soldiers.

A solid sci-flick from the 1990s era that incorporates some dramatic stakes before its climatic rush towards a non-stop death-count throughout the escape. Also has the distinction of being shot at Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast, and in further proof that it was filmed in Australia, there’s rumours of a cameo by notorious AFL player Warwick Capper in the supporting cast (I didn’t catch his appearance and cannot confirm). Recommended.