Blu-ray Review – Cyber Vengeance

The exploration of virtual reality during the early 1990s opened a lot of opportunities for Hollywood to use the technology for storytelling purposes. At the time, little was understood about the practical uses of VR, giving moviemakers a chance to exaggerate technological might. We had big screen efforts such as "The Lawnmower Man," "Disclosure," and "Virtuosity." Many other titles pursued the same level of in-the-moment advances with sci-fi touches, which supplied viewers with extreme visuals but not a lot of dramatic power. The video store was also stocked with swings at VR-themed adventuring, with 1995's "Cyber Vengeance" going the low-budget route with its vision of digital destruction. Director J. Christian Ingvordsen and writer Josh Weiner turn to "The Most Dangerous Game" formula to support their endeavor, which pits a team of convicts against a pack of hunters in a battle through history. It's an ambitious take on time travel and action cinema, with Ingvordsen managing to provide periodic excitement as the characters jump around time periods, but he's less capable when summoning tension. "Cyber Vengeance" is a bottom-heavy film that takes too long to get going, and when VR mayhem finally arrives, monetary limitations repeatedly throttle the natural pace of what's trying to be an epic battle across centuries. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com