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Posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 3:32:39 GMT by: Ben Austwick
Posted under: movie review scifi

Year: 2009
Directors: Richard Clabaugh
Writers: Richard Clabaugh & Fran Clabaugh
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Ben Austwick
Rating: 8 out of 10

The London Sci-Fi Film Festival opened in grand style with two Imperial Stormtroopers flanking the entrance to the lavish Piccadilly Circus Apollo, and trays of canapes and beverages doing the rounds while we reclined with Playstation 3s. But enough of the high life! It's films you're here for and films you'll get.

The festival opened with the world premier of Richard Clabaugh's “Eyeborgs”, a satirical sci-fi romp that tackles government surveillance, War on Terror paranoia and good old-fashioned technofear head-on. In a future USA where terrorist atrocities have ushered in autonomous, roaming surveillance robots with police powers – the titular eyeborgs - the President's unassuming rock singer nephew finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy that hinges on the evidence of the camera vs that of the human eye.

The only people who seem to know what's going on are conspiracy theorists – disbelieved and laughed at, they are picked off in clever ways the police have no choice but to put down to misadventure. That is until a Department of Homeland Security officer has his attention brought to inconsistencies in the film evidence this future society relies on, and sees that the reality of surveillance USA is much more complicated and frightening than it seems.

The story progresses through a handful of fairly plodding exposition sections – the film's only real flaw – and superb action sequences the likes of which I haven't seen in a long time. They really are spectacular, especially considering the tiny budget Clabaugh and his crew had to work with. Somehow the CGI is more realistic and effective than mega-budget Hollywood spectaculars like Transformers, and the editing is better by an order of magnitude, consistently coherent and punchy. There's no flab in these scenes - though they do leave you crying out for more.

The best sci-fi uses this sort of spectacle as a layer of sugar to coat a bitter pill of serious political thought, and Eyeborgs is no exception. The central theme of surveillance is tackled imaginatively, and while at first the story seems to linearly explore our doubts about government power it ends up taking us in a different and unexpected direction. This multi-layered film making reminded me of Verhoeven in his Robocop heyday, a comparison I don't think the director would disagree with – his use of multi-media in news reports and surveillance footage is an obvious homage, though perhaps better are some very ED209-like robots who cause chaos on a similar eye-popping scale.

Making this connection, it struck me that it's been a long time since we've seen this sort of proper sci-fi in the cinema: layers of action and humour dressing up serious political satire. Eyeborgs doesn't just do this, it does it with flare. It's a low-budget and in some ways unassuming little film that punches miles above its weight.

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hey Ben, thanks for the review. i saw the promo posters for this at AFM I think last year, but unfortunately didn't see it. Sound very cool

Posted by: Cyberhal | April 29, 2009 11:47:35 pm | permalink

Love this. Kind of a Philip K. Dick thinker meets, like you said -'Robocop.' I'm a bit surprised that the film takes place in a U.S. setting since London is far more intrusive with their surveillance than we Yanks.

Thanks for posting this. It missed my radar.

Posted by: Buckman | April 30, 2009 11:56:32 am | permalink

I did see this movie and liked most aspects. At times the "shakey cam" seemed a bit over used, but when it stopped the rest was worth watching. The ending leaves you wondering....

Posted by: Undone | April 30, 2009 01:13:37 pm | permalink

I actually got a bit of motion sickness from the shaky cam - though that probably had a lot to do with playing Mirror's Edge in the foyer for half an hour beforehand...

Posted by: Ben Austwick | April 30, 2009 01:39:45 pm | permalink

i have the honor to personally know Richard Clabaugh. this is an amazing review and i can't wait to see the movie

Posted by: scott atkins | April 30, 2009 07:33:00 pm | permalink

Adrian Paul is brilliant in this movie, would love to see this movie make it to a theatre release.

Posted by: Anonymous | May 1, 2009 10:15:51 am | permalink

I was lucky enough to see this film, and have to agree that it is an excellent film... it was to me like a cross between "1984" and "Alien". It was great! Adrian Paul's performance was riveting and terrific! I also hope very much for a theater release, and U.S. distribution, very quick so that my friends and family get to see it!

Posted by: Christina | May 1, 2009 03:17:24 pm | permalink

I am a personal friend of Richard Clabaugh living here in Florida & was priveledged to know & see ahead what he was working on and assured him "EYEBORGS' was a WINNER! I can't wait for it to get here so I may see it in completion.

Posted by: Mike Albano | May 3, 2009 09:28:45 am | permalink

I was lucky enough to see this film and I absolutely loved it!!! Adrian Paul was brilliant and wonderful as always and I truly hope that it will be released in theaters!!! I will definately have this movie as soon as it's released on dvd!!!

Posted by: Chellie | May 6, 2009 07:06:33 pm | permalink

I was lucky enough to see this at the RiverRun festival. I was blown away. Loved the action! The robots looked absolutely real. Best cgi composites with real footage I can remember seeing, ever...Way to go guys!! Bring it US theaters!

Posted by: Brent Alton | May 8, 2009 02:06:27 pm | permalink

I had the privilege to work on this film on the stunt team and as a DHS agent. I have yet to see the film, but it sounds like it was a hit. I'm so pleased for Richard Clabaugh. He, as well as everyone else involved worked very hard to make this film happen. It's nice to see it finally pay off!

Posted by: Kelly Martin | May 8, 2009 06:07:21 pm | permalink

As a personal friend of the Clabaugh's since the 70s, it was great to see a good review on a project which they worked so long and hard. Richard is an unrecognized talent of brilliant cinematography. I hope this begins his road to recognition.

Posted by: Wanda D. | May 29, 2009 07:10:53 am | permalink

Wanda - great point about Richard's cinematography, it's some of the best I've ever seen. Hopefully some Hollywood big shot is out there watching...

Posted by: Ben A | July 4, 2009 03:43:27 pm | permalink

kiero saber en donde puedo adquirir una camara pequeña para colocar en mis lentes y grabar via bluetooth a mi compu, soy medico y quisiera grabar algunas operaciones q realizo para fines de exposicion en charlas cientficas.

Posted by: Roy Echeverria | July 12, 2009 10:06:32 pm | permalink

It is great to see and hear all the excitement regarding Eyeborgs. Can't wait until it arrives in NC, where I was able to make a small contribution to the film. Don't forget to keep the actors informed.

Posted by: Rozlyn | July 22, 2009 05:19:50 pm | permalink

Here's the trailer and another clip. check it out - http://eyeborgs.com/press/trailers/Gunner_Trailer_01.mov

and a 30 sec teaser - http://eyeborgs.com/press/trailers/EB_30%20Sec_web.mov

main website:
http://bit.ly/iuLfF

Posted by: FrankBoo | July 27, 2009 03:56:39 pm | permalink

Just Saw it and loved it!

Posted by: Anonymous | August 4, 2009 10:16:44 am | permalink

I had the honor of being asked to be in this film by John Rushton, and I have never had more fun doing any type of theatrical endeavor than I did this. I'm so happy to see that it's being accepted the world over. It's all so surreal to know that I'm in something that's being shown overseas and the places I drive past every day are all through out the movie. Thank you for the wonderful review, I know how hard everyone worked to put this movie together so I know they appreciate this.

Posted by: Cha | August 11, 2009 10:07:46 pm | permalink

Film has now won the award for Best Visual Effects at this years Action on Film festval in Pasadena and now has won for Best SciFi Feature at the International Horror and SciFi Film Festival!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2009 11:41:04 pm | permalink

I woudl love to see it. Is it ever going to be released in the US?

Posted by: Anonymous | January 8, 2010 09:17:03 pm | permalink

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