This was my second Philip J. Roth picture in three days, after A.P.E.X., which was also his previous film to this one. Digital Man does some things better and some things worse, mostly it's just stolidly competent. The story boils down to the old saw of a crack military team attempting to take down a renegade robot, although there's context and a spot of complication wrapped around the basic events. Nothing too sophisticated but it at least provides a mild interest to sustain things, which comes in handy once the umpteenth round of gunfire and explosions get tiresome. Set on the outskirts of a desert town there's a feel of arid isolation here that works well as a backdrop and contrasts with the larger than life, bumptious characters, the setting and the more humorous than average writing as well as faint flashes of emotional connection or suspense are the biggest advantages here. Well, fans of explosions and ludicrous guns will be pleased by the frequent pyrotechnics and comically huge weaponry on display. The acting just about conveys the appropriate sense of battle hardened veterans, the anonymous likes of Ken Olandt, Kristen Dalton and Sherman Augustus fill their roles with a kind of solid bad-assery, though the main plaudits go to Don Swayze as a daft redneck and Adam Baldwin as a military bigwig. Swayze is fitfully amusing in his utterly clichéd role, while Baldwin has the right sort of brusque authority to convince. The titular digital man is played by Matthias Hues, he has nothing to do other than walk around slowly and look tough, this he does in fine fashion, being a pretty imposing sized guy. Oh, and there are little cameos for the quirky Clint Howard and scenery chewing favourite Susan Tyrell (Night Warning). All in all nothing to write home about performance wise but everyone is suitably committed. Like A.P.E.X. the one black character is an obnoxious caricature which is a bit sad, but I don't tend to look for sensitivity in these sorts of junk flicks anyhow. Broadly speaking this is worth watching if you go for this sort of low grade sci fi action, I suspect I would have liked it more had I seen it a decade or so back when I first caught sight of the video box in a local rental place but despite its problems I was still glad to finally see it. Occasionally decent in both action and effects, with amusing old school cheap cgi and one or two brief but neat robotic effects, there's just about enough to go on even though its never any great shakes. Worth a watch if nothing else is on and you like the genre
Review of Digital Man
