DVD Reviews

Cyclops

Cyclops marks another Scifi Channel original production (which also means low budget schlockfest).  Of course, the fact that Roger Corman co-produced this flick also tells you something. This one stars Eric Roberts as Emperor Tiberius of Rome and Kevin Stapleton (from One Life to Live) as his general Marcus. Knowing the low budget nature of the film going in, you should be able to make it through this film with your wits about you.  Don’t expect much and it won’t deliver much.  Popcorn is a must.

A corrupt Emperor Tiberius sends General Marcus to subdue a monstrous Cyclops that has been decimating the countryside. Once the Cyclops is captured, Marcus is forced to fight the Cyclops in the gladiatorial games. Eventually, he and the Cyclops become allies and they fight together to defeat the corrupt Emperor.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 but only in English.  There are no other language tracks or mixes.  The track is pretty standard with dialogue always clear and never being overpowered by sound effects or the score.  There were a few moments where sound effects were overly loud but they were few and far between.  Optional subtitles are available in English.

Video is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen.  It’s not perfect but it’s not bad either.  This is a result of the film being new and yet low budget.  Detail is decent enough as the film was probably shot on digital.  Colours are also quite good though a bit muted (perhaps on purpose).  Where the big problems come in to effect is during the scenes with the Cyclops.  There‘s some very noticeable grain showing up which looks to be caused by heavy video compression.

The only extra on this DVD is a trailer for another Scifi Channel original movie called Sands of Oblivion.  It plays when you first start up the DVD but isn’t available through the menus.

This DVD isn’t terrible but it truly is a rental at most.  The acting is lame (what do you expect from a soap star and CG monster?) and the story a little far fetched but they do try hard at bringing Rome to the small screen in a decent fashion.  Had there been a ton more extras, fans of Mr. Roberts and/or Stapleton might have considered ownership of this disc but as it is, even hardcore fanatics should only pick this one out of the budget bin.

Review By Rob Harding