Lawnmower Man 2 - Jobe's War (1996)

Access Denied!!!

Sometime after the explosion in the original, Jobe is saved and forced to help Government-type people with Virtual Reality. Peter asks Dr. Benjamin Trace to help him with a Chiron Chip before Jobe uses it for evil. If they had used Jeff Fahey from the original, it might have been better, but if you really want to watch it, you might like THE LAWNMOWER MAN 2!!! September 12, 2008

Quite possibly the worst movie ever!!!

This movie is so bad that its a joke. I got it for really cheap, and I liked the first movie, so I gave it a shot. Wow! Is this movie bad. Really, it may be the cheesiest movie of all time. Ghetto special effects, second-rate actors, horrible plot, just an all around cheese-fest. Don't waste your time unless you want to laugh at how bad it is. Get the original, the first movie is a classic. This is just a cheap straight-to-DVD cash-in. July 15, 2008

lawnmower man? what??!

who in GODS lovely world did this? I want names !!!!! can you say stupid!!!!!!!!!! May 20, 2008

Would somebody please give this movie a fighting chance!

I've read all kinds of reviews here and in the newspapers bashing this movie and even movie theaters only featuring it for two weeks and to that all I can say is"first of all Lawnmower Man 2 is NOT that bad, and second I personally enjoyed it IMMENSELY! I will say that no it's not nearly as good as the first and yes they did make a mistake making this one okay for children to watch whereas the first Lawnmower Man was strictly grown-ups only! That aside I really saw nothing wrong with this movie at all! It simply picks up exactly where the first one left off with amazing results! I enjoyed this movie's simplicity,special-effects,action scenes(ie the 4 teenage kids riding on bikes with guns attached shooting at the bad guys and of course the sword fight between Patrick Bergin and Matt Frewer which was the most awesome one ever filmed next to the Star Wars Light Saber fights of course) and simply that I can see this sort of thing with cyber business all over the world actually happening! Now I know that we already can do that online but this is different. It was also cool to see the actor from another science fiction film "Lathe of Heaven" playing slimy businessman Jonathan Walker! And sexy Ely Pouget playing Dr. Traces girlfriend. I've seen this movie like 8 or 9 times and never get tired of it! All I'm saying is please give this movie a chance I'm pretty sure you won't regret it! March 7, 2008

I Liked It

Dr. Bejamin Trace creates a brilliant device which allows unhindered access to all sources of electronic information: banks, hospitals, etc. When he questions their motives, the corporation that funded his research take him to court and claim the device as their own. Since Trace -- the only man who can make it work -- takes off to who-knows-where, the corporation pulls a crippled Jobe from the wreckage of the first movie and offer him a job.

Several years down the road, Jobe's secret work has lead to a future that's advanced on the surface, but hides a sad underbelly of poverty and unemployment. Jobe's nearly cracked the networking device, but needs to find Trace for the last crucial bits, so he contacts his old friend Pete, who's cruising the streets with a gang of homeless hackers. Pete's overjoyed that Jobe is alive and tracks the nomadic Trace down in a desert home free of modern convenience, only to learn that Jobe has plans of his own for the networking device. Plans that go far beyond the sharing or stealing of information.

First off, this film is cheap. It was made on a nonexistent budget and skipped out of the theaters before people even knew it existed. But, that aside, it works.

The sets and costumes brilliantly portray a Blade Runner-style future clearly divided between the haves and have-nots. The casting is perfect, from Patrick Bergan's portrayal of Trace as a man shoved around so long he finally ran away from the world, to Eli Pouget as Jobe's doctor who falls for her patient's seeming innocence. But the rowdy gang of kids steal the show. Heck, even Frewer, who I normally don't enjoy, does a decent job.

Farhad Mann deserves credit for a well constructed story with plenty of twists and turns that moves at a perfect pace. And more credit for bringing that script to life on such a meager budget.

There's really only two problems I have with the film.

First, Jobe doesn't gel with the original movie. Frewer's portrayal is of an anarchistic goof along the lines of Batman's Joker, whereas Fahey played him as a twisted Buddha who opperates on a mental level beyond those around him. The performance works, though, if you just approach it as a different character.

Secondly, the VR scenes with actors in front of blue screen suffer when compared to the dated but beautiful cgi of the original. They still look fairly good, superimposing the actors over sprawling cybernetic vistas, but I guess I just miss the gimmick from the first one.

I like this movie. I know many out there don't, but I do. It's a rare sequel that tries to take the story off in a new direction. May 8, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...