A Movie Review by Robert Long II ©2019

Co-written and Directed by Steven Kostanski

Starring Matthew Kennedy, Adam Brooks, Conor Sweeney, Andrea Karr, Ludwig Lee, Meredith Sweeney, Jeremy Gillespie, and Mike Kostanski

Astron 6 is a Canadian Film Collective that got together circa 2007. The five gentlemen involved made a tremendous amount of short subject films. In 2008 member Steven Kostanski co-wrote and helmed the team’s first major production, MANBORG. 

Considering it was made for roughly 1,000 Canadian dollars, it’s incredible what was accomplished. It proves a filmmaker doesn’t have to spend tons of money in order to produce an amazing movie.

The nitty gritty of it all is that one Dr Scorpius (Adam Brooks) accidentally opened the gates to Hell by hitting his computer’s Backspace button one too many times. Legions of the Dead – lead by Count Draculon (also Adam Brooks) swarmed the world and took over. One brave soldier (Matthew Kennedy) dies on Hell’s battlefield, only to be resurrected secretly by Dr. Scorpius to become Manborg, the savior of humanity. He is aided by three others: Justice (Conor Sweeney), #1 Man (Ludwig Lee) and Mina (Meredith Sweeney).

The casting is terrific for both the antagonists and protagonists. Matthew Kennedy is Manborg, and delivers a hilarious performance as the monosyllabic half man/half machine stuck in constant OMG mode. 

Adam Brooks plays two roles in this production. One as the eternally evil Count Draculon. The other as the mysterious Dr. Scorpius. As Scorpius, Brooks channels Peter Seller’s Dr. Strangelove to perfection.

Meredith Sweeney is Mina, the anime kickass combatant. She comes off as one of the saner members of the good guys. She looks like she just jumped out of a Speed Racer/Pokemon cartoon.

Ludwig Lee is #1 Man, a live action Mortal Combat character complete with out of sync post dubbing (courtesy of Kyle Hebert).

Conor Sweeney portrays the Aussie Billy Idol look-alike named Justice – a badass with guns. Watch as the movie goes along; the pitch of his voice gets higher and higher to the point where he sounds like a Southpark character. 

Andrea Karr is cast as the silent but deadly assassin Shadow Mega. She is as ruthless as she is beautiful.

Mike Kostanski is the Little Guy, a Jawa/Ewok by way of Willy Wonka.

And for me, Jeremy Gillespie is the comedic standout as the ruthless 2nd in command – the Baron. He plays the part as an Starscream-like evil overlord stricken with puppy love. Think along the lines of a bad guy George Costanza by way of Woody Allen. 

Steven Kostanski lead the visual effects team for Manborg, and the results are tremendous. The team mixes stop motion animation, green screening, miniatures and visual effects to a jaw-dropping spectacular end result. Each scene features 100s of elements combined in Adobe After Effects. The viewer knows it is not altogether realistic, but it cannot be denied that it is visually awe-inspiring.

The DVD comes loaded with extras. Included are two terrific audio commentaries that detail the making of this micro budget epic. There are also deleted/alternate scenes, a stop motion reel, a visual effects reel, and a short film subject by Kostanski.

I got my copy from Amazon.com. This was an incredibly treat to behold and I give it a 10/10 for sci-fi fun. For disc presentation I give it a 9/10. Smash or Trash says to check it out!

Oh, and don’t miss the Bio Cop trailer at the end of the feature. LMAO!