| Cyber Bandits | |
| Director: | Erik Fleming |
| Producer: | Paul Colichman Lilli Rouleau Miles A. Copeland III Lila Cazès |
| Starring: | Martin Kemp Alexandra Paul Adam Ant Grace Jones Robert Hays |
| Music: | Tom Hiel Steve Hunter |
| Cinematography: | Denis Maloney |
| Editing: | Rebecca Ross |
| Studio: | Lumiere Pictures IRS Media |
| Runtime: | 86 minutes |
| Language: | English |
Cyber Bandits, also known as A Sailor’s Tattoo,[1] is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Erik Fleming.[2] It uses a screenplay by James Robinson and James Goldman (credited as Winston Beard).[3] It was made by Lumiere Pictures and used visual effects by Steven Robiner.[4]
The film stars Martin Kemp as the ship captain Jack Morris who unwittingly gets entangled into a dangerous adventure when he transports passengers who have created a lethal virtual reality weapon.[5] Others in the cast included Alexandra Paul, Robert Hays, Adam Ant, Grace Jones, Kiana Tom, and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In regular Henry Gibson.[6] It was distributed by Columbia TriStar and released on DVD in December 2004.[7] It received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for violence and profanity.
When Jack Morris accepts a job to serve as a navigator aboard a yacht owned by millionaire Morgan, he's unaware that this will place him in the middle of a deadly entanglement. Morgan's mistress, Rebecca Snow, has stolen his most recent and deadly invention, the computer code for a weapon capable of erasing a target's brain and leaving them trapped within their own body. In order to force his help, Rebecca tattoos the code onto Jack's skin, making him a target for any and everyone who wants to obtain the code.
Jones wore her own clothes to portray the character.[8]
Cyber Bandits was released direct to video during November 1995, through Columbia TriStar.[9]
Film critics Mick Martin and Marsha Porter dismissed the film as a "farfetched action outing that uses high technology as camouflage for its own lack of invention."[10] Another commentator stated: "Fleming directs it like nothing is out of the ordinary about these bizarre characters and crazy situations."[11] Entertainment Weekly indicated that Kemp struggled with and ultimately failed in employing an American accent, and criticized the film for its ignorance of technology in what was supposed to be a plot involving technology of the future.[12]