Albert Pyun

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citationstyle = September 2008
cleanup = September 2008
rewrite = September 2008

Infobox actor


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name = Albert Pyun
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birthdate = 1954
location = Hawaii, U.S.
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yearsactive = 1982 - current
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Albert Pyun (born 1954) is a American film director best known for having made many low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. He frequently blends kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which often include cyborgs.

Career

1980s

His career has had a number of different phases. His early work in the early-to-mid-1980s was marked by imaginative, if uneven fantasy films such as "The Sword and the Sorcerer", "Radioactive Dreams" and "Vicious Lips". "Radioactive Dreams" marked a collaboration with John Stockwell ("Blue Crush", "Into the Blue", "Turistas") who would go on to write and act in "Dangerously Close" (1986) for Pyun. "Radioactive Dreams" is also notable as the second collaboration with Oscar-winning Special Make Up Effects guru Greg Cannom ("Dracula", "Van Helsing"), with whom Pyun would work steadily into the 1990s, and as the first film editing for Oscar winners David Brenner ("Wall Street") and Joe Hutchings ("Born on the Fourth of July").

Pyun's career took a slightly more mainstream turn with the acclaimed thriller "Dangerously Close", which he followed with a romantic adventure film, "Down Twisted", starring Carey Lowell, Charles Rocket, and Courteney Cox.

The late 1980s found Pyun making some of his most interesting if poorly-received movies, such as supermodel Kathy Ireland's acting debut in "Alien from LA", a PG children's fairy tale, and "Cyborg" which starred, "The Muscles from Brussels," Jean-Claude Van Damme, then at the start of his career. During this era, Pyun made his three-day cult classic "Deceit" for $25,000. It is still consider one of his best experimental efforts. In 1989 he began the ill-fated "Captain America" which was severely hampered when the financing fell out. The film limped to completion a mere shadow of the film it was intended to be.Fact|date=April 2007

1990s

The 1990s found Pyun moving from film to film with very little in the way of personal cinema. The exceptions were his groundbreaking and still-admired (1992) film "Nemesis (film)", starring Olivier Gruner, with a young Thomas Jane; his offbeat love story "Brainsmasher... A Love Story" (1993) with Teri Hatcher and Andrew Dice Clay; and "Mean Guns" (1997) with Christopher Lambert and Ice-T.

Having trained under the legendary Akira Kurosawa, he has been acknowledged for squeezing dramatic cinematography into otherwise low budget productions. Japanese superstar Toshiro Mifune and Kurosawa's cameraman Takao Saito were Pyun's mentors and it's clear his eye was trained by his experience in Japan. His most successful works include "The Sword and the Sorcerer" (1982), "Cyborg" (1989), and "Nemesis" (1993). His low-profile 1985-movie "Radioactive Dreams" won The Golden Raven at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film. A few of his films have gained large, worldwide cult followings.

Pyun founded the Filmwerks production company in 1994, which he left in 1999. Although Pyun has been long considered a direct-to-video king, a number of Pyun's films played in US big-screen cinemas: "The Swords and the Sorcerer", "Radioactive Dreams", "Dangerously Close", "Down Twisted", "Alien from LA", "Cyborg", "Kickboxer 2", "Nemesis" and "Adrenalin...Fear the Rush". He's worked with an odd mix of stars, like Charlie Sheen, Rutger Hauer, Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Christopher Lambert, Teri Hatcher, Courteney Cox, Thomas Jane, Dennis Hopper, Tom Sizemore, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Burt Reynolds, Rob Lowe, Mario Van Peebles, Nas, Natasha Henstridge, Big Pun, Fat Joe and Kris Kristofferson.

2000s

The late 1990s through 2004 found Pyun involved in uninspired films and with a succession of new, but highly dubious producers. The quality of his work plummeted when he no longer worked with his longtime producer Tom Karnowski and cinematographer George Mooradian.

In 2004 Pyun went to the US territory of Guam, and along with film producer John Laing, convinced the Guam government to put up a $800,000 loan guarantee to finance their film "". In his effort to convince Guam officials to approve the loan guarntee, Pyun told them that he and his producer (Laing) had a "sterling financial record" and that neither he nor John Laing had ever defaulted on a loan. [ KUAM ] In 2006 producer John Laing defaulted on the film's loan, and Guam lost its guarantee. According to a 6/13/07 article in The Los Angeles Times, Laing blamed Pyun for the failure of the film. The fiasco is currently in litigation, both in California and in Guam [ LA TIMES 6/13/07 ] .

His latest project, the 2005 film "Infection", used unconventional camera work and cinematography: 68 minutes in length, it is one single uninterrupted sequence shot from a surveillance camera position mounted inside a police car. It was shot in high-definition digital video and captured directly to a hard disk drive. The film won Best Picture and Best Director at Spain's 2005 Estepona International Film Festival and was acquired by Lions Gate Films for release on December 18, 2007. It also screened at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film to great acclaim. The film was invited to participate in more than 20 film festivals around the world. The title of the film was changed by Lions Gate Entertainment to "Invasion" so as not to be confused with an earlier Lions Gate release.

In 2005, Pyun increased his directing activity. He directed "Cool Air" and "Bulletface" in 2006 (winner of Best Experimental at the 2006 Northwest Projections Film Festival) and has directed "Left for Dead" and "From Beyond" so far in 2007. In 2006, eight of his films were re-released, including his sole romantic comedy, "Brainsmasher... A Love Story". Projects in his future with producers including Mario Kassar ("Sweating Bullets").

On September 8, 2007, Pyun won Best Director for "Left For Dead" at the 8th Edition of the Estepona International Film festival of Horror and Fantasy. Victoria Maurette won Best Actress honors on November 1, 2007 at the Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre International Film Festival for her lead performance in "Left For Dead". On November 1, 2007 in Cape Town, "Left For Dead" received the Audience Award from the 2007 Horrorfest South Africa. The film was acquired for North America distribution in 2008 by Grindstone Entertainment, a division of Mandate Pictures.

On December 18, 2007 "Invasion" AKA "Infection" was released in the United States on DVD by Lions Gate Films. The film received these initial following reviews (from December 19 to December 26):

1. http://www.dreadcentral.com/node/256782. http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_reviews_3240.htm3. http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=dvd&id=130434. http://joblo.com/arrow/dvd_reviews.php?id=1806

"Invasion" opened at number four on the Rentrack rankings of direct to dvd releases for the week Dec 18-23. It was number seven the following week.

"Left For Dead" will be released in North America on March 4, 2008 via Lions Gate Films. Initial reviews of the film:

1. http://hometheaterinfo.com/left_for_dead.htm2. http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/left-for-dead-review3. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/film/1901

"Left For Dead" opened at number 6 in North America (DVD non-theatrical rental).

In July 2008 Pyun directed "Road to Hell" starring Michael Pare', Clare Kramer, Courtney Peldon and Deborah Van Valkenburgh. Official website is www.roadtohellmovie.com. Film is currently in post production. It is screening as a work in progress at 2008's Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

In September 2008, Pyun began production on his long delayed "Tales of an Ancient Empire". Shooting begins on October 12, 2008 with Christopher Lambert and Kevin Sorbo.

elected filmography

* "The Sword and the Sorcerer" (1982) [Director] [Writer]
* "Radioactive Dreams" (1985) [Director] [Writer]
* "Dangerously Close" (1986) [Director]
* "Vicious Lips" (1987) [Director] [Writer]
* "Down Twisted" (1987) [Director]
* "Alien from L.A." (1988) [Director] [Writer]
* "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1989) [Director]
* "Deceit (1989)" [Director]
* "Cyborg (1989)" [Director]
* "Bloodmatch (1991)" [Director]
* "Captain America (1990)" [Director]
* "" (1991) [Director]
* "Dollman (1991)" [Director]
* "Nemesis" (1993) [Director]
* "Arcade (1993)" (V) [Director]
* "Knights (film) (1993)" [Director] [Writer] (written by)
* "Brain Smasher... A Love Story" (1993) (V) [Director] [Writer]
* "Spitfire" (1994) [Director] [Writer]
* "Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor" (1994) [Director] [Writer]
* "Hong Kong 97" (1994) [Director]
* "Heatseeker" (1995) [Director] [Writer] (screenplay)
* "Nemesis 2: Nebula" (1995) (V) [Director] [Writer]
* "Nemesis III: Prey Harder" (1995) (V) [Director] [Writer]
* "Nemesis 4: Death Angel" (1995) (V) [Director] [Writer]
* "Raven Hawk" (1996) (TV) [Director]
* "" (1996) [Director] [Writer]
* "Blast" (1997) [Director]
* "Omega Doom" (1997) [Director] [Writer]
* "Mean Guns" (1997) [Director]
* "Crazy Six" (1998) [Director]
* "Postmortem" (1998/I) [Director]
* "The Wrecking Crew" (1999) [Director]
* "Urban Menace" (1999) [Director]
* "Corrupt" (1999) [Director]
* "Ticker" (2001) [Director] [Producer]
* "More Mercy" (2003) (V) [Director] (uncredited) [Producer]
* "Final Examination" (2003) (V) [Producer]
* "" (2004) [Co-Director]
* "Invasion AKA Infection" (2005) [Director]
* "H. P. Lovecraft's Cool Air" (2006) [Director]
* "Bulletface" (2007)(theatrical) (complete) [Director]
* "Left for Dead"(2007)(theatrical) (complete) [Director]
* "From Beyond" (2007) (theatrical) (complete) (Director)
* "Tales of an Ancient Empire (AKA The Princess)" (2008) (theatrical) (shooting) [Director]
* "Anomaly (2008) (theatrical) (in pre-production) [Director]
* "Sweating Bullets (2008) (theatrical) (in pre-prep) [Director]
* "La Matanza" (2008) (theatrical) (in pre-prep for March) [Director]
* "Left for Dead 2" (2008) (theatrical) (announced) [Director]
* "Road To Hell (2008) (theatrical) (post production) [Director]

References

* [http://www.sffworld.com/mul/184p0.html} Albert Pyun interview about INVASION
* [http://www.dasmanifest.com/06/albertpyun.php] Retrospective of ALBERT PYUN'S CAREER
* [http://www.sofiafilmgroup.com] LATEST NEWS ON ALBERT PYUN FILMS
* [http://www.roadtohellmovie.com] PYUN'S LATEST FILM
* (http://www.twitchfilm.net] ALBERT PYUN RETROSPECTIVES AND REVIEWS
* [http://www.filmwerks.com] ALBERT PYUN FILM'S 1992 to 2005
* [http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=7211] Interview with Albert Pyun on his current film ROAD TO HELL and how it is an homage to STREETS OF FIRE
* [http://starbulletin.com/2002/05/16/features/story1.html] Honolulu Star Bulletin article on ALBERT SHOOTING IN KAILUA KONA
* " [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-guam13jun13,0,694347.story] ": Los Angeles Times article: "CAMERA, LEGAL ACTION! - The making of a Kung-Fu flick on Guam turns into court battles on both sides of the sea"
* [http://www.dreadcentral.com] REVIEWS OF ALBERT PYUN'S LEFT FOR DEAD (2008)
* [http://www.bloody-disgusting.com] REVIEW OF ALBERT PYUN'S LEFT FOR DEAD (2008)
* [http://www.kuam.com/news/9422.aspx] KAUM

External links

* [http://www.filmwerks.com/ Filmwerks]
* [http://www.filmwerks.com/la_cosa.htm Filmwerks—Interview]
*
* [http://www.sofiafilmgroup.com]
* [http://www.roadtohellmovie.com]

Persondata
NAME= Pyun, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Pyun, Albert
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Film director
DATE OF BIRTH= 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH= Hawaii, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=