HOLOGRAM MAN seems to be a passion project of action regular Evan Lurie, who not only co-leads the movie but also wrote and produced it. Lurie abandoned acting right before the slump of the video market to pursue a career in art and music, but he leaves behind one of the more colorful magnum opuses you can expect to find from B-movie stars. This one is pretty weird and won't appeal to most general viewers, but it's also an adrenalized rush and one of the sounder-looking productions from the PM Entertainment library.
The story: Imprisoned in holographic state for five years, a vicious anarchist (Lurie) achieves near-immortality upon being sprung by his gang, and the only one who can bring him down is the cop who arrested him in the first place (Joe Lara).
Lead star Joe Lara is a goofy hero of yesteryear's low budget scene, and the movie features a surprisingly great cast that includes Michael Nouri, John Amos, Joseph Campanella, Alex Cord, Arabella Holzbog, Tiny Lister, Derek McGrath, William Sanderson, and Nicholas Worth, but I'd be lying if I wrote that Lurie doesn't steal the movie out from under all of them. His character – Slash Gallagher – belongs among the ranks of villains so cheesy and overblown that they become spellbinding, like THE LAST DRAGON's Sho'nuff and BATMAN & ROBIN's Mr. Freeze. Lurie shows off his aptitude for action well enough, but for once, the bulk of the strength he brings to the movie is in his presence, which he accentuates via some memorably overblown delivery and the worst braids ever seen on the head of a white man.
The movie is full of weird ideas, beginning with the notion that a person's consciousness can be extracted into digital form – a digital form that can be encased in synthetic skin, shoot electricity at people, and attack you through your computer monitor. If you can't roll with that sort of thing, don't even bother with this one, but it will give you some great times if you already know what you like. It helps that this one clearly has a decent budget behind it, and a production design that's more balanced than the B-movie norm; the world largely looks like something that could actually develop, with only hints of MAD MAX or STAR WARS influences here and there. The "message" of the movie – about the potential of improperly-harnessed technology to infringe on civil rights – feels a little out of place but is still a nice touch.
Disappointingly, the action can be lacking: the numerous shootouts are generally filmed better than the low-budget norm but get repetitious after a while, and there aren't enough fight scenes for my taste. The final showdown is an awkward green-screened thing a'la the VR brawls of EXPECT NO MERCY. The film would have earned a higher rating had it delivered in these areas, but honestly, it just misses out even as it is. Particular fans of Evan Lurie will like it, and lovers of low-grade sci-fi will also have a ball. Know yourself before you buy this, and don't hesitate for too long if you think this might be for you.
