Albert Pyun is a prolific director of B-movies with low budgets that range from “The Sword and the Sorcerer” To “Cyborg” To a direct-to-video 1992 version “Captain America,” He died at the age of69 on Saturday according to Cynthia Curran (wife and producer).
“I sat with him for his last breath that sounded like he was releasing the weight of the world,” Curran wrote. Pyun was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2005.
Pyun was born in Hawaii and got his start in film when he met Japanese actor Toshiro Mizune, who took him to Japan as an intern for a television series. After several years as a commercial movie editor, Pyun moved to Los Angeles where he was able to take his chance on the low-budget 1982 fantasy film “The Nightmare”. “The Sword and the Sorcerer.”
This film was an instant hit with low budget audiences. Grossing $39 Million Richard Lynch was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Supporting actor. Pyun also received the attention of major Hollywood studios. He was temporarily attached as a director. “Total Recall” Universal Films, Inc. “Dangerously Close” (1986) The Carey Lowell thriller “Down Twisted” (1987) for Menahem Golan’s Cannon Films.
Pyun followed these films with the cyberpunk film of martial arts. “Cyborg” (1989), starring Jean Claude Van Damme, as a mercenary during a post-apocalyptic America. Although the film made $10 million in theatres, it was even more popular on home video. This led to two sequels.
In 1990, Pyun directed “Captain America,” a loose retelling of the Marvel Comics superhero’s origin story starring Matt Salinger (the son of reclusive writer J.D. Salinger). It was delayed by legal problems and released in 1992 on direct-to-video and cable TV.
Pyun directed low-budget films like “The Little Prince” in the 1990s. “Kickboxer 2” They were not well-received by critics but they always turned a profit. He worked alongside up-and coming actors, including Teri Hatcher, Charlie Sheen, and Rob Lowe.
He began turning to actors older than him in the 2000s such as Dennis Hopper or Steven Seagal. “Ticker,” or Kevin Sorbo and Michael Paré in the 2010 fantasy “Tales of an Ancient Empire.” His final film was completed. “Interstellar Civil War” starring Kenzie Phillips in 2017.
