Lawnmower Man / Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

The Lawnmower Man

The Lawnmower Man Loosely based on a short story by Stephen King, The Lawnmower Man was the first film to explore virtual reality technology and boasts a dazzling collection of computer-animated sequences. The story concerns the slightly-mad scientist Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan), who as part of a secret government agency called Cybertech has been experimenting with something termed "intelligence enhancement." By using drugs and virtual reality technology, Angelo has managed to boost the IQ of experimental chimps. But he also makes them more aggressive and, bit by bit, they go insane. When one of his animal subjects goes on a rampage, Angelo decides to go for a human guinea pig instead - Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a slightly retarded man who cuts his lawn. Not only do Jobe's intelligence and sex-drive improve thanks to Angelo's regimen, but he also develops extrasensory perception. As Jobe's mental and emotional state keeps increasing, so does his strength. As he gains more power, Jobe becomes angrier and more vindictive until he vows to get even with the entire town's people that patronized him and treated him badly.

The Lawnmower Man 2

The Lawnmower Man 2 brings further more chase scenes and gunfights, both in the virtual world and the real world as Former Max Headroom star Matt Frewer replaces Jeff Fahey in the title role of Jobe, the mentally challenged gardener transformed into a brilliant, computerized megalomaniac by a series of virtual reality experiments. Jobe sets out in search of an important computer chip that will grant him frightening levels of power. A group of young hackers, led by Peter (Austin O’Brien), discovers this nefarious scheme and turns to retired virtual reality pioneer Ben Trace (Patrick Bergin) for help., as Trace and the boys try to figure out how to defeat Jobe.