MOVIE REVIEWS : ‘CYCLONE’ BLOWS HOT AIR, TEPID PLOT

Action movies don’t come dumber than “Cyclone” (citywide).

The heroine (Heather Thomas) has just played a videotape in which her boyfriend (Jeffrey Combs), who’s been murdered by secret agents, reveals his invention of a transformer that converts hydrogen into energy, thus creating an inexhaustible energy supply. He also has provided her with the name of the one member of the Agency--read CIA--he trusts. What does Thomas do but rush to call the guy? Surely, Comb’s phone has got to be tapped!

At least she has the excuse of being distraught. But how do you explain villain Martin Landau trying to sell the invention to foreigners for a mere $5 million?

With mind-bogglers like these, “Cyclone,” written by Paul Garson and directed far too seriously by Fred Olen Ray, is easily dismissed. The film takes its title from a supercharged, heavily armed motorcycle that Combs has designed to be fueled by his transformer, and it’s a great-looking machine, by far the film’s best asset. Blond and sleek, Thomas is a spunky, believable action heroine, and she has a strong assist from Martine Beswicke as the only intelligence agent in the film who’s not corrupt.

“Cyclone” (rated R for routine violence) is one of those low-budget exploitation pictures in which an array of familiar faces keep popping up: Bowery Boy Huntz Hall, Troy Donahue, Russ Tamblyn, Robert (“Count Yorga, Vampire”) Quarry, and even the son of the President of the United States, Michael Reagan as a thick-headed junior spy.