Albert Pyun, a style filmmaker identified for cult classics corresponding to “The Sword and the Sorcerer” and “Cyborg,” has died. He was 69.

The prolific writer-director died Saturday night, in keeping with a Fb submit from his spouse, Cynthia Curnan, who “sat with him for his final breath that gave the impression of he was releasing the burden of the world.” No reason for demise was given.

Pyun died in Las Vegas, in keeping with Selection, which reported that he had been recognized with a number of sclerosis and dementia lately.

“He was beneficiant; he had an enormous coronary heart and sense of equity; he was sensible, his work was pure pleasure, and what strikes me most in trying again, Albert at all times had GREATNESS. And he was in a position to spark greatness in others,” Curnan wrote Friday on Fb, the place she recurrently shared updates on her husband’s well being and inspired his admirers to ship messages of assist in his closing days.

“I’ve at all times cherished him, however 25+ years with Albert turned me into a loyal fan.”

In 1982, Pyun made his characteristic directorial debut with “The Sword and the Sorcerer,” which grew to become the highest-grossing unbiased movie of the 12 months in america, in keeping with the biography on his web site. Different standout Pyun movies embody “Cyborg,” “Radioactive Goals,” “Dangerously Shut,” “Vicious Lips,” “Down Twisted,” “Alien From L.A.,” “Journey to the Middle of the Earth,” “Deceit,” the “Nemesis” collection and 1990’s “Captain America.”

Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, who starred in 1989’s “Cyborg,” honored Pyun on Saturday by sharing behind-the-scenes pictures from the set of the science fiction flick.

“In nice unhappiness and with a heavy coronary heart I’ll say goodbye and RIP, Albert Pyun,” Van Damme wrote on Twitter.

Different trade members who paid tribute this weekend to Pyun embody online game author Hideo Kojima, indie filmmaker Michael Varrati and actor Lance Henriksen, who labored with the filmmaker on 1993’s “Knights.”

Pyun “made the type of fantastical, late night time fare we don’t see all that a lot anymore and within the course of made filmmaking appear potential via exhausting work and fervour,” Varrati tweeted. “He was exceptionally sort and gracious. A cult icon with coronary heart.”

“Albert Pyun was a go getter. He actually was,” Henriksen tweeted. “His films have been so uncooked and on the sting. He labored exhausting his complete life. I actually loved working with him on Knights.”

In line with Curnan, Pyun directed not less than two films he couldn’t end and had hoped to adapt into “episodic TV.” Curnan has expressed a want to “full and launch his unfinished initiatives,” in addition to a director’s minimize of “Captain America” with an alternate ending she described as “transcendent.”

After interning for Akira Kurosawa cinematographer Takao Saito and relocating from his dwelling of Hawaii to California, Pyun helmed greater than 50 initiatives spanning three a long time. His web site bio was lately up to date to learn, “His legacy lives on and he won’t ever really die. He’s with us without end.”