After directing three back-to-back horror films, Stuart Gordon decided his next film would tackle a whole new genre: science-fiction. At the time, he was a fan of the Japanese Transformers toys as well as the Macross anime series. He noted that while giant robots were done in animation, no one at the time tried a live-action version. Following the release of Dolls, Gordon presented his concept to Charles Band, who was initially reluctant due to high costs. Eventually, Band reconsidered after Gordon presented him a demo reel featuring stop-motion animation from David Allen of robots in action. Gordon wrote the script alongside sci-fi writer Joel Haldeman, who clashed with him over their different visions of the film. With a budget of roughly $10 million, it would be the most expensive film Empire Pictures ever produced. After a delayed release due to Empire’s bankruptcy, Robot Jox was released in 1990.
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Rating
Synopsis
In the future, war has been abolished, and all global conflicts are settled through one-on-one combat using giant robots. These robots are piloted by robot jox aka robot jockeys, each representing either the Western Market or the Eastern Confederation. The Confederation champion Alexander (Paul Koslo) has killed his previous opponents, and next is the Market champion Achilles (Gary Graham). During their match, Alexander launches a projectile towards some nearby spectators, and Achilles blocks it only to fall, crushing them. Shaken up by this, Achilles announces his retirement, and he is subsequently labeled a traitor and a coward. Genetically-bred jox Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson) replaces him, but Achilles has second thoughts and decides to come out of retirement. It’s soon discovered that there might be a spy in the Market who’s giving secrets to the Confederation. Who is this spy, what will happen to Athena, and will Alexander be defeated?
Review
Considering Empire Pictures’ state of affairs at the time, it’s impressive Robot Jox got made at all. At the time, Empire was going through massive debt, so spending $10 million on an ambitious sci-fi film was risky. Thankfully, with a talented director, effects crew, and cast, this is quite a fun ride, even if disjointed at times. Like his previous films, Gordon’s direction is top-notch, really giving it a sense of scale and larger than it is. Performance-wise, everyone does a commendable job, even if their characters are more or less stock characters, though it is intentional. Gary Graham works as the hardheaded hero with a heart of gold, and Koslo is fun as the stereotypical villain. Johnson does well as the female lead trying to prove herself, though she becomes Graham’s love interest, which is odd. Also noteworthy are appearances from regulars Robert Sampson, Jeffrey Combs, and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon.
The special effects from David Allen and his team are some of their best work, arguably their best work. The stop motion animation is fantastic, the robot fight sequences being a massive spectacle and easily the film’s highlight. Just the amount of detail put into the models and the range of movement is impressive given the budget. Admittedly, there’s probably only about 15 minutes of screentime devoted to the robot fights, but it’s still fun to watch. Probably my biggest issue with the film is the inconsistent tone, either being too silly or too dark. Admittedly, this can be chalked up to the disagreements between Haldeman and Gordon, each wanting a different tone. Even with its off-kilter tone and somewhat stock characters, this is still a fun movie to watch, especially with friends. Overall, Robot Jox is a solid if flawed attempt for a director to try different genres.
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