MovieMonday.com - Robot Jox with Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Hilary Mason, Robert Sampson, Danny Kamekona, Michael Alldredge

Techno Films

Robot Jox (C)

STARS...
Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Hilary Mason, Robert Sampson, Danny Kamekona, and Michael Alldredge.

PLOT SUMMARY...
In the future, conflicts between super powers are settled by giant, battling robots, controlled by on-board human pilots.

QUICK SCAN...
This film could be compared to "Rollerball". ROBOT JOX features FX and action. Gary Graham, ("Alien Nation"), is good as the Robot Jox, 'Achilles'. The FX, in the stop motion battle scenes between the giant robots, are decent. These battle scenes provide the film's highlights.

DIRECTOR: Stuart Gordon
YEAR & RATING: 1990 (PG)

BEST BETS:

Alien

Rollerball
SYNOPSIS...
In the future, the conflicts left between the two remaining super powers/corporations are settled, via huge, human controlled, battling robots. When a top, good-guy robot jocky, named Achilles, accidentally kills a lot of spectators during a robo-battle, he retires from the game.

Achilles goes home to his family. Somebody is selling top Market, (U.S.), Robot Jox secrets to the Con-Federation, (Russia). Achilles investigates, eventually turning up the traitor.

Achilles returns to the arena, fighting a killer robot, piloted by the top Con-Federation Robot Jox. In a bloody battle, Achilles, the best Robot Jock in the game, triumphs once again.

Review:

Surprisingly, ROBOT JOX is not a "Robocop" clone, and is actually better than one might suspect.

Director Stuart Gordon, famous for his horror films ("Re-Animator") decided to take a shot at Sci-Fi. Based on ROBOT JOX, he should probably make more.

The film takes place in the future following a nuclear war. There are two main powers left on the Earth: The Market (us) and the Con-Federation (the bad guys). All disputes between these two are now settled by arena battles between giant robots, operated by athletes called Robot Jox.

The reasonably clever idea behind ROBOT JOX, Written by veteran Sci-Fi novelist Joe Haldeman (from a Story by Director Gordon) is a fun combination of "The Running Man", "Rollerball" and the old "Gobot" animated series.

Gary Graham ("Alien Nation" television series) is a fellow who looks like a cross between the young David Carradine, Scott Glenn and Mick Jagger. With his tight muscles and lithe body movements, Graham is well cast as a Robot Jox whose stage name is "Achilles". By contrast Michael Alldredge, who plays Tex, the chief tactician of the group, bears a resemblance to the late Slim Pickens ("The Getaway"). The interaction between these oil and water types delivers the expected fricion/viewer entertainment.

ROBOT JOX has little touches that ring true. For example, before Achilles/Graham goes off to do battle, his technical support crew tells him "Crash and burn", an ironic bit of well wishing along the lines of "break a leg".

The Visual Effects, Directed by David Allen, are almost in the Industrial Light and Magic league. In the all important battle scenes between the rival giant robots, a sense of size and believability is conveyed, as opposed to the feeling you're watching small, stop motion models. These exciting action scenes are ably lensed by Director of Photography Marc Ahlberg.

The Music, Composed, Orchestrated, and Conducted by Frederic Talgorn, is stirring and a bit bombastic. It does not, however, imitate a John Williams Score, which is fortunate.

If you like fun FX, balanced with human drama, you will find ROBOT JOX fairly watchable. It's also a jillion times better than "Robocop 2", and considerably more original.

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Robot Jox (C)
	STARS... Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Hilary Mason, Robert Sampson, Danny Kamekona, and Michael Alldredge. PLOT SUMMARY... In the future, conflicts between super powers are settled by giant, battling robots, controlled by on-board human pilots. QUICK SCAN... This film could be compared to "Rollerball". ROBOT JOX features FX and action. Gary Graham, ("Alien Nation"), is good as the Robot Jox, 'Achilles'. The FX, in the stop motion battle scenes between the giant robots, are decent. These battle scenes provide the film's highlights.
DIRECTOR: Stuart Gordon YEAR & RATING: 1990 (PG) BEST BETS: Alien Rollerball	SYNOPSIS... In the future, the conflicts left between the two remaining super powers/corporations are settled, via huge, human controlled, battling robots. When a top, good-guy robot jocky, named Achilles, accidentally kills a lot of spectators during a robo-battle, he retires from the game. Achilles goes home to his family. Somebody is selling top Market, (U.S.), Robot Jox secrets to the Con-Federation, (Russia). Achilles investigates, eventually turning up the traitor. Achilles returns to the arena, fighting a killer robot, piloted by the top Con-Federation Robot Jox. In a bloody battle, Achilles, the best Robot Jock in the game, triumphs once again.
Review: Surprisingly, ROBOT JOX is not a "Robocop" clone, and is actually better than one might suspect. Director Stuart Gordon, famous for his horror films ("Re-Animator") decided to take a shot at Sci-Fi. Based on ROBOT JOX, he should probably make more. The film takes place in the future following a nuclear war. There are two main powers left on the Earth: The Market (us) and the Con-Federation (the bad guys). All disputes between these two are now settled by arena battles between giant robots, operated by athletes called Robot Jox. The reasonably clever idea behind ROBOT JOX, Written by veteran Sci-Fi novelist Joe Haldeman (from a Story by Director Gordon) is a fun combination of "The Running Man", "Rollerball" and the old "Gobot" animated series. Gary Graham ("Alien Nation" television series) is a fellow who looks like a cross between the young David Carradine, Scott Glenn and Mick Jagger. With his tight muscles and lithe body movements, Graham is well cast as a Robot Jox whose stage name is "Achilles". By contrast Michael Alldredge, who plays Tex, the chief tactician of the group, bears a resemblance to the late Slim Pickens ("The Getaway"). The interaction between these oil and water types delivers the expected fricion/viewer entertainment. ROBOT JOX has little touches that ring true. For example, before Achilles/Graham goes off to do battle, his technical support crew tells him "Crash and burn", an ironic bit of well wishing along the lines of "break a leg". The Visual Effects, Directed by David Allen, are almost in the Industrial Light and Magic league. In the all important battle scenes between the rival giant robots, a sense of size and believability is conveyed, as opposed to the feeling you're watching small, stop motion models. These exciting action scenes are ably lensed by Director of Photography Marc Ahlberg. The Music, Composed, Orchestrated, and Conducted by Frederic Talgorn, is stirring and a bit bombastic. It does not, however, imitate a John Williams Score, which is fortunate. If you like fun FX, balanced with human drama, you will find ROBOT JOX fairly watchable. It's also a jillion times better than "Robocop 2", and considerably more original.