Robot Jox Movie Review

In the future, wars between East and West are eliminated, but Cold War competition thrives thanks to officiated gladiator duels between titanic robots, each one piloted by a single human operator. Will brotherhood and goodness prevail? Semi-meaningful, semi-ludicrous sci fi (with uneven quality f/x by David Allen), this hijacked hardware concepts from the role-playing game Battletech, the Japanese sagas Robotech and Gundam, and others; toy-conscious viewers will also note the fighting machines’ suspicious similarity to popular ‘80s playthings like Transformers and Gobots. At least Robot Jox is better than those respective cartoon features, but considering that the script is by Hugo Award-winning sf novelist Joe Haldeman (The Forever War), this must be classed as a disappointment. Produced by Charles Band.

1990 (PG) 84m/C Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Koslo, Robert Sampson, Danny Kamekona, Hilary Mason, Michael Alldredge; D: Stuart Gordon; W: Joe Haldeman. VHS, LV COL