50 years after a nuclear war, war has been outlawed and disputes between the two superpowers, The Market and The Confederation, are now settled in one on one combat using giant robots piloted by Robot Jox, humans trained from birth to be perfect soldiers. Market Robot Jock Achilles (Gary Graham) 10th and final fight in his contract ends in a draw when Confederation Robot Jock, Alexander (Paul Koslo) uses an illegal weapon that results in the deaths of several spectators. While the match ends in a draw, Achilles resigns having fulfilled his obligation of 10 fights. When a test tube bred Robot Jock is slated to take his place, Achilles suits up and tries to reclaim his honor by taking on Alexander in a rematch.
The fourth feature film from director Stuart Gordon, Robot Jox marked a rather large departure for the man who'd made a name for himself with comedic slanted horror films like Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Dolls. Gordon was apparently inspired by the success of Transformers and wanted to do a movie about giant robots in live action after noticing most giant robot properties were animated. Gordon teamed with science fiction author, Joe Haldeman (The Forever War) to write the script after their success producing a stage adaptation of the Forever War and found themselves at odds over the tone. Haldeman, a veteran of the Vietnam war who often used his experiences to inspired his work wanted to take a more grounded approach to the material, while Gordon was more interested in making something more audience friendly which Haldeman charitably described as "Saturday Morning Cartoon stuff". The clash of ideas is definitely apparent on screen as there's definitely some over the top elements that feel at odds with considerably more serious stabs at the material (including subplots on genetic engineering and espionage, as well a subtext of soldiers being replacable pawns for political superpowers that isn't given the breathing room it needs). When the movie was released in 1990, the Bankruptcy of Empire pictures resulted in the film sitting on a shelf for a year with not only the cold war themes losing relevance, but Transformers was waning in popularity and giant robots wouldn't be in vogue for another 3 years until Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers in 1993. Columbia acquired distribution rights and unceremoniously dumped the movie into theaters via their Triumph label while Home Alone and Dances with Wolves were dominating the box office and disappeared within a week. With that said, Robot Jox is an entertaining silly film that I just can't help but love.
The movie is definitely a very cold war era film, with its two superpowers vying for control of various territories presented in a way that makes Rocky IV's approach to the Cold War look subtle by comparison. Paul Koslo's Alexander is basically the same character as Dolph Lundgren's Ivan Drago only instead of being playing as a stoned faced stoic he's played as a gleefully sneering sadist who loves destroyed his enemies. Gary Graham plays Achilles as a burnt out stiff who's grown weary of the gladitorial matches between the Market and the Confederation and it definitely has the fingerprints of Haldeman as that was often a trait the soldiers in The Forever War had being conscripts who were away from home and separated from their homes not only by distance but time dilation. It's not a bad performance at all, but the tone the movie strikes with its bright color pallet and silly Sci-Fi designs makes it feel strangely out of place in a world that looks not too dissimilar from one of Gerry Anderson's futuristic worlds. There's also a subplot involving a character named Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson) and she has a kind of sort rivalry/love interest relationship with Achilles that feels like a leftover remnant from what may have at one point been a bigger arc. Considering how often the script was re-written it wouldn't surprise me if there was a version where this character got a better pay off story-wise but as is she feels both confusing and unnecessary and makes you wonder why so much time was spent watching her train and interact with Achilles.
The true star of the movie is definitely the Robots and the fighting sequences. The Robots are absolutely gorgeous in terms of not only their designs but also in the way they movie. There's real thought and care put into how these giant machines work with crazy weaponry, transforming abilities, even the ability to go into space (with strangely accurate science including a lack of sound during the fighting in orbit around the Earth). The stop motion effects to bring the Robots to life is simply incredible and definitely the main reason to watch this movie.
Robot Jox is definitely silly in its execution and dated in its themes and subject matter, but it more than makes up for it with energy and enthusiasm as well as some really good special effects. It's a shame the movie didn't find an audience upon initial release, but it has gone on to develop a cult following and continues to be discovered and appreciated for both its strengths and its flaws.
