Robot Jox - The Battle of the Steel Giants
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Robot Jox - The Battle of the Steel Giants |
| Original title | Robot Jox |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stuart Gordon |
| script | Stuart Gordon, Joe Haldeman |
| production | Epic Productions, Trans World Entertainment |
| music | Frédéric Talgorn |
| camera | Mac Ahlberg |
| cut | Lori Ball, Ted Nicolaou |
| occupation | |
| |
Robot Jox - The Battle of the Steel Giants (Original title: Robot Jox ) is a science fiction film released in 1989 at the Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya . Directed by Stuart Gordon , the main characters are Gary Graham , Anne-Marie Johnson and Paul Koslo . In Germany it appeared on video on November 2, 1990.
background
Fifty years after the nuclear holocaust of World War III (presumably during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union ), in which almost all of humanity was wiped out, open wars have been strictly forbidden by the surviving nations. These finally merged into two socio-politically oppositional supernations; the American influence "Alliance" (in the original Market ) and the Russian dominated Confederation ( Confederation ).
To avoid wars, the alliance and the confederation agreed instead to hold gladiator-like exhibition fights with huge, manned combat robots in territorial disputes. These are fought in duels. These combat robots are armed with machine guns, rockets, lasers, as well as with secret weapons and equipment (Confederate spies keep getting the secret weapons of the alliance). These gigantic combat robots can also be transformed into space vehicles to fight in space, or they can also be transformed into tracked vehicles. The pilots of these machines are called Robot Jockeys , or Robot Jox for short , and are celebrated as national heroes. The exhibition fights are called Robo Games (originally just Games ). They are held in remote wasteland, far from inhabited areas. The open arenas are the size of several soccer fields. All competitions consist of two phases; the opening ranged combat with each one on their side of the field, followed by a second; the close combat phase with fists, kicks, welding torches, sawguns and stun grenades. The use of long-range weapons is prohibited in the second phase. The fight is supervised by four neutral referees who follow the action for fairness with floating gliders. Because it is very stressful and dangerous to control a combat robot, a robot Jox is required to sign a contract stating that they have to fight a total of ten fights.
In order to cheer on their own Robot Jox during the fight, spectators can watch the fights from a covered grandstand equipped with transparent protective shields, provided a signed security waiver is required. Alternatively, large film screens are set up in cities for public viewing in order to follow the competition live and also broadcast on television and radio stations. Bets are also placed on the winner before the bouts.
action
The film starts during a conflict when the Confederation claims the territory of Alaska. The alliance has to defend its territory, it is about the natural resources, raw materials and the territorial claim of Alaska. In addition, it does not want to lose any American soil to the Confederation for reasons of prestige.
Jim (battle name "Achilles") is the best Robot Jox of the alliance and the last survivor of his unit, considering to take on the unscrupulous Robot Jockey Alexei (battle name "Alexander") of the Confederation, who killed all members of his unit. It finally comes to a fight between the two in Death Valley . But the insidious Alexander fouls and uses unfair methods. Although Achilles succeeds in knocking down Alexander's robot in the close combat phase, Alexander illegally fires a rocket fist in the close combat phase, which threatens to hit a grandstand. Achilles tries with his robot to stop Alexander's rocket fist when he stumbled into a spectator's gallery when hit by it, killing three hundred people. Achilles then withdraws from the current fight, as it was also his contractually stipulated tenth and thus last fight. Achilles decides to live with his brother's family and is branded a coward by the public for not continuing the fight with Alexander. In its place is now entering Athena, a genetically modified retorts -Kriegerin ( " gene Jox "). The Gen-Jox program was initiated by Professor Laplace and is intended to represent the next generation of Robot Jox .
Meanwhile, the weapons designer, Dr. Matsumoto that Achilles trainer and former robot Jox Tex Conway is the wanted spy who forwarded the secret weapon plans to the Confederation, which resulted in many victories. When Tex protests against being banned from using the new weapons for training purposes, Matsumoto confronts him. Tex admits, shoots him, makes it look like suicide and lies to his team that Matsumoto was the wanted spy. But Matsumoto was able to start a video recording beforehand, which he actually wanted to use to protect against a spy leak with information about the use of the new secret weapon and with which the event was recorded on tape by Tex without being noticed.
When Achilles learns that Athena will face Alexander, he resumes his service to protect her, as he has fallen in love with her. However, he does this on the condition that from now on, for safety reasons, no more spectators are allowed to be present. Athena is deeply offended that she was betrayed of the fight. She drugged Achilles in his apartment and arrested him there. Athena gains access to the robot in Achilles' combat suit with the visor closed. She is recognized too late, cannot be stopped and enters the arena. Achilles comes to, can now free himself from his apartment and hurries to the battlefield. The alliance team asks for an arbitration award because Athena enters the fight without her permission, but they do not care who controls the robot, as long as it enters the arena, the fight applies. Achilles finally reaches the command center and gives Athena tips because she is already there and it can no longer be changed. When she played the recorded video briefing for the new secret blinding weapon, she and the control center saw the scene in which Tex admits to be a spy and Dr. Matsumoto kills. Before he can be caught and has to hang for espionage, Tex falls to his death in the hangar. Meanwhile, there is a fight between Athena and Alexander, whereby she is passed out in the close combat phase. With Athena unconscious, the referees order that the fight be stopped, declaring Alexander the winner. Only then does Alexander notice that his opponent is not Achilles, but a Gen-Jox woman.
Achilles rushes over, has Athena brought to safety and takes her place in the robot. Although Alexander has already been declared the winner, he does not leave the field as ordered by the referees and his coach. He threatens to be disqualified, which would mean a victory for the alliance. Achilles is also ordered not to continue the fight. But both ignore the warnings and take up the fight again out of personal ambition. The fight moves into space, with Achilles robot being severely damaged at the foot by a rocket. After falling back to the battle arena, Achilles transforms his robot into a tracked vehicle and continues to fight. But when the cockpit of his robot is destroyed, he gets out and can short-circuit the rocket fist that Alexander's robot had previously separated from Athena and fire it at him, destroying Alexander's robot. However, Alexander manages to get out. Both now fight hand to hand with wreckage iron bars and fists. Achilles calls to Alexander that it is enough now. To which he replies they are both dead because they are Robot Jox . Achilles tells him that a fight doesn't have to end with the death of a jockey and that they can both go on living. Completely exhausted, both make peace with the Robot-Jox -fist greeting “destroy and burn” ( crash and burn ).
Reviews
"Relatively solidly staged science fiction spectacle with references to the Western and motifs from ancient tragedy."
"Gordon has held back in his bloodthirsty effects (...) and handles the subtle, humorous pulp science fiction elements with a sure hand and thus gives the film a cohesive comic flair in the tradition of the bands TRANCERS and SWORDKILL (1984) . "
“Joe Haldeman, what kind of things do you write. Stuart Gordon, what kind of films are you directing? "
"Variant of the" Transformers "stories pimped up with rather transparent model tricks , in which director Stuart Gordon proves absolutely nothing of that night-black humor that has made him the bearer of hope for the fantastic film after RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND ."
Film awards
Nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award (1990), Category: Best Film.
useful information
- Originally Joe Haldeman wanted to name the film title The Mechanics , but Stuart Gordon insisted on Robojox . When Orion Pictures threatened legal action because of the resemblance to their film title RoboCop , the film was eventually renamed Robot Jox .
- The budget for the film was supposed to be 10 million US dollars, but only 6.5 to 7 million (depending on the information) was allocated. It was the most expensive film Empire Pictures has ever produced.
- The location was among others Italy.
- Haldeman caught crash and burn salute from motorcycle racers during Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Florida.
- Robot Jox 2 - War of the Steel Giants from 1993 appeared in Germany under this title, but is called Robot Wars in the American original and has nothing in common with the story of the "first part". The film is also known as Robot Jox 2: Robot Wars .
- In 1996, Robo Warriors - The Battle of the Battle Giants (also Robo Adventure - Save the Earth ) was released, but it is not called Robot Jox 3 and has nothing to do with the story of Robot Jox . The American original title is Robo Warriors .
- Crash and Burn - Battle of the Robots by Charles Band from 1990 was also partly sold on the European market as Robot Jox 2 and also has nothing in common with the story of Robot Jox - War of the Steel Giants . In a trailer for Crash and Burn on the Robot-Jox DVD, there is even talk of Robot Jox 3 .
- The song The Becoming from the album The Downward Spiral by the band Nine Inch Nails from 1994 uses samples of the screams of the dying and injured viewers from the film.
- In 1934, the French professor and military engineer Felix Gaston Gauthier had the idea, or “prediction”, that in the future, 1000- foot tall, (albeit) remote-controlled combat robots would fight the battles of humanity.
literature
- –MAERZ– (Axel Estein): "Scrap heap - Robot Jox." In: Splatting Image , # 3, May 1990
Web links
- Robot Jox - The Battle of the steel giant in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Robot Jox - The Battle of the steel giant atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Robot Jox - The Battle of the Steel Giants. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 4, 2017 .
- ↑ joe-haldeman.livejournal.com - Slogans (English)
- ↑ Nick Kushner - The Nachtkabarett: Films, Samples and Influences (English)
- ↑ Wired - 1934 Predicts: "Gigantic Robots, Controlled By Wireless, To Fight Our Battles" (English, February 5, 2007)