Before there was Pacific Rim, Real Steel, Power Rangers, and others. There was Robot Jox. This sci-fiction fighting robot concept has two federations fighting over territory using giant mechs in a post- apocalyptic world. The two federations are the Russian Confederation & the Western Market after fifthly year after a nuclear holocaust between USSR & USA, open war is forbidden by the surviving two nations. To resolve conflicts, the Market and Confederation hold gladiator-style matches between giant robots, piloted by "robot jox". The most successful powerful robot jox Market has is Achilles (Gary Graham) whom supported by robot designer "Doc" Matsumoto (Danny Kamekona), a walking, talking Japanese stereotype. Talking about stereotypes, there is the strategist redneck, Tex Conway (Michael Alldredge). Tex is the only jock to win all ten of his contract fights, and Achilles is closing in his record. Achilles' tenth fight will be against his bitter rival, the Confederation's Alexander (Paul Koslo) in a desert land. The desert land was created when the nuclear war wasted the ozone layer, causing deserts and drought to pop out. Without much trees to give oxygen, outside the cities, people either have to wear protective clothing or stay under panels. Those rich enough are able to watch the fight in roof bleachers. Front row tickets to see a giant robot death match with stray missiles and lasers. What could possibly go wrong? During the battle, Achilles attempts to intercept a wayward projectile launched by Alexander, and his robot collapses on top of the bleachers full of spectators, ending the fight. This is where, there is two version of the film comes in. After Achilles' robot falls on the spectators, there are more shots of both Achilles' bloody face and of the dead bodies in the stands. The Motion Picture Association of America film rating system database indicates that Robot Jox was originally rated PG–13, but trimmed to obtain PG. In the PG version, these shots were cut. In a post-match conference, the referees decide that the match is inconclusive and schedule a rematch. Achilles, shaken by the accident and the deaths of the spectators, insists the fight was his contractual tenth match and retires, much to the disapproval of his fans. A group of genetically engineered "gen jox" also known by their slang name 'tubies' are breed just to fight. Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson) a gen jox is chosen to replace Achilles. Concerned that she may not win, Achilles agrees to fight Alexander again, which infuriates Athena trying to seek glory. I don't know if this is cause by him having a thing for Athena or just the fact he realizes that a female genetically engineered athlete, Athena, will replace him, and he might be a sexism pig. He just goes ahead and steals the spot light, and take over when Athena is quickly defeated. Without giving too much away, the movie is interested with pseudo-science terms, there seem be a bit of racism conflict between tubies and normal humans. I would love to see more of that, but the ending leaves a bad taste in audience. It's ends when things are not clearly solves and a very cheesy ending with both sides agreeing to not fight each other after what it seems like them nearly killing each other for minutes. The film is supposed to be a science fiction adaptation of the Iliad, but after watching this movie, it is clears it is not. The film seems to be a bit of rip-off of the Battle Tech series from the 1980's. I do like seeing good old fashion stop motion and animatronics. While, it is outdated, it's was pretty good at the time. Check it out if you're a fan of fighting robots with your own risk. While it's a good B-list movie, I would rather play Rock 'n Sock Robots than watch the movie multiply times.
Review of Robot Jox
