Pretty much a silly rip-off of THE TERMINATOR, made on a lower budget, this has the further disadvantage of being a failed television pilot for a series that never got made. This means that there is absolutely no background story to the film, no explanation as to where the killer robots came from or what they plan to do (apart from take over the world, obviously), no explanation as to how they hijacked a plane in midair and turned only SOME of the passengers into robots and no victory/defeat at the end of the movie. Instead, the lead character just ups and leaves to perhaps warn others of the impending danger. This ending smacks of that '60s television series, THE INVADERS, although I can't see how they thought they'd carry on the same stale formula week after week! There isn't even any intelligence or depth to the script, it just consists of the lead character discovering and fighting robots one after the other.
Once again I was attracted to the movie through the cheesy box art which made it look unmissable. For fans looking for cheesy special effects, well then this film won't disappoint. All of the bad robots have cool glowing red eyes which end up being overused by the end of the film, and some of them get their faces ripped off too displaying fake-looking robotics underneath. They really try to emulate THE TERMINATOR with this look but it's not half as frightening - in fact it's pretty laughable. Hell, even the music rips off Cameron's classic movie, I'm surprised a lawsuit wasn't filed against the makers of this.
It turns out that the director, Michael Chapman, is a camera operator on big budget movies these days (for example EVOLUTION). Well, on the strength of his direction in this film, I don't know how that can be! The editing is occasionally dire and the film is packed with silly flashbacks which are only there to pad it out. It starts off with a car chase (pretty silly, as you don't know who it is the police are chasing and are therefore unable to root for him - he could be a murderous paedophile for all we know) which ends up being repeated another THREE times by the film's end! It only ends up running at eighty-five minutes or so as well, so you can tell they were really desperate. How about some background story or explanation as to what the hell is actually going on? That would have helped! Instead we get lots of boring dialogue interspersed with cheesy, over-the-top action scenes which invariably show people jumping through closed windows (obviously an '80s thing) and things being smashed up. Sadly the film resorts to crappy slow-motion in some parts and looks extremely silly as a result. Also check out the radar robo-vision which can't look any more '80s in style. The ending resorts to gratuitous all-out action in which a killer kid goes on the rampage and ends up being bulldozed to death by her robot brother (?). Our hero escapes and the film just ends. That's it. No triumph, no victory, just an open ending. I hate films like this.
The acting is generally poor for the film which wastes the talents of some B-movie veterans. However, I did like Mark Lindsay Chapman (THE LANGOLIERS) in the leading role, and thought he made a charismatic and capable hero. However, Lisa Blount is poor as the robot girlfriend and Susan Blakely is just... well... too '80s looking and unmemorable. At the other end of the spectrum we have the quirky Geoffrey Lewis popping up in a cameo, and in a hilarious scene he accidentally sets fire to his own arm when attempting to light a pipe (his circuits have been damaged)! This is definitely a unique moment and nearly makes the movie worthwhile. Also appearing are Brion James (sadly in a five-second cameo as a biker), and (just to nail home the similarities a bit more) THE TERMINATOR's Dr Silberman, Earl Boen, as the office boss who doesn't do much.
It's difficult to describe how much this film fails so badly. It's kind of sad in a way. It's hopelessly dated and some of the pop music used in the flashbacks is excruciating. When you realise that the entire first half is just a flashback you realise the film has major problems. It does manage one too, unintentionally funny scene though, in which a female robot gets her arm torn off and proceeds to flog the hero with it with all her might! An unforgettable sight which had me rolling on the floor. It's a shame the film can't carry the momentum of cheesiness, though, as then it may have been a so-bad-it's-good movie. Instead it's just a so-bad-it's-bad type of film, although this one moment of pure cheese stops it from being a total failure.
Once again I was attracted to the movie through the cheesy box art which made it look unmissable. For fans looking for cheesy special effects, well then this film won't disappoint. All of the bad robots have cool glowing red eyes which end up being overused by the end of the film, and some of them get their faces ripped off too displaying fake-looking robotics underneath. They really try to emulate THE TERMINATOR with this look but it's not half as frightening - in fact it's pretty laughable. Hell, even the music rips off Cameron's classic movie, I'm surprised a lawsuit wasn't filed against the makers of this.
It turns out that the director, Michael Chapman, is a camera operator on big budget movies these days (for example EVOLUTION). Well, on the strength of his direction in this film, I don't know how that can be! The editing is occasionally dire and the film is packed with silly flashbacks which are only there to pad it out. It starts off with a car chase (pretty silly, as you don't know who it is the police are chasing and are therefore unable to root for him - he could be a murderous paedophile for all we know) which ends up being repeated another THREE times by the film's end! It only ends up running at eighty-five minutes or so as well, so you can tell they were really desperate. How about some background story or explanation as to what the hell is actually going on? That would have helped! Instead we get lots of boring dialogue interspersed with cheesy, over-the-top action scenes which invariably show people jumping through closed windows (obviously an '80s thing) and things being smashed up. Sadly the film resorts to crappy slow-motion in some parts and looks extremely silly as a result. Also check out the radar robo-vision which can't look any more '80s in style. The ending resorts to gratuitous all-out action in which a killer kid goes on the rampage and ends up being bulldozed to death by her robot brother (?). Our hero escapes and the film just ends. That's it. No triumph, no victory, just an open ending. I hate films like this.
The acting is generally poor for the film which wastes the talents of some B-movie veterans. However, I did like Mark Lindsay Chapman (THE LANGOLIERS) in the leading role, and thought he made a charismatic and capable hero. However, Lisa Blount is poor as the robot girlfriend and Susan Blakely is just... well... too '80s looking and unmemorable. At the other end of the spectrum we have the quirky Geoffrey Lewis popping up in a cameo, and in a hilarious scene he accidentally sets fire to his own arm when attempting to light a pipe (his circuits have been damaged)! This is definitely a unique moment and nearly makes the movie worthwhile. Also appearing are Brion James (sadly in a five-second cameo as a biker), and (just to nail home the similarities a bit more) THE TERMINATOR's Dr Silberman, Earl Boen, as the office boss who doesn't do much.
It's difficult to describe how much this film fails so badly. It's kind of sad in a way. It's hopelessly dated and some of the pop music used in the flashbacks is excruciating. When you realise that the entire first half is just a flashback you realise the film has major problems. It does manage one too, unintentionally funny scene though, in which a female robot gets her arm torn off and proceeds to flog the hero with it with all her might! An unforgettable sight which had me rolling on the floor. It's a shame the film can't carry the momentum of cheesiness, though, as then it may have been a so-bad-it's-good movie. Instead it's just a so-bad-it's-bad type of film, although this one moment of pure cheese stops it from being a total failure.