Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Robot Wars - Robot Wars( Blu Ray) [Full Moon Productions - 2018]

From the early 1990’s here a schlock-bound slice of pulpy sci-fi fare from the Full Moon Studios. Robot Wars certainly feels like it’s from another time than the 90's, feeling more like it could have been made in either the 50’s/ 60’s, save for a few more provocative quips.  Here we have a region free Blu Ray from early on this year.

Robot Wars was released in 1993 and was one of the last films directed by veteran exploitation director Albert Band.   The films set on earth in the year the 2041- when seemingly much of the planet has been turned into a vast desert. The plot focus in on one of the head citadels(well their control room, and one or two other rooms)- where a team are controlling the last megarobot- this basically  looks like a robo cross between a spider & scorpion. The Megarbot is used for transporting people back & forth across the wastelands, but secretly is also trying to fend off rebel Centro troops. Stepping into this plot we have a cocky & renegade Megarobot pilot, and a suspicious female archaeologist who uncover that there’s another Robot hidden under an abounded city that held be as it was in the 1990’s.

In typical exploitation standards, the film's title is very much misleading- as there is totally around ten/ fifteen-minute robot action over the films seventy one minute runtime, and as for ‘war’ type action this is only say five minutes. What we do get is lots of pulpy & campy sci-fi character clichés- the cocky pilot & his bumbling yet likable mechanic, a spunky female who at first hates the pilot then falls for him. And obnoxious & pompous chief, trying to cover-up secrets.

The film has a light & almost family tone- with amusing quips & dialogues along the at times fairly flippant & thin plot. When we do get robot action it’s impressive enough, we get a good selection of shots of the lumbering spider/ scorpion robot, as well as the battle between the two robots. These effects were done by one of the last great Stop motion effects makers David Allen.  So I’d say if you go into this not expecting much, above some light & campy sci-fi fare, you’ll enjoy this well enough.

Extras wise we get a good enough Blu ray transfer- though it’s not spectacular. Beyond this, we get an eleven-minute tribute to David Allen- with Charles Band talking about how they first met, and his work on Band related films over the years. We get a thirty-minute episode of Videozone from the 1993- this features onset interviews with the cast & crew of Robot Wars, as well as discussing other Full Moon Productions of the time. Lastly, we get a retro Full Moon promo from 1997- which is great to see.

So in conclusion if you’re either a big fan of Full Moon’s more sci-fi focused fare, or enjoy pulpy sci-fi with some fairly fleeting old-school stop-motion robot action- this is worth a punt.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Robot Wars - Robot Wars( Blu Ray)
From the early 1990’s here a schlock-bound slice of pulpy sci-fi fare from the Full Moon Studios. Robot Wars certainly feels like it’s from another time than...
290324   Piranha - Piranha(DVD)
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom