Review of Robot Jox (1989)
Seen in 2016.
It is 50 years since the nuclear holocaust almost destroyed mankind. War is now outlawed and all territorial disputes between the two great alliances are settled by single combat.
US mecha action. A fantastic piece of camp cinema, continually stumbling through a series of plot holes, stereotypes intentionally inserted by the director against the writer’s wishes, bad acting, terrible set design and wardrobe, and mostly terrible special effects. As such it’s got a lot of good laughs. Just a few moments of the robot animations are enjoyable for their craft, I like the androgyny of the love interest, and the final scene is almost powerful, finally conquering the moral dichotomy in an almost Japanese manner. I would have loved to see Haldeman’s original vision, faithfully produced. In an alternate universe, Gordon was replaced with a better director who listened to the writer and this seeded the American equivalent of Mobile Suit Gundam (1979).