Robot Jox

Infobox Film
name = Robot Jox


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Stuart Gordon
writer = Stuart Gordon
Joe Haldeman
starring = Gary Graham
Anne-Marie Johnson
Paul Koslo
music = Frédéric Talgorn
cinematography = Mac Ahlberg
editing = Lori Ball
Ted Nicolaou
distributor = Columbia Pictures
MGM/UA Home Entertainment
released = November 21, 1990
runtime = 85 min
country = USA
language = English
awards =
budget = $10,000,000 (estimated)
amg_id = 1:41708
imdb_id = 0102800
followed_by = "Robot Wars"

"Robot Jox" is a 1990 science fiction film directed by Stuart Gordon, and starring Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, and Paul Koslo.

Plot

etting

Fifty years after a nuclear holocaust (presumably between Cold War-rivals the United States and the Soviet Union), conflict in the form of open war is strictly forbidden by the surviving nations who have eventually merged into two socio-political opposing super-nations- the American-influenced Western Market, and the Russian Confederation.

In order to resolve conflicts, the Market and Confederation agree to hold gladiator-like matches on a one-on-one basis to decide any one issue. To this end, they develop human-controlled giant robots which stand many stories tall, and are armed with cannons, missiles, lasers, and other ‘secret’ accessory weapons & features. These matches, called “games”, are held in "playing fields" - isolated natural settings and wastelands away from population centers - which are many times the size of a football field. All matches are separated into two stages- an initial free-for-all where ranged weapons may be used as the giant robots and their lone pilots approach each other from opposing sides of the field, and the melee-range fight where ranged weapons are forbidden and the giant robots engage with physical blows as well as using fixed special and/or secret weapons, such as cutting torches and bright magnesium flares to disable and disorient the other fighter. The matches are decided by four neutral-party referees in an anti-gravity floater who observe the live fight, and also control when the ranged weapons are shut down. Because of the stress and danger in piloting a giant robot in the games, robot jox are signed to contracts which require them to fight in at least ten matches.

To promote support for the human pilots (called “jox”) as they fight, some civilians (sometimes referred to as “bleacher bums”) can sign a safety waiver and view the matches live from grandstands intentionally placed on either side of the playing fields, such as the one in Death Valley, where the film primarily takes place. The onlookers are partially shielded from stray weapons fire (such as deflected lasers) by overhead roofing structures which are transparent. Alternatively, large viewing screens are set up outdoors in population centers via live telecasts so that the games can still be seen. Betting on the outcome is also seen both before and during the match.

The Story

The film takes place during a conflict where the Confederation has demanded a claim on the territory of Alaska, and the Market must defend its own claim.

Achilles (Gary Graham)- considered the best Market robot jox ever- is the last surviving member of his squad, which has been eliminated one-by-one by the ruthless Confederation jox Alexander (Paul Koslo) during previous matches (the last one being Hercules, seen in the film’s prologue). During the match in Death Valley, Alexander- according to the stated rules- desperately performs an illegal battle maneuver during the melee-range fight by launching the rocket-powered left hand of his robot at a downed Achilles. As the weapon veers uncontrollably towards the crowds nearby, Achilles attempts to save them by intercepting the rocket fist with his own robot’s body. Unfortunately, it pushes him over, and he falls into one of the grandstands, crushing over 300 people beneath the robot. Later that day, the referees declare the match to be a draw despite the illegal maneuver performed and the unintended death of so many people. However, Achilles, depressed at the carnage he inflicted, says that since this was his tenth match, he is not obligated to fight against Alexander, and shortly thereafter retires.

At the same time, artificially-bred humans are being trained by both super nations exclusively to fight in the games. Professor Laplace (Hilary Mason) is developing these new “gen jox” for the Market, including the first-potential-female jox Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson). With Achilles bowing out of the rematch, the gen jox increase their training so that one of them will be chosen for the fight. The night after the fight, Athena comes across a drunken Achilles in a local bar, and asks him why it is that he sacrificed his advantage over Alexander in order to save the “bleacher bums”. Being raised in an environment where fear and human weaknesses are being trained out of her, Athena is not aware that it was compassion for- and the protection of- the innocent crowds which drove Achilles to do this. As Athena’s arrogance (and ignorance) at her own superior background and training begin to invade her thoughts, and she sees that Achilles is no more special than anyone else, she begins to take risks. As the rematch approaches, Achilles- who has been retired for only a few days- finds out through the local news that Athena will be battling Alexander. Concerned that she may not have what it takes to win, he returns and agrees to fight and continues training, which further infuriates and insults Athena who is now prideful of her new position.

In the past, espionage has been a frequent problem in either the Market or the Confederation trying to get an edge in the matches. To ensure that no more leaks get out, the technical expert for the Market, ‘Doc’ Matsumoto (Danny Kamekona) imposes a strict need-to-know policy during the refit of the giant robot. Frustrated and confused as to why he won’t share the information, legendary jox and current battle strategist Tex Conway (Michael Alldredge) confronts Matsumoto in his office as he is preparing the new weapons briefing to be viewed just before the battle the next day. Matsumoto calmly presents Conway with evidence he has gathered that the jox’s famous last victory was staged to secure his position among the Market’s highest ranks- to the effect that Conway is a Confederation spy. After pulling a gun on him, Conway snatches the gun away and kills Matsumoto, and then calls the Comissioner and claims it was a suicide… all in plain view of the same camera which was secretly turned back on by Matsumoto.

The day of the fight, Athena approaches Achilles in his on-base quarters, promising him a “surprise”. However, she instead tries to subdue him with a jet injector just long enough for her to get into the cockpit of the robot. Failing this and only giving him a partial dose, she locks him in his quarters and prepares for the upcoming fight. Just as she is about to step into the robot’s cockpit, the maintenance crew discover that it is not Achilles that is entering the cockpit as was expected, but Athena! She seals herself in the giant robot, and forcibly crawls it out of the maintenance shaft- which legally constitutes a challenge in the games. After ramming his remote-controlled floating car into the wall to escape, Achilles makes it to the control room just as the robot exits the shaft. As the video pre-recorded by Matsumoto plays- which describes the new secret feature designed for this fight- the footage of Conway killing him also plays. Rather than be imprisoned, Conway disables some guards, escapes the control room, and jumps out of a window into the deep maintenance shaft, killing himself.

After failing to convince the referees to delay the match long enough for Achilles to get onboard, Alexander makes his appearance in a new four-legged giant robot. Though initially overwhelmed by Alexander’s grandstanding maneuvers, Athena manages to cut off his robot’s left arm. In return, Alexander pummels the robot, knocking her unconscious. But discovering that it is not Achilles inside that he was fighting, he moves to kill her. Achilles desperately flies his car out to the battlefield, and boards the robot while Alexander is distracted by the referees who have declared in favor of the Confederation. However, wanting to finish off Achilles, he steps on the referee floater, which automatically reverses the decision and awards the match to the Market. Both jox now ignoring their command centers to finish what they started, Achilles rockets his robot out into Earth orbit with Alexander close behind. Alexander shoots him back down, and Achilles crashes, his giant robot’s right foot destroyed. Converting the giant robot to a tank-like vehicle mode, Achilles charges and attacks, but Alexander flips it over and disables it with a crotch-positioned chainsaw (one of the more famous features of this story). Without a robot, Achilles runs towards the lower left arm which Athena cut off earlier, and fires the rocket-powered fist into Alexander’s robot, which destroys it. Alexander, however, survives, and the two engage in personal combat, finally injuring and wearing each other out. Achilles then convinces Alexander that a match does not necessarily have to end with the death of a jox, and they salute each other in jox fashion- one thumbs-up pressed again the other.

Production

Writing the story

Famed science-fiction author Joe Haldeman wrote the screenplay for the film, and co-wrote the story with director Stuart Gordon. During the script-writing process, Haldeman and Gordon's visions for the film clashed- the former wanting a dramatic, serious sci-fi film; while the latter wanted to liven it up and use stereotypes. In Haldeman's word's, "I would try to change the science into something reasonable; Stuart would change it back to Saturday-morning cartoon stuff. I tried to make believable, reasonable characters, and Stuart would insist on throwing in clichés and caricatures. It was especially annoying because it was a story about soldiers, and I was the only person around who'd ever been one." [ [http://home.earthlink.net/~haldeman/biolong.html Joe Haldeman - An Autobiographical Ramble ] ]

Several times, Haldeman feared that this clash would lead to him being dropped from the project, but producers of the film in pre-production sided with Haldeman- "About four months later, Christmas Eve, Stuart called from Rome. The producers had seen the critique and sided with me. How soon could I get to Rome? They were going to start principal photography and wanted me on hand for rewrites." [ [http://home.earthlink.net/~haldeman/biolong.html Joe Haldeman - An Autobiographical Ramble ] ]

Eventually Gordon recognized this. According to Haldeman- "...as we were saying our goodbyes, Stuart pinpointed what we'd been doing wrong. He said, "Joe, our problem is that you're writing a movie for adults that children can enjoy, but I'm directing a movie for children that adults can enjoy!"" [ [http://home.earthlink.net/~haldeman/biolong.html Joe Haldeman - An Autobiographical Ramble ] ]

Giant robots

The movie was one of the most ambitious science fiction movies of its time.Fact|date=September 2007 Whereas a modern film of these genres, such as "" (1995), "The Iron Giant" (1999), "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004) or "Transformers" (2007) used computer-generated imagery effects to portray the giant robots, CGI was not in mainstream use until after the film was made. Therefore, "Robot Jox" was made with more practical special-effects such as stop-motion animation, puppetry/marionettes, and an autonomously-operating remote-controlled model in the climactic battle.

In addition to only "Sky Captain..." and "MMPR:The Movie" listed above, and "" (1997), "Robot Jox" [and its poorly-received sequel, "Robot Wars" (1993)] is notable for being one of the very few examples in live-action American cinema to feature giant humanoid robotsFact|date=April 2008 that stand taller than 20 feet, and enclose a human pilot somewhere inside who operates it; as opposed to powered armor. Unlike the Japanese entertainment industry where giant robots frequently appear in both television and film across a wide range of subjects and target audiencesFact|date=April 2008, North American science-fiction films lean more towards wheeled or flying vehicles and ships. (A popular exception would be the "Star Wars" franchise and its various walker heavy assault vehicles and smaller droids seen across the six films.)

The human fighting pilots are universally referred to as "jox" (pronounced as "jocks"). (On a few occasions, Achilles is endearingly call "jock-buddy" by Conway.) Humans who have been born though artificial processes, and have been raised exclusively to fight in the "games" are referred to- sometimes disparagingly- as "gen jox".

*Technically, the machines in "Robot Jox" are not really robots as much as they are anthropomorphic vehicles. An onboard human is in control of all the mecha's functions, with very little automation or independent computer control; therefore, while the term "giant robot" is popular and summons up quite the vivid imagery, it is not strictly accurate.
**In "Robot Wars", the term "mega robot" is used to classify the giant fighting machines used in both films, though they are commonly referred to in "Robot Jox" as simply "robots" or "giant robots".

*Unlike the portrayals of most human-piloted giant robots—where they are seated and manipulate joysticks, buttons, and foot pedals (mostly as a cost-saving or stylistic approach during the production)—the ones in "Robot Jox" are controlled by the pilots moving their own arms, legs, and torso. For example, just before his match begins near the beginning of the film, Achilles tests his robot's controls by raising his own leg several times, and then punching his hands together; the robot in turn mimics this at the same time. Head motion is not registered since the robot does not have a head (though other unseen robots may have one.) A robot, even when under its own internal power, will not move until the jox has achieved "union" by directly interfacing with the control harness which he stands in the entire time. Control over the weapons is done through two hand-held joysticks which feature numerous buttons and switches.
**If another function of the robot other than movement or weapons-fire is needed, the jox is surrounded on either side by more display panels, control switches & buttons which he must reach for. (Whether the robot reaches outward for invisible buttons as well is not shown or addressed.)
**When the robot is hit by something and one of its own limbs is pushed, the jox in his own suit does not seem to get any feedback of this motion by having his own suit move in similar fashion. Therefore, there must be a computer-override which prevents this from happening.
**In the case of Alexander's four-legged robot in the final battle of the film, he is seen moving his legs in exactly the same way as he would a two-legged robot. The on-board computers, therefore, determine how the four legs are moved, but still mimic the motion of Alexander's legs. Examples of alternate leg-movement are also seen, though how these are accomplished is not addressed—a single front leg sways back and forth or raises while the other three remain stationary; and the robot stands up onto and balances on its back two legs, while the front two are raised high into the air.

*The robots are referred to, not by when they were made or by which faction made them, but rather by who designed them. For example, the red and white robot which Achilles pilots in the first battle of the film is called the Matsumoto-14, named after the Western Market's robot designer and technical expert 'Doc' Matsumoto. The second two-legged Confederation robot used by Alexander is called the Vovalefski-42. (Whether or not the similar-looking robots used in the finale by them are different models, or carry the same names regardless of modifications, is not stated or addressed.) Similarly, the robot which Tex Conway piloted in his victorious fight before the film takes place was called a Marketeer, while his opponent (Vassilyev) piloted a Confederation-built Kobalyaski-7.
**It is stated directly by Matsumoto that the Kobalyaski-7 would become the standard by which all future mega robots would be built; supposedly in its more human-shaped proportions even though still not featuring a visible head.
**In the prologue after the narration ends, Alexander is seen using a mega robot very similar to the Kobalyaski-7 seen later in 'archived' footage from Conway's fight. Though how similar they are is not elaborated on, the technical schematic that Matsumoto displays is quite similar.

Reception

Robot Jox was nominated for Best Film for the 1990 International Fantasy Film Award.

Cast

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0102800|title=Robot Jox