robot jox 1080p torrent download 1080p torrent download. The film that finally bankrupt Empire Pictures, ROBOT JOX, hits special edition Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory's Scream Factory line. Fifty years after the nuclear holocaust, the world is divided between The Confederation (the Soviet Union) and The Market (the United States), and disputes between territories are settled by one-on-one combat in the arena in gigantic robots controlled by trained fighters known as the "Robot Jox". Confederation champion Alexander (Paul Koslo, HEAVEN'S GATE) has not been content to merely beat his Market opponents, he annihilates them. His third kill is an upset to Jox trainer Captain "Tex" Conway (Michael Aldredge, THE ENTITY) whose champion fighter Achilles (Gary Graham, THE LAST WARRIOR) has been "saved" by Market Commissioner Jameson (Robert Sampson, THE ARRIVAL) for the fight over resource-rich Alaska. Achilles has taken the loss of a teammate more personally, and sees that games becoming more inhumane as Professor Laplace (Hilary Mason, DON'T LOOK NOW) is training the next generation of "Gen Jox" (or "tubies"), humans especially bred for fighting and winning. Jameson and weapons expert Dr. Matsumoto (Danny Kamekona, THE KARATE KID PART II) suspect a mole within The Market giving away their secret weapons to The Confederation. Alexander quickly gets the upper hand on Achille using the same secret weapons, but Achilles manages to hold his own. When Alexander's robot projectile hand flies off course and threatens the audience in the bleachers, Achilles tries to block the impact and ends up crushing three hundred spectators. Although the commission has declared the fight a draw because of Alexander's illegal weapons use, a guilt-ridden Achilles refuses to fight in the rematch. As the Gen Jox fighters train to replace him in the fight, Achilles starts to fall for the only female fighter Athena (WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW's Anne-Marie Johnson). When Achilles' likely successor Sargon (DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Thyme Lewis) is killed during training and Athena is announced to fight against Alexander, Achilles decides to return to the arena (dangerously underestimating Athena's genetic drive to win). Begun in 1986 but not finished until 1989, the $6 million dollar ROBOT JOX was Empire's (and 's) most ambitious project and attempts in every way to compete with the mainstream other than a name actor (although the film was not released until 1990 when Empire was no more, Graham did not start ALIEN NATION until after the production was finished). The photography of Mac Ahlberg (HELL NIGHT) and production design of Giovanni Natalucci (CATACOMBS) are reasonably slick if still economical, and the Paris Philharmonic-performed orchestral score of Frederic Talgorn (EDGE OF SANITY) sweepingly epic in the more cost-effective but no less capable Ultra Stereo. The stop- motion animation of David Allen (PUPPET MASTER) and visual effects of Peter Kuran's Visual Concepts Engineering (THE THING) are impressive, although the same techniques that were affectionately nostalgic in films like GHOULIES and TROLL probably did not impress audiences accustomed to your average Industrial Lights and Magic sideshow disguised as a feature film. Graham and Johnson are good leads, although the love story is as mundane as the intrigue angle. The climactic battle is drawn out by a nonsensical trip into space, and the ending probably played better on paper. Ian Patrick Williams (TERRORVISION) and the director's wife Carolyn Purdy-Gordon – both of whom had been in Gordon's DOLLS – appear briefly as Achille's brother and sister-in-law (WHITE SQUALL's Jason Marsden and two of Gordon's own children play three of Achille's five nephews and nieces) while Gordon himself plays the bartender at Achilles' local hangout while (RE-ANIMATOR) cameos in the crowd during Achilles' fight with Alexander. In different territories, both Full Moon's ROBOT WARS and CRASH AND BURN were released as ROBOT JOX 2 but the former is the more obvious sequel, sharing some of the same settings and themes (while re-casting Kamekona as an entirely different character); if anything, CRASH AND BURN might be the post-post-apocalyptic outcome of the events in these two films. Released theatrically in 1990 by Triumph Releasing, an early eighties RCA/Columbia art film distribution company (DAS BOOT, QUERELLE) revived in the late eighties to theatrically distribute Epic titles (including Mark Damon's Vision PDG like WILD ORCHID and DARK ANGEL) and then on VHS and laserdisc in 1991 by RCA/Columbia, ROBOT JOX would wind up with MGM on a barebones, anamorphic widescreen DVD in 2005. Scream Factory's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfer sports strong colors (maybe a bit too much as some actors besides Mason looking a bit rosy-cheeked in close-ups) and mostly good detail with some shots including composites and CFI optical transitions look a bit coarser. White specks pop up elsewhere intermittently, but I am uncertain of how it compares to the German Blu-ray (which presumably comes from MGM's master). The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 encoding of the UltraStereo soundtrack is immersive, with the various explosions and laser blasts having as much presence as Talgorn's score. Optional English SDH subtitles are also included. The film is accompanied by two audio commentary tracks: the first by director Stuart Gordon, moderated by Michael Felsher; and the second with associate effects director Paul Gentry (whose collaboration with Band goes back to LASERBLAST), mechanical effects artist Mark Rappaport (PREDATOR 2), and stop-motion animator Paul Jessell (MOSQUITO). Gordon discusses the film's long development period and that the opening credits background was the miniature footage developed to sell the film to investors (and shot on a table top unlike the effects shots in the Mojave Desert for the body of the film), the influence of TRANSFORMERS and the Japanese anime shows (as well as the influence of "The Illiad" and THE RIGHT STUFF). The script was by Joe Haldeman whose book "The Forever War" who had reframed his Vietnam experiences in a science fiction context. The original title was ROBOJOX when it was started in 1986 – the third of a three picture deal with Empire that included DOLLS and FROM BEYOND – but they had to change the title since ROBOCOP came out the following year (and ROBOT JOX of course was not finished until 1989). He discusses casting Graham and Johnson, and how they got into a political argument during their introductory dinner (him being a conservative Republican and her a liberal), as well as how that contributed to their onscreen chemistry (first at odds and then developing a mutual respect), and also reveals that the film's uncredited conceptual designer was Ron Cobb (CONAN THE BARBARIAN). Felsher prompts Gordon to expand upon the contributions of the Empire technicians, especially the ways in which production designer Natalucci and others realized the world of the film within the budget. On the second track, Gentry, Rappaport, and Jessell not only point out their individual contributions, but also those of many credited and uncredited crew members. They also warmly discuss their working relationships with Allen, go into more detail about the difficulties of the Mojave Desert shoot, and keep the discussion mostly on the effects themselves and less on the onscreen action apart from the actual effects shots. They describe how the robot models were heavier than the usual models (yet just as delicate) and could not hold their own weight when trying to make them walk (requiring counterweights to take the pressure off the rest of model whenever one of the feet was lifted). They also have a laugh over how the referee floater vehicle was held up by nine wires to keep it perfectly steady as it moved, and how all nine of the wires simultaneously snapped and shattered the ship into "a million pieces" (and is apparently still in that condition). Old school effects fans/hopefuls will also be interested in hearing about the various store-bought materials repurposed for the effects. In the only new video featurette "Looking Back" (10:12), actor Koslo recalls the genius of Gordon, connecting with his co-stars (he saw the film for the first time last year at a screening with Gordon and Johnson), working with Graham to make their climactic hand-to-hand combat more intense, the film's effects (chucking over the phallic chainsaw), as well as Ahlberg's abilities to match miniatures and full-scale sets, as well as working in Italy (and fearing for his life with Italian drivers). Also present are a series of archival interviews, the source of which is curious as there it would on the one hand seem footage from a documentary on the late Allen (who is mentioned in the past tense), yet the singular focus on ROBOT JOX suggests that it was produced for a release of the film (although I'm not aware of any releases with extra material). These are edited interviews rather than raw footage, so they must have been prepared for something to do with the film. Gordon's comments (7:26) are a bit more general, covering some of the same ground as the commentary, as well as how Allen may have regretted his decision to shoot in the Mojave Desert - which offered varied natural backdrops that could be used in forced perspective with various miniatures - with all of the floods and sandstorms that extended the effects shoot from six months to a year. Pyrotechnic supervisor Joe Viskocil (7:57) discusses his specialty of miniature pyrotechnics while associate effects director Paul Gentry (7:14) discusses how he got his start as Allen's effects director of photography, stop-motion animator Paul Jessel (7:46) reflects on the difficulty of capturing realistic motion from the robot models, and animation/visual effects artists Chris Endicott and Mark McGee (7:48) reiterate some of the same stories while remembering Allen as boss and collaborator. The behind the scenes footage (14:16) of the Mojave Desert shoot gets to an uninteresting start with coverage of many of the miniature elements but soon reflects effects artists' comments about the late Allen being an all- around nice guy. The film's theatrical trailer (1:25) features a Trans World logo as well as mention of an Avon novelization. A TV spot (0:30) is also included, as well as behind the scenes and artwork galleries. The flipside of the cover features the original artwork. (Eric Cotenas) Robot Jox (Blu-ray) After directing one of the all-time great horror films with Re-Animator (1985), director Stuart Gordon then signed a three-picture deal with ’s Empire Pictures. Each of the features was to be shot just outside Rome at famed producer Dino DeLaurentiis’ “Dinocitta” studios. Each of the features was also distinct from the others, with Gordon producing three cult classics in a short span of time. Dolls (1987), about diminutive killer dolls, was the first to be shot and the second to be released due to a prolonged post-production period. From Beyond (1986), another ode to H.P. Lovecraft, was the first out of the gate and still retains a strong following for being so otherworldly and gory gross. Those films were relatively cheap to produce, but Gordon’s planned third film – Robot Jox (1989) – was a costly expenditure that labored in limbo (due to Empire’s bankruptcy) for a few years before finally getting a release in 1990. Of the three films Gordon made in Italy, Robot Jox has been the most overlooked. Personally, this is one of those childhood favorites I was cautiously optimistic to revisit. One the one hand, this was a movie I rented on VHS more than a few times and it recalled some fond memories of Friday night viewings. On the other hand, it was very possible this wouldn’t hold up at all because, boy oh boy, does it ride that fine line of camp and crap. Set in an age fifty years past a nuclear war that almost ended humanity, war has been outlawed. The only accepted means of combat is head-to- head, with a fighter from each faction entering a giant robot controlled by their movements. They are known as “robot jox”. Think Pacific Rim (2013) but less techy. When the Russian Confederation’s top fighter, Alexander (Paul Koslo), manages to defeat one of Market’s (i.e. the West) best robots, it becomes clear that someone is leaking information to the opposition. This is of great concern to Achilles (Gary Graham), Market’s top fighter and the next scheduled opponent for Alexander. Robot jox need to win ten bouts in order to retire, something Achilles’ friend, and Market strategist, Tex (Michael Alldredge) achieved during his time as a fighter. During Achilles’ clash with Alexander, a power move gone awry leaves hundreds of spectators dead (which shouldn’t have surprised anyone given how close they were allowed to sit) and both robots damaged enough to call it a draw. A rematch is scheduled, but Achilles refuses on the grounds that he just completed his last match – win, lose or draw. In his place Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson), a genetically created “test tube baby” (made specifically for fighting), agrees to fight Alexander. But Achilles’ allows his macho instincts to take over, leading to a final match with his nemesis Alexander to prove once and for all who is the ultimate robot jox (jock?). There was a clash of ideas regarding this film’s tone. Screenwriter Joe Halderman wanted something serious, while Gordon, who delivered the story idea, wanted a children’s film that could also be enjoyed by adults. Judging by the final cut, it’s pretty clear Gordon won out, and Robot Jox is all the better for it. This movie is FUN. Period. It isn’t designed to be high-brow entertainment, or complex in any sense. This is a movie where men man massive machines and pummel each other into the ground. Who wouldn’t want to see world conflict solved in such a manner? Gordon has said he was inspired by – of all things – the Japanese Transformers toy line. Nobody had really done a live-action giant robot movie, making his original story a true novelty. But it was going to take skilled FX artists to make it all look believable – and it does. Even all these years later, the combination of full-scale robot parts and stop-motion animation looks astonishingly deft. CGI wasn’t an option at the time; this film had to reply solely on old-school techniques. The robots look imposing and are consistently given real-world scale to show off their bulk. The cuts between tangible parts (like a giant robotic foot) and stop-motion are seamless, allowing the fights to carry maximum impact without taking viewers out of the action by revealing the magic behind the curtain. The robots are the real stars here, but we’ve also got some humans to carry the picture, too. Gary Graham isn’t going to win any awards for his portrayal of conflicted hero Achilles, though he’s just good enough to get a pass. Ubiquitous character actor Paul Koslo chews scenery and steals the film as Alexander, the Russian champion who, frankly, has more of a will to win than anyone else. Gordon fans will also be able to spot many of the director’s regulars – Jeffrey Combs, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon and Ian Patrick Williams. Gordon has said the sequence of the robots flying into space was meant to showoff abilities that would have been used in a sequel, where the robot jox would be fighting against alien invaders. Fun fan theory game: pretend this is a prequel to Pacific Rim . Robot Jox promises nothing more than large-scale battles between hulking steel behemoths, and that is more than satisfactorily delivered. Note: the MGM DVD accidentally presented the PG-13 cut of the film, which features a few additional bloody shots. While there’s no mention on the packaging of what cut is included here, based on what the additional shots contain I can safely say this is that same PG-13 version. Scream Factory presents Robot Jox on Blu-ray, with a sharp 1.85:1 1080p picture. The image has nice depth to it, featuring a fine layer of film grain, strong color saturation and what appears to be only minor DNR use. Since the effects shots jump around from optical to stop-motion to in- camera, quality, too, can vary from shot to shot. Thankfully, the image remains stable throughout these transitions. One downside to hi-def is that wires are a little more visible. One oddity: during the final third of the film there are a number of shots where little dots are visible on the screen, likely an issue with the print used. Robot Jox was mixed in Ultra Stereo, and the English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track provided here likely replicates the theatrical experience. Levels are on point, with nice separation of effects among the front speaker assembly. The only complaint would be a lack of low-end sound, which would have aided in giving the battles some additional weight. Subtitles are available in English. Director Stuart Gordon delivers the first audio commentary, moderated by Michael Felsher. If you’ve listened to Gordon’s tracks for Dolls and From Beyond , then this is a must simply because it fills in additional information about making movies during this time period. Gordon covers expected topics here, such as the project’s beginnings, sequel ideas, story changes and so forth. Next up, a crew-heavy commentary featuring associate effects director Paul Gentry, mechanical effects artist Mark Rappaport and stop-motion animator Paul Jessel. This is understandably the more technical track, with all of these artists discussing what it took to pull of the film’s battles. “Looking Back with Paul Koslo” features the veteran character actor discussing his time on the set of Robot Jox , with discussion covering shooting in the Mojave Desert in heavy battle suits, as well as his robot’s “chainsaw dick”. A handful of “archival interviews” are also included, with director Stuart Gordon, pyrotechnic supervisor Joe Viskocil, associate effects director Paul Gentry, stop-motion animator Paul Jessel and animation & visual effects artists Chris Endicott & Mark McGee. Each runs for a little over seven minutes. A reel of camcorder-shot “behind-the-scenes footage” shows off the special effects work. A theatrical trailer and TV spot are included, as well as still galleries featuring “on location” shots and “illustrations”. Robot Jox. Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), Robot Jox reveals a world where nations settle their territorial disputes by a single combat between two giant machines. Piloted by national heroes Achilles (Gary Graham, TV's Alien Nation) and Alexander (Paul Koslo, Shadowchaser), the robots meet in Death Valley to fight for the greatest prize of all: Alaska. But when Achilles' machine crushes 300 spectators, the match ends in a draw. Refusing to face Alexander in a rematch, Achilles is replaced by Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson, TV's Melrose Place), a genetically-engineered combat fighter. So when the GenJox is nearly killed and the game is forfeited, Achilles avenges their honor by challenging Alexander to a winner- take-all death match, in this heavy-metal, sci-fi adventure. Before the worldwide development of Jaegers to defeat interdimensional monsters from Japan; prior to Wolverine’s involvement with oversized Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots; and preceding Michael Bay’s assault on our senses with intergalactic toys which caused more property damage than a DC Comics superhero, there was ‘Robot Jox' from Empire Pictures (makers of 'Ghoulies' and 'Troll' as well as other beloved trashy films). It's a fluffy but ambitious piece of early 90s American escapist entertainment which re-introduced Godzilla-sized, hand-to-hand combat to the big screen. The movie is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where old technology like cathode ray tubes, oversized landline telephones, and other ancient technology still co-exist amongst robots the size of apartment buildings. These machines were created as an alternative to war between the Russian-based Confederation, and the more American-influenced Market. At stake are territories which are being claimed like Monopoly properties. Here, Alaska is up for grabs, and the confrontation becomes personal between pilots Alexander (Paul Koslo, who often resembles John C. Riley when in his battle helmet) of the Confederation and our local hero Achilles (played by Gary Graham). These guys are also known as ‘robo jox’ (according to the supplementary interviews, the name of the movie was changed to ‘Robot Jox’ after copyright threats by the makers of ‘Robocop’). Ann-Marie Johnson (‘Heat of the Night’ and ‘Hollywood Shuffle’) plays the only female of many test-tube-bred humans ("tubies" ) who have been genetically engineered to become fellow pilots. The jox operate their machines inside the robot, controlling their limbs like puppets with high tech weaponry and good old fisticuffs. ‘Robot Jox’ begins with the literally crushing defeat of a Market fighter known as Hercules by egomaniac Alexander. Achilles, one of the best jox around, is up next to take on the mad Russian in a desert-based match full of spectators. Unfortunately, Achilles ends up toppling his war machine onto a stadium full of hundreds of people after intercepting a projectile fist heading towards the crowd. These things happen. Though he is pardoned for the incident and a rematch is in order, Achilles decides to retire from any further fighting, giving Athena the opportunity to get her shot at Alexander. After hearing about her shot at the “title,” Achilles decides to return back into battle. She and our favorite son exchange more than a few words and punches, leading to a struggle over who gets to fight Alexander. What happens next may be a surprise to those who have never seen a movie about competing good-guys before. But in the end, a final battle does ensue which takes up the better part of the last third of the film. And yes, there is a scene in which Achilles does suffer damage to his lower extremity, consistent with the mythology. In between the two (and only) epic battles, is a sub-plot involving robot designer Doc Matsumoto (Danny Kamekona) and Tex Conway, a military strategist who wears a giant cowboy hat, bellows in a thick Texas accent, and casually throws around bigoted statements against women (Athena, naturally) and ethnic minorities (Doc, of course). The two men argue over how best to defeat the enemy while raising suspicions about a traitor in their midst. Athena and Achilles also have their own interpersonal spat over subjects like skill, talent and honor, which seem like outtakes from ‘Top Gun.’ All this filler might have been intriguing if it weren’t so predictable. The film itself would be more interesting if there were more big battles to dazzle us. As if to make up for long stretches of talk, talk, and more talk, a few energetic set-pieces take place for our amusement, including a pretty good scene where competing robo jox candidates scale a trap-ridden jungle gym to as part of their competition, and a few not-too-bad moments involving combat training. Overall, ‘Robot Jox’ delivers our daily recommended allowance of entertainment goods when it comes to "B" movies. Director Steven Gordon admits in his interview that the inspiration for his efforts came from Transformers toys as well as Japan’s animated series known as ‘Macross.’ Certainly, giant monsters and robots in combat have been around since miniatures were invented, and they’ve been entertaining audiences for just as long. The colorful costumes and antiseptic production design remind me of Paul Verhooven’s ‘Total Recall’ and at a glance, look similarly budgeted. The acting is generally over-the-top, especially Michael Alldredge as Tex, who seems more like a Simpsons caricature than anything else. Ann-Marie Johnson’s acting ranges from amateurish to overwrought, but she has an obvious onscreen appeal and looks like she’s having fun. Gary Graham and Paul Koslo similarly assume their roles with energy and vigor, which make the final resolution of their conflict less corny than it truly is. Needless to say, primary interest in 'Robot Jox' focused on a purely technical level, where appreciation of the filmmakers’ craft is highlighted by the excellent supplementary materials. By now, there probably isn’t a being alive who hasn’t been exposed to any one of Michael Bay’s Transformer epics, especially since they get longer, busier and noisier with each sequel. Based on that probability alone, watching the action in ‘Robot Jox’ is bound to be less epic and less convincing. Yet, one can truly marvel at how the effects were pulled off in the first place, especially when you factor in lthe ess than generous budget and the infant stages of CGI technology. (Of course, ‘Terminator 2’ would be released a year later and set a new standard for digital effects.) Quite frankly, I think some of the scenes in ‘Robot Jox’ compare as favorably as similar moments in ‘Pacific Rim’ when it comes to maintaining the fantasy illusion, and are just as entertaining. (At the very least, this movie clearly is more creative and more entertaining than anything ever hacked out by The Asylum and their cynically produced line-up of crap.) I didn't adore 'Robot Jox' but I'm glad to have finally seen it. The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats. ‘Robot Jox’ comes on a single platter BD50 from Shout Factory It is contained in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible cover printed with different artwork on the front and the back, though the text remains the same. The disc opens up with a Shout Factory logo and then defaults to an animated menu. There is no insert or booklet.