Astro Boy (2009):

Astro Boy (2009):

I finally got around to watching Astro Boy (2009), and you know what? I liked it. Not loved it. Not “This redefined Astro Boy”- kind of liked. But, liked it.

Let’s just get this out of the way. Yeah, the visuals are kind of dated. It’s very 2009 CGI. Shiny metal, slightly rubbery faces, and that weird in-between era where animation hadn’t quite figured out how to stylize humans yet It’s fine. It works. It feels like a Saturday afternoon kids’ movie.

One of my biggest mixed feelings is how they re-imagined the world. In the original anime created by Osamu Tezuka, Astro’s adventures spanned the cosmos. There were robot wars on the Moon. Moral dilemmas across continents. Wild sci-fi ideas that felt boundless.

Here, Metro City is basically a floating city-state, hovering above a trashed Earth. It’s very “Metropolis-lite.” It grounds the story, which makes sense for an American family film, but it also shrinks the scope dramatically. The universe feels smaller. Safer. Contained.

They do sprinkle in nods to older characters and lore, which longtime fans will recognize. But the characterizations? Totally different. And that’s fine. I get that they were probably setting up a new franchise direction. It’s just… this version of Astro Boy, aside from the name and powers, feels barely recognizable.

One thing I genuinely enjoyed was the humor.

Yes, including the now-infamous:

“I have machine guns in… my butt???”

It’s dumb. It’s juvenile. It absolutely got a laugh out of me.

There are also some sweet friendship beats, especially once Astro lands on the surface and ends up with the junkyard kids. It leans heavily into the American “ragtag group of misfits who come together” formula. Predictable? Sure. But it’s warm.

One thing that really stood out to me is how simplified the themes are. Classic Astro Boy wrestles with identity. What does it mean to be human? Can robots have souls? Can they coexist with humanity? His heart, metaphorically and sometimes literally, is tied to something spiritual.

In this movie, it’s Blue Core vs. Red Core. Good vs. Evil. Intention vs. corruption. It’s very literal. Almost like the movie is afraid to wade into anything messier or more philosophical.

Astro’s journey toward humanity gets glossed over. Instead of grappling deeply with what he is, the emotional takeaway becomes: “He’s a good friend.” Which, to be fair, Astro has always been. But he’s also a robot navigating a complicated world. That complexity gets reduced to “outsider kid trying to fit in.”

It works for a children’s movie. It just feels restrained.

The voice cast is kind of stacked, which makes the restraint even more noticeable. Nicolas Cage plays Tenma in a surprisingly subdued performance. Bill Nighy brings dignity and warmth to Dr. Elefun. Donald Sutherland goes full militaristic villain as President Stone. Nathan Lane as Hamegg is easily the most fun performance in the movie... he sounds like he’s having a blast. There’s also Kristen Bell (pre-Frozen) as Cora and Samuel L. Jackson as Zog, the ancient construction bot.

It’s such a tremendous lineup. And yet the script keeps everything so safe. Even during the big climax, a showdown with President Stone who's piloting a giant robot, it never really lets Astro go wild. He fires lasers out of his hand cannons, looks at them, and goes, “Huh. Cool.”

And that’s kind of the vibe of the whole movie.

Huh. Cool.

But not much more.

I don’t hate this version. I actually think it’s a perfectly decent kids’ action movie. Throw in some good snacks, settle in, and you’ll have a good time.

But compared to the 2003 anime series, or especially the original 1960s or 1980s Tezuka vision, it feels cautious. Smaller. A little too afraid to let Astro ask the big questions. A little too determined to translate everything into simple, digestible morality.

Astro Boy has always been a good friend. But he’s also a robot built after Tenma's grief for his dead son. A machine searching for humanity. A hero navigating prejudice and war and loss.

This movie hints at those things, and then backs away.

Still, it’s always good to revisit Astro Boy in any form. And for what it is (A mid-2000s Americanized reboot trying to introduce him to a new generation.) it’s good.

Not cosmic. Not profound.

But good.

SILICON DREAMS (2021):

SILICON DREAMS (2021):

“It’s 2065, and you are an interrogator-model android tasked with rooting out deviants among your own kind. You must probe for lies, monitor and exploit emotional spikes, earn the trust of your subjects, and make the final call: release, or destroy?”

-Steam Synopsis

So, I managed to get an ending for Silicon Dreams. It's sort of like a visual novel/cyberpunk mystery game. You work for a mega-corporation KRONOS Robotics. They send in Androids who are malfunctioning. Getting emotional, violent, in love, feels human, etc. You interrogate them until you find out what's wrong, and make recommendations whether to reset, kill, or keep the android as is. So far, so good.

Later on in the game, you learn about rebel groups of androids that want to be human, or in love, and doctors or teachers that want to help them, and you're supposed to either hunt them down or join the resistance. That's supposed to be the game's moral dilemma. The problem is, (for me.) some of the game's mechanics directly conflict with getting a “good” moral ending.

In order to stay employed at KRONOS, you have points out of 100. If your score falls low enough, you can't stay in the game. So, on a certain level, you have to maintain points just to keep playing. And, although we're told in-game by various Androids or humans that KRONOS is evil, and they control them, etc., I just never saw enough evidence that KRONOS was evil to care. At a point, you can just start doing your job just to finish the game.

It certainly doesn't help when the rebel androids or humans start threatening you, hacking androids and planning to bomb KRONOS multiple times. I will say, there's a lot I agree with tonally in the game. I get that maybe I'm supposed to feel like KRONOS is evil, and manipulating robots and people. I just wish the rebels...and the Androids that want to escape, were less violent and whiny. It's not a moral dilemma, it's just called having a job.

For example, an android comes in. We know she's been working with a scientist to help Androids escape. I'm trying my best to keep her calm (The game registers emotions like “Fear” “Anger” “Joy” “Disgust”.) Well, none of that mattered, because she blows herself up when you ask about removing her hard drive to get the scientist's location, after cursing the company.

Frankly, the game just feels like a checklist to me. I know what I'm supposed to feel, but in the end I didn't care. Another time, my score fell so low, for misdiagnosing Androids that KRONOS started to suspect that I was part of the resistance. Well, I wanted to keep my job. So, I went into interrogation myself, gave all the safe, pro-KRONOS answers, and boom, reputation back up to 80.

In the end, an android comes in threatening to release a video proving androids have emotions. Which is fine, I guess. Wouldn't have particularly mattered to me. But, of course, it turns out, he has a bomb in his stomach. Well, now I'm going to disarm the bomb and arrest him. This of course, got me to the pro-company ending, where I became assistant to the Vice President of KRONOS. I never really felt one way or the other about the company. I just wanted to finish the game.

I guess I wanted to help humans and rebels, but I also wanted to keep playing, in which case, you need to stay employed. By the way, if an android started showing excess emotion, I usually just reset them. Which sometimes got me in trouble with the company, either because a customer was dissatisfied, or the android had evidence the company needed on rebels. But, again, I just kept doing my job, giving pro-company answers, and completing my diagnostics, and I could keep playing.

I don't know. I don't really recommend the game, unless you really like those scenes in Blade Runner where they're diagnosing androids. That's clearly what this game was inspired by. But, I just didn't see enough evidence of the “evil corporation” being evil for me to care about androids that claim they want to be human, or any of the rebels. I did have plenty of androids try to bomb me, or hack me. So, mostly I just did my job for KRONOS. As far as I could see, the only evidence that KRONOS was evil, was that they are a mega-corporation, not that they directly interfered in the lives of androids or consumers.

I wish I could recommend the game. I love robots, Blade Runner, and sci-fi. But, this has all the moral subtlety of an angsty teenager. It's hard to care for rebels when they're constantly violent. It's hard to care for androids who want more emotions when they are clearly unstable. Again, I can't help feeling that they were supposed to be more sympathetic. That KRONOS was supposed to be wrong. But, I had to keep up my points to keep playing. Oh, and also rebels kept bombing me, and androids kept hacking me. So, maybe that had more to do with it.

In conclusion, the game has some neat mechanics, but fails in that it has black-and-white moral dilemmas. By the end, I would just whiff entire cases just to move the game along. I get that it wants to be about big issues, moral dilemmas, inducing emotions, etc. All you need to do is keep up your points. It's a classic case of “show, don't tell”. It's hard to believe the corporation is evil, no matter how many times you tell me...when it was the rebels who actively tried to kill me.

What was the worst KRONOS could do? Deactivate me? Big deal. Rebels and androids had tried that already. I just gave my answers, and kept playing. I wish I wanted to play again. I don't. But, if you do, it's on Steam. Maybe it would've meant more to me if I were a teenager. I don't know. But, I got one play-through, and that was enough for me.

Metropolis (1927):

"In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences."

I just want to talk about a movie I like: Metropolis from 1927. It's one of the first sci-fi films, a silent movie from Germany. It's about a future society divided between the rich and the poor. The poor do all the labor and make all the machines. (It's from 1927, so we're talking giant machines with clocks and pumps, it all looks very towering and uncanny.)

One day, a rich young man named Freder discovers a poor woman in disguise, Maria. He follows her down from the opulent bright gardens where the rich enjoy the labor of the poor, into the feverish Machine Hell that is the poor community below. The machine mouths are even designed to look like demons.

Moved by the plight of the poor, Freder joins Maria in an underground church where she preaches the Tower of Babel story. It is apt here because of the divide between the rich and the poor. The hands that built the tower to Heaven knew nothing of the brains that conceived it. The mediator between the head and the hands, so Maria says, must be the heart.

However, Freder's father doesn't like that his son is meeting with the poor and has discovered their world. So, he makes plans with a wild-looking mad scientist named Rotwang to build a robot of Maria and place mistrust in the people's hearts. What follows is some of the best special effects in cinema history, as the robot takes the form of Maria, with electrical effects and all, inside Rotwang's evil lab.

The evil robot Maria preaches that the workers destroy the machines and the rich. She even dances in a show, to display how evil and tempting she is. Freder even discovers the robot Maria canoodling with his father, and falls into a delirium, with great visual effects, where he sees the grim reaper and a skewed reality reflects his madness.

Freder returns to the poor after recovery, and exposes the False Maria. He works with the head mechanic Grot to free Maria. Rotwang and Freder fight as Maria escapes. Rotwang hallucinates that his robot (Maschinenmensch in German.) is the Goddess Hel. Rotwang finally falls of the roof, and dies. Freder shakes hands with Grot, fulfilling his role as the mediator between the head and heart.

Even today, Metropolis is a technical marvel which invented many sci-fi tropes we take for granted. Things like the divide between an opulent rich society and a technologically oppressed poor, a wild mad scientist, and even robots...are seen here for the first time on film. The visual designs, creating a towering Heaven, and a technological Hell below, are still relevant and marvelous.

Whatever version of this film you can find, watch it if you have a chance. I first saw the 2006 version. Several scenes were filled in with title cards and lost to time. But now, through the miracles of technology, you can watch the whole thing for free on YouTube. It's amazing that a sci-fi film from almost 100 years ago continues to inspire. It's a true testament to the power of film-making.

Nausicaä Of The Valley of The Wind (1984/2005 English Dub):

Nausicaä Of The Valley of The Wind (1984/2005 English Dub):

“Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.”

After the Seven Days of Fire, the world was divided between tribes with an ever-growing threat: The Toxic Jungle. Only one place in the land is safe. A place known as The Valley of The Wind. Princess Nausicaä tries to restore harmony to this apocalyptic world. She discovers that the wind and irrigation in the Valley keeps them safe.

But, others have different ideas of what will bring peace. The Tolmekian Princess Kushana seeks to annihilate the other superpower tribe Pejite with a destructive weapon from the Seven Days of Fire, the Giant Warrior. It's a race against time as Nausicaä teams up with the Pejite Prince Asbel to bring peace.

Nausicaä and Asbel are kidnapped by Kushana, along with her father Lord Yupa. Tolmekia resurrects the Giant Warrior and does battle with the giant bugs (called Oms.) of the Toxic Jungle. Nausicaä, being a pacifist turns them back and is able to demonstrate that her way calms the Oms and in fact can restore nature.

It's a fantastic journey full of wonder, post-apocalyptic tech (Hover-gliders, robots, tanks, gas masks, flash grenades, and guns.), and Miyazaki's trademark environmental themes, and anti-war messages. It's not without violence, but there is also a message of hope and rebirth. A feeling that peace will come even when it seems like evil will win.

This was a bold message for 1984, and it's easy to see that Tolmekia and Pejite are stand-ins for the global superpowers in the Cold War, with the Giant Warrior being not a giant robot, but a nuclear arsenal. Its themes and story still resonate today, with the need to be in harmony with Earth, and with need for something like Nausicaä's pacifism and curiosity.

Today, part of what makes Nausicaä fun to watch for me is the 2005 Disney English voice cast, which includes Uma Thurman, (Kashana) Shia LaBeouf, (Asbel) Mark Hamill (Pejite Mayor), and Patrick Stewart (Lord Yupa). Princess Nausicaä is Alison Lohman. If you have time today, give it a watch! It holds up!

Flying Phantom Ship (1969):

Flying Phantom Ship (1969):

“Hayato's peaceful life with his parents and his dog is brought to a dramatic, terrible end when a giant robot, said to be sent from a flying ghost ship, devastates the city, killing hundreds including Hayato's parents.”

It all begins with a fishing trip where Hayato's dad encounters the ghost ship captain in a haunted castle. The captain is actually there to scare his company's boss, who is in the castle, but they don't know that. So, after saving his dad's boss from the castle, a giant golem attacks Tokyo, claiming to be from the captain. Hayato's family dies in the attack, and he finds out they aren't his real parents. So, what began as a playful Scooby Doo mystery takes a hard turn into Japanese monster movie territory. Hayato tells his dog to get lost, and soon discovers that the boss (named Kuroshio.) was behind the golem attack, not the pirate captain, after he reveals his underground lair. Turns out, the attack is a ploy to promote Japanese industry and get everyone addicted to Boa Juice, Hayato's favorite soda pop.

The soda is actually produced by a sea monster Boa, who sends a giant crab monster to Tokyo and turns Kuroshio into soda for failing to disguise the attack. Meanwhile, Hayato joins the ghost ship captain, who is actually a defender of Japan. His ship is actually a robot ship, equipped with lasers and forcefields.

On the ship, Hayato vows to defeat Boa, and give up his favorite soda to defend the people. The pirate captain takes off his skull mask, and reveals himself as Hayato's real father. We're introduced to Tori, his daughter (and Hayato's sister.) who motivates him to find Boa. This movie wears a lot of different hats. On one hand, it's a mystery, then a monster movie, then an adventure.

As it turns into an undersea adventure, we see that Boa is a giant squid. His body is invulnerable to torpedo and laser attacks. Tori discovers by accidentally hitting an EMP pulse button during a crash that Boa is actually a robot, and they can defeat him with electromagnetism. The monster goes haywire, and buries itself after crashing into a cave wall. Hayato is congratulated back home by his new family, and becomes the new ghost ship captain.

So, is this all worth watching? Yes, but only because it's very short: 61 mins. It's exciting, but never really picks a tone. It's exciting, but I wish it were more focused. As it is, it's a good adventure flick. I'd say give it a watch anyway you can. It's worth it just to see all the craziness.

It wears a lot of the trends of 1960s Japan: Monster attacks, robots, environmentalist themes, family switcheroos...but it wears them all like a finely-tailored suit. Trivia: for its anti-capitalist themes this was the first ever Japanese anime shown in Russia (USSR), and the animation on the ship was done by Hayao Miyazaki.

Astro Boy (2004 series DVD set):

Astro Boy (2004 series DVD set):

I finished watching the 2004 DVD set for Astro Boy recently. It was good. Even though it's a reboot, it followed a lot of Osamu Tezuka's original Pinocchio-type themes from the 1960s series. At its heart, it's about a boy with the power to decide what he wants to do, and who his friends are, even if they appear mean at first. To be honest, I got bored around the 4th DVD when the adventures became more villain-of-the-week episodic, but once it returned to the evil father story from discs 1 and 2, then it was action-packed and really focused.

There are humans who hate robots and humans who wanna be robots, and humans who frame robots for crimes, and robot supremacists. But, Astro Boy fights for everyone. A little cheesy, but good cheese. The last disc is really action-packed too. Robots form their own independent nation, and Astro Boy fights to minimize the damage. Not quite like modern anime violent, but it's on par with something like Avatar: The Last Airbender.

For me, it was refreshing to see something from anime say in effect, that the rules of society are important, but we all have free will. Free will is not a common theme in modern anime, in my opinion. That was nice to see on top of Astro Boy's Good vs. Evil story, with Dr. O'Shay being good and Dr. Tenma being evil. Apart from Good vs. Evil, he learns from having friends, fighting villains (Robot or human.) and playing games (Rocketball and visiting the circus.) that being fair is important. Plus, he has cool powers like an arm cannon, rocket boots, finger lasers, and uh, he can...talk to trees? Anyway, give it a watch if you're itching for some good retro-future cheesiness.

VIRTUOSITY (1995):

VIRTUOSITY (1995):

“When a virtual reality simulation created using the personalities of multiple serial killers manages to escape into the real world, an ex-cop is tasked with stopping its reign of terror.”

Virtuosity is free on YouTube for now, so I figured, what the heck? Might as well watch it. I'd like to mention a few things for wider cultural context first. I think in scifi (ostensibly what this blog is about, along with cultural issues.) you have more leeway with what can look dated, because it's more about imagination. That said, it's a very good cyberpunk crime thriller.

Denzel Washington plays Parker Barnes, the only cop who's gotten close to taking down Sid 6.7, an amalgam program of the worst killers, meant to train cops. One day, Sid tells his programmer that he wants out. The programmer tricks another researcher into constructing him an android body, and bringing the villain to life.

Now, Parker chases him through pretty much a landscape of 90s media culture. A techno club (where Sid takes hostages.), a store, a UFC ring, and a TV station. During the chase and shootout, we learn that one of Sid's personalities is the terrorist Michael Grimes, who killed his wife and daughter. Using this, Barnes tracks him down to the TV station.

Sid constructs a “Death TV” game show and takes hostages. Barnes realizes since Sid is a VR training program, he only enjoys playing the game with his favorite opponent. So, he accepts his showdown challenge. Meanwhile, a programmer's daughter is being held hostage with a bomb, just like when his wife and daughter were killed.

After Sid and Barnes fight, the policeman takes out Sid's program, and makes him believe he actually won, sticking him back inside VR. He diffuses the bomb. Cops run over Sid's program with a car. One thing I will say is, I like how the programs look. They're like little orbs. Both Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington add an air of drama to the action.

That is to say, I enjoyed the performances by both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Denzel is usually always a good action hero. Russell Crowe is intense and wacky in this early role. Lastly, I think its amazing what they could do with 90s CGI; essentially screensaver graphics. It's cool to imagine a world where VR and digital technology could immediately become physical.

I'd recommend the movie because it explores cool scifi ideas, stars two talented actors, and is free on YouTube. I can see influences of William Gibson and the Neuromancer trilogy in the writing. (I don't think Idoru was written yet, but it dealt heavily with VR. Seriously, check out those books.) In the end, I think it was an awesome crime movie from a time when we didn't yet know what the Internet would become. Check it out.

Lily C.A.T. (1987):

Lily C.A.T. (1987):

“The expendable crew of a corporate space vessel must stop a murderous shape-shifting alien organism that somehow got on board.”

“The corpses have disappeared, leaving everything - even their underwear – behind!” Dular says, after his crew members have been eaten by an alien virus. I mean, it is a good mystery, but probably ruined by early anime dubbing. All the dialogue sounds so choppy and fast as they struggle to sync their lip movements. Other than that, it's pretty much John Carpenter's The Thing mixed with the futuristic setting of Ridley Scott's Alien.

See, there's a cat brought on board by Nancy. Quickly, everyone around the cat dies, and there are reports of an alien virus getting through the air ducts. What's discovered later is that the virus was carried by the cat because humans are “expendable”. So, the Syncam Corporation (who owns the ship.) is probably just evil. Why else kill an experienced crew with a Computerized Animal-shaped Technological robot? (Cat, get it?)

Anyway, you should probably skip this one. But, but I did find it enjoyable in terms of action. The mystery is given away in the title. The choppy English dubbing is way too distracting, and the plot doesn't actually make much sense, other than they're trying to mix Alien and The Thing. Just enjoy the crew getting picked apart by the alien/C.A.T.

The 1980s were an ambitious time for Japanese anime, especially as it expanded overseas and took on American influences. It is at least enjoyable if you turn your brain off, and accept it as a relic of its own time. There are interesting ideas sci-fi discussed such as cryogenics, relativity, and how the crew only ages 1 year every 20 Earth years. But, these details never pan out to anything, and only a few members survive as it rushes to horrific ending.

TURBO KID (2015):

TURBO KID (2015):

"In a post-apocalyptic wasteland in 1997, a comic book fan adopts the persona of his favourite hero to save his enthusiastic friend and fight a tyrannical overlord.”

I wanted to like Turbo Kid a lot more than I did. It's a deliberate parody/homage to apocalyptic sci-fi of the 1980s like Mad Max. With water being scarce and sucked out of humans by an evil corporation, it's even got heavy shades of Tank Girl. The problem is that none of the characters feel developed, despite a great 1980s atmosphere.

The main character, The Kid, feels bland and unmotivated. They give you an origin story right in the middle of the movie after he meets the big villain Zeus. There they explain that Zeus killed The Kid's mother. They should have led with that, and had it fuel his character, instead of introducing us to him as a shy comic book geek obsessed with Turbo Rider comics.

The only interesting character here is Apple. She wants to be Turbo Kid's friend, and teaches him how to fight and be a friend. They begin to care for each other. She's the heart of this movie. Literally, if they didn't have Apple, I would have no reason to care for this movie, because the main character is such a depressed geek loner.

That's the problem with this movie. It tries so hard to make you identify with Turbo Kid, that it forgets what kind of 1980s homage it's trying to be. Sweet romance scenes are immediately followed by splatterhouse gore. Action moments that should feel big, are only sold short because the same beats keep happening. Without spoiling, I'll say scenes with any heart are robbed of importance because they keep mishandling Apple: 4 times.

It'd maybe be different if Turbo Kid led with its apocalyptic revenge story. As it is, the movie tries to sell you on the idea that he's a comic book nerd who incidentally finds a laser-shooting glove. I get it, but the one who really carries the movie is Apple. She makes him go out, and make friends and adventure, instead of living life as a lone scavenger...and he never really grows out of that, except for when they show his origin story in the middle of the movie.

I love homage movies to the 1980s. The sets are cool, and invoke the time period. But, the action is too mixed, and I didn't really connect with any characters besides Apple, because she is the only one who values friendship, heart, and battle skills. The only thing Turbo Kid has is a laser glove, and a comic book obsession...which might be cool if that's what you like, but it doesn't drive the plot.

As much as I wanted to like the atmosphere, I just couldn't get over how mixed the movie was in message and tone. Is it a horror movie? A coming-of-age flick? An apocalyptic action movie? An adventure? Beyond saying “Here's an alternate 1980s!” the film doesn't really seem to care what it is, or what happens in it. It's free on Tubi, but I have to say skip this one.

THE TERMINATOR (1984):

THE TERMINATOR (1984):

“A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.”

The Terminator is one of the greatest sci-fi action films of all time, mostly thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger as the killer robot. Kyle Reese is sent to protect Sarah Connor from his rampage. And the cyborg doesn't spare anybody. He shoots up punks, anyone named Sarah Connor, cops, and even tracks Sarah down to a hotel where she thinks she can be safe. But, she's not, because the Terminator will never stop until she's gone.

Time travel shenanigans ensue though here. You see, if Kyle Reese wasn't sent back from 2029, then the leader of his resistance wouldn't be born. It doesn't really work out. But, oh well, the action is good. Plus, it gave us the greatest sequel of all time, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The cyborg comes back to protect John Connor, who will lead the resistance against the robots.

If there's one thing that dates this film, it's not just the robot puppets, it's the fear of machines and computers. I wonder if a film like Terminator would be as effective today. But, Arnold Schwarzenegger makes such a good monster killing machine that it's hard to look away. Definitely watch it, but for the great action scenes. Everything else is kind of stuck in time. But, I like that.

The Killer Robots! Crash and Burn (2016):

The Killer Robots! Crash and Burn (2016):

“Robot mercenaries are sent on a mission to activate a machine that will bring about a new age of enlightenment.”

This movie is about 4 robot arena fighters who will be freed if they upload a punchcard freeing all other robots from the control of the vicious Lord Mot. One thing I will say about this movie, it doesn't have the best special effects. Most are basic green screen and puppet work. Most the robots are just guys in silver facepaint.

If you can get used to the low-budget look, it's pretty fun. They've got robots blowing up all over the place, and saving the universe. At one point, it just cuts to a live-action man playing guitar with a chicken. It's definitely odd. But, if you're in the mood for cheesy sci-fi, grab some snacks and watch it. Free on Tubi.

Mantera (2012):

Mantera (2012):

"About a boy, Azman, who stumbles upon a nano-tech glove which can transform his motorbike into body armor."

A clueless nerd from Malaysia trains with an ancient organization after he's accidentally mailed cyborg technology. It's ok. Some of the CGI is jerky and unusual. It kind of looks like an early 00s FMV videogame that doesn't make me nostalgic. The good guys are the Alliance of Light, giving them the unfortunate acronym AOL. I mean, it's like Last Starfighter combined with half-baked Transformers. It's free on Tubi, but you can skip it.

PASSENGERS (2016):

PASSENGERS (2016):

“A malfunction in a sleeping pod on a spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet wakes one passenger 90 years early.”

Jim (Chris Pratt) is on a luxury colony spaceship when it wakes him up 90 years too early. At first, he has fun, lives off the ship's supplies and plays basketball, but after a while, his loneliness becomes too much. After discussion with a robotic bartender, he decides to wake up one passenger.

Considering others, he ultimately selects Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence). He lies to her and tells her that the malfunction woke them both up. They begin a romance, but Aurora eventually finds out the truth. And that the malfunction is sending them hurtling towards the sun!

From here, it becomes an ordinary space thriller. I do appreciate the movie investigating old school sci-fi ideas like isolation, but that's all it addresses. Aurora's character development is cut short in favor of a big action-packed climax. There was some controversy about this, so whether or not you enjoy the movie will depend on whether you want an old school sci-fi adventure, or need closure on ethical problems presented in the film.

For my part, I was just glad to see a good space adventure. You just have to accept that it's more about what isolation does to people in space than if Jim should've told Aurora the truth. Their romance is almost incidental: a consequence of isolation.

I will grant though, that the disaster plot seems out of left field. Perhaps if Jim's big lie were really taken to task, we could almost have a different, more interesting movie. But, as it is, I still liked it as a space thriller. Watch it if you can.

Redline (2009):

Redline (2009):

"A story about the most popular racing event in the galaxy, the Redline, and the various racers who compete in it."

Sweet JP competes in the famous interplanetary Redline race with the help of his trusty alien mechanic Frisbee. However, the government of Planet Roboworld vows to destroy all the racers in the name of “peace”. It's like anime meets Death Race 2000. I enjoyed the weird characters and souped-up cars. Definitely worth a watch. Free on Tubi!

9 (2009):

9 (2009):

"A rag doll that awakens in a postapocalyptic future holds the key to humanity's salvation."

In an alternate 1930s world, a scientist is ordered by his dictator to create a robot in the apparent name of progress, and so the scientist creates the B.R.A.I.N., a highly intelligent robot. Lacking a soul, it turns machines against humanity. As a last ditch effort, the scientist puts his soul into 9 ragdolls (called "stitchpunks") to stop the B.R.A.I.N. Check it out, it's wild!

Real Steel (2011):

Real Steel (2011):

Real Steel (2011):

“In the near future, robot boxing is a top sport. A struggling ex-boxer feels he's found a champion in a discarded robot.”

It's a robot boxing movie! Hugh Jackman stars as a washed-up boxer who's foster kid Max helps him get back in the game after settling for clownish robot boxing gigs at zoos and rodeos. He destroys about 2 robots and then Max has the bright idea to combine all the skills of the previous bots into one sparring bot, named Atom.

Yeah, it plays like Rocky. It's a little unbelievable, but has a lot of heart. The rules are bent a little, maybe for robots. There isn't one referee! There were even a couple spots where Atom should've been defeated on a TKO after three KOs, but I assume the rules are different for robots. Heart is what matters in boxing movies anyway. Worth a watch, if you can bend the rules a bit, and have fun.

Robot Jox (1989):

Robot Jox (1989):

"In the distant future, mankind has forsaken global wars for battles of single combat. The world has been divided into two opposing super powers, with each side represented by trained champions."

Mech combat movie with weird models and special effects! Space battles! Representing the US ("The Market") is Achilles. Against him his rival Alexander from "The Confederation" (USSR) in a spider tank. Winner takes Alaska, and its natural resources! It's cheesy robot goodness.