BURIED TREASURES: R.O.T.O.R. (1987)

Any film with a palindrome as a title and such a kick ass poster has to be seen. How can you not be drawn in ? Unfortunately, we never get to see that bad-ass robot, kind of Mad Max in a cyborg style, in this film… But what a film it is all the same. Each scene yells its own incompetence, for our greatest pleasure. The whole debacle is so enjoyable, it's at times heartbreaking to witness such ineptitude, and yet, it's so much fun. R.O.T.O.R. (1987) is 90 minutes of non-stop action, ridiculous dialogue, loathsome actors and full of blatant inspired ideas borrowed from both ROBOCOP (Paul Verhoeven, also released in1987) and TERMINATOR (James Cameron, 1984). Expect a miserly five and dime version of these two classics. R.O.T.O.R. is the abbreviation for “Robotic Officer Tactical Operation Research”, whatever that means! The robot cop is played by a stoic actor wearing a big mustache and dressed in black leather. Closer to a 40-year-old Village People wannabe than a young Mel Gibson, let's say.

The poster for the 1979 George Miller Australian masterpiece MAD MAX, that bears a striking similarity to the R.O.T.O.R. poster. Probably a coincidence. Yes. That's it!

Rotor, a futuristic prototype cop robot in development escapes from its development lab some 20 years too soon and goes on a bizarre killing rampage. Even if the robot is only supposed to be ready in another two decades or so, he already has a personalized locker with a fitting suit waiting for him, a motorbike with his name written on it, as well as engraved with the prescient words: “To Judge and Execute”.

R.O.T.O.R. puts a bit of meat on his robotic bones, to became the lost member of the Village People, played with stoic fury by Brad Overturf.

A cowboy who seems to suffer from chronic back problems is the expert in robotics who must stop his creation before he continues his murderous rampage. You’ll meet many un-charismatic characters, like a skunk-haired female bodybuilder scientist, a robot who dances the "robot", a dangerous wordy foul-mouthed politician, a small police robot-cop and a woman who, long before SPEED (Jan De Bont, 1994), is condemned to drive endlessly without stopping if she wants to stay alive.

You will experience surreal fights, nickels and dimes special effects, uninspiring chases and above all, actors competing with each others to see who can be worse.Some of the dialogues they have to deliver can be astonishingly dreadful, bordering on the hilarious. For instance : “ Let me tell you something, mister. You fire me and I'll make more noise than two skeletons making love in a tin coffin, brother” or “You call the senator and you tell him R.O.T.O.R. walked through a busload of nuns to get to a jaywalker, with malice towards no one. It won't stop. It's like a chainsaw set on frappé.”

Director Cullen Blaine was mostly involved in the production of some American animation series as Hey Arnold!, Garfield and Friends and Dennis The Menace. R.O.T.O.R. is his only live-action production as a director and its both a blessing and a catastrophe, depending on your fondness for this unique flix.

The film is available in a beautiful Blu-ray release by SHOUT FACTORY , in a double bill with Micheal Anderson's 1989 film MILLENIUM.

 If quality isn't an issue, and you don't want to spend a dime, the film is on youtube in its entirety.

Review by DJ XL5