R.O.T.O.R. - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

R.O.T.O.R.



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Arrow has given us a nice dose of 80s and 90s fun this month with a 5-film collection of some forgotten action films from the days of the video store craze. Some good, some bad, but all of them fun. And to follow up Joshua Tree (one of my favorites in the set), lets move on to the worst one in the collection. R.O.T.O.R.

Wow, I had forgotten all about R.OT.O.R., but the second I started watching it I suddenly remembered why this all seemed familiar. Not only have I seen this before in my childhood, but I reviewed Shout! Studios double feature with this and Millennium back in early 2016! And while this boxset is definitely geared towards the action end of the spectrum, I’d put R.O.T.O.R. a little closer to the Sci-Fi end of the spectrum in what is a hybrid type film with evil robots, blood and lots of killing

piggy backing off of the rise of robot cop films thanks to the massive success of Robocop, 1989’s R.O.T.O.R. acts as a reverse Robocop, with a villainous robotic cop terrorizing the streets. While Robocop was the very definition of a sympathetic vigilante who cleans up the streets for good, R.O.T.O.R. (originally titled Blue Steel) is a monster. The Robotic Officer Tactical Operations Research (R.O.T.O.R.) project is the brain child of Captain Coldyron by fusing human intellect with a robotic main frame that could clean up the streets without risk to real officers. It all seems like such a simple project, and one that is working brilliantly when it actually works. But when his own district chief orders him to have an actual working model on the streets within 60 days, Coldyron (Richard Gesswein) is fired for admitting that he can’t get the thing working for at LEAST a couple of years.

And just like clock work, you guessed it, the R.O.T.O.R. program is restarted by Coldyrons replacement, who accidentally activates the machine with the only order being “Judge and Execute”. With those two simple commands in his processor, R.O.T.O.R. heads out to the streets to dispense some good old fashioned justice. But what actually happens is the robotic cop ends up killing his way across the city for any simple violation. Whether that be murder, or a simple traffic violation. After a young woman barely escapes with her life after a traffic stop, Coldyron (pronounced “Cold Iron”, cuz he’s a real man’s man) is called back in to fix the issues before its too late.

I remember calling this a low budget hybrid of Robocop and Terminator 10 years ago, and I stand by that assessment. The film blends elements of both successful films, and tries to make a name for itself that way. Unfortunately the script is a mess, the action is silly, and it ends up just looking like a cheap knockoff of both iconic classics. And to make matters worse, R.O.T.O.R. takes itself so seriously that you can’t help but bust up laughing at the raw machismo mixed in with the Velveeta cheese. Coldyron just chews up the scenery snarling one liners out of the side of his mouth, and a bodybuilding scientist who engages in a physical fight with the robotic cop in what can only be described as the best fight since Undefeatable (go see that movie. I promise you that its worth the effort).

If I had to give this movie props for anything, it’s that it inspired a Mike Nelson Rifftrax audio track to pair with this film (basically an unofficial MST3K with one of the original actors), as it makes this film palatable. That being said, there is something to be said for the raw 80s machismo on full display here. It’s horrible and fun at the same time, with the creators pontificating about playing god with new technology. The film itself is 100% a late night budget TV film, but it’s a bit of 80s cheese that is almost worth it as a “so bad that it’s good” sort of scenario.

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Rating: Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:
In my 2016 review I liked the encode well enough, but after looking at it over the last 10 years I have to say that my 3.5/5 rating back then was a bit high. Not by much, but a little bit. Supposedly this master used for the Arrow edition was supplied by MGM via Park Circus, where it was graded restored by R3Store Studios. The results are definitely better than the Shout! Studios release, but even with the restoration, you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip. The image is a bit flushed and pale, with a heavy push towards the red end of the spectrum. Colors are warm and bright when necessary (such as the royal blue of a dress, contrasted with white pearl necklace), and the fine details look solid. It’s still a bit soft and grainy, but look good enough for what it is.


Audio:
R.O.T.O.R.’s Mono LPCM track is solid, but not going to break any new ground here, or stretch the limitations of the lossless audio format. The LPCM track focuses on dialog more than anything, with a good separation of channels in the two mains when called upon (for a 2.0 track). The films is distinctly low budget, and nothing can really overcome those simplistic 80s limitations. Especially when the production didn’t have much to work with to begin with. There’s some minor LFE use backed into the track, and the scoring sounds good enough, but this is really a simplistic dialog heavy mix that doesn’t too much. There was a teensy bit of harshness in the upper registers on my Shout! Studios disc that I didn’t notice here, so I’m guessing at least SOME clean up happened on the mix on Arrow’s end.


Extras:
• Brand new audio commentary by Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain from The Schlock Pit
• A Matter of Character, a brand new interview with actor Bill Blair
• Machine Head: A Potted History of Robo Schlock, a visual essay from Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain from The Schlock Pit
• Interzone (1989), a bonus feature film in SD starring Bruce Abbott and Beatrice Ring
• Trailer
• Image gallery

Final Score: ​

R.O.T.O.R. is such an amazing ripoff that the sheer hubris and audacity of the film makers is ALMOST commendable. Almost. But despite some amazing 80s cheese, and a few hilarious fight scenes, the film is such an unmitigated disaster that the only worth while way of watching R.O.T.O.R. is via the Rifftrax edition. Technical merits are solid enough for a cheapo film, and the extras are the best they’ve ever been. But this film will appeal only to the “so bad that it’s good” fans, rather than actually being an entertaining movie.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Richard Gesswein, Margaret Trigg, Clark Moore, Jayne Smith
Directed by: Cullen Blain
Written by: Budd Lewis, Cullen Blain
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: LPCM Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Arrow
Rated: NR
Runtime: 90 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 27th, 2026

Recommendation: MST3K Worthy