Robot Jox (1989)

d. Stuart Gordon

Starring:

Gary Graham

Anne-Marie Johnson

Paul Koslo

White Robot

Black Robot

This week on Total Movie Recall, Steve & Ryan find out how easy it is to ruin the awesome idea of giant robot wars. Steve reminisces about every better robot movie, game & cartoon to punctuate his disappointment, and Ryan is crushed to realize all his favorite childhood memories are of really terrible movies.

50 years after a nuclear war, the two superpowers handle territorial disputes in a different way. Each fields a giant robot to fight one-on-one battles in official matches, each piloted by a man inside, known as robot jockeys or jox. The contest for possession of Alaska will be fought by two of the best. The conscientious Achilles fights for the Americans. Opposing him is a Russian, Alexander, a ruthless and bloodthirsty adversary who has killed his previous nine American opponents. With a traitor feeding the Russians secret weapons information and new, genetically-engineered jox looking to take his place, Achilles faces obstacles at every turn in the hardest battle of his life.

Things discussed in the show:

I saw the Devil (Kim Jee-woon)

The Last Stand (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Child’s Play, Silent Hill

Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

The Simpsons (Lisa’s First Word, Mother Simpson) as the greatest achievement in TV history

The 4-H Club

South Park

Dr. Killbot – “My Sister the Baptist”

The Wonder Years

The Walking Dead (Season 5) – Robert Kirkman, Andew Lincoln

Jethro Tull – Ian Anderson

Vampire Diaries

Ghost Spy – Image Comics

Project Greenlight (Season 4)

Shia LaBeouf – Watches his own movies

Rob Cantor – “Shia LaBeouf” music video

The Leisure Class (Ed Weeks)

The Mindy Project (Mindy Kaling)

The Office

Zombeavers

Spectre (Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci)

Skyfall

James Bond – Roger Moore

Driving Miss Daisy won the Best Picture Oscar in 1990, not Robot Jox

H.P. Lovecraft

Re-Animator, From Beyond, Barbara Crampton, Dagon

Lair of the White Worm

Kanye West Reanimator

Joe Haldeman – The Forever War

Charles Band – Puppetmaster

The Iliad

Chess, Settlers of Catan

Test tube babies

Bebe’s Kids

Rocky – Mister Miyagi

“Crash and burn.”

BattleTech, MechWarrior

DragonCon

The Neverending Story

Transformers & The Cold War

Klaus Kinski

D2: The Mighty Ducks

Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven

Arena

Stone Cold (Brian Bosworth)

Eugenics

Macaulay Culkin, Pary Monster, The Pizza Underground

Next week: Special holiday episode – Gremlins & Home Alone