In 1990, the year before Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released, a sci fi movie was released that soon became a cult classic, despite bombing at the box office. Inspired by the Mech craze that was sweeping Japan at the time, the low budget B movie featured a story reminiscent of later sci fi hits; essentially being a cross between Pacific Rim and Hunger Games – post World War III armed conflicts are now illegal; so whenever a dispute between superpowers arises they must battle it out with their best Robot Jox pilot n a televised mech deathmatch.
Filmed in 1987, but delayed when producer Charles Brands' production company Empire Pictures filed for banruptcy, the movie stars Gary Graham (Vulcan Ambassador Soval – Star Trek: Enterprise) as Achilles, a US Robot Jox pilot who must battle against his Russian counterpart for ownership of the state of Alaska. Granted the story premise doesn't sound very exciting, and quite honestly the film is terrible, but it is so terrible that it becomes enjoyable, much like B movie classics of yester-yesteryear like the Blob, Invaders from Mars and the Thing from another World. Also, before Pacific Rim this was the closest thing fans had to a live action (if you dare call it that) Mech movie.
While movies such as 1987s Robocop should have never been remade (somehow the remake actually makes the original a better movie), one movie that could benefit from a remake is Robot Jox, especially if it was kept within the Pacific Rim universe; who wouldn't like to see the humans using the Jaegers for sport while (unbeknown to us humans) the Kaiju prepare their next invasion – Crimson Typhoon vs Cherno Alpha anyone (pictured above, from the Pacific Rim video game)?
In the meantime enjoy this somewhat aged cult movie on Blu-Ray when it is released next summer by Scream Factory, who also recently released another cult classic; Killer Klowns from Outer Space on Blu-Ray in time for Halloween.
