Robotic
Officer
Tactical
Operation
Research
R.O.T.O.R.
Nothing can stop this Robocop/Terminator knock-off with a sweet mustache from dispensing justice. An unstoppable force of science gone wrong.
R.O.T.O.R. stands for “Robot Officer Tactical Operation Research Unit” and that means a crime-stopping robot which is unintentionally set in motion and is headed out the door in downtown Dallas, looking for crooks. Its programmed command is “judge and execute,” which has its inventors a little concerned (never having been beta-tested!) so they set out to find and deactivate the well-meaning metal guy. ~ Rovi
I love it when smaller production companies decide to capitalize on recent blockbusters of its time. R.O.T.O.R features a prototype robotics officer that is sent out on the streets to tests its capability at street justice while being woefully under tested in the beta form. So of course that means that the robot is out there killing people as its prime directive because justice is justice. It’s this awesome mix of Robocop, Terminator, and Frankenstein that had me hooked with this bad/good sci-fi action movie. Plus you should look up the promotional poster material for the movie and tell me it doesn’t look fucking kick ass.
Much like any 80s movie (1988 to be exact), ROTOR is just full of cheesy action scenes and stuff that really has no purpose being in the flick. You have badly choreographed action scenes where the bad guys line up to be punched to death by the robot. The fight scenes are laughable as the punches miss by a few feet, there are scenes of bad martial arts and so many mullet haired men get destroyed. Also the robot randomly punches women because they broke the law or something.
ROTOR does have the best intentions with what it wants to be, just it wasn’t executed well and ends up being a fun bad movie. The action is laughable, the robot has a killer cop stache, and even the actors seem to be phoning it in. I will say the action, while funny to watch, is at least plentiful in a movie that rips off its predecessors. The robot also gets a killer speed bike, so bike enthusiasts will like the movie. What is also great is getting to see scenes of the early robots that they made to fight street crime, which look like something off of Lost in Space. Danger Will Robinson Danger!
I honestly don’t have much to say on the movie other than check it out.