R.O.T.O.R.

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R.O.T.O.R.
Directed by Cullen Blaine
Produced by Cullen Blaine
Richard Gesswein Budd Lewis
Written by Cullen Blaine
Budd Lewis
Starring Richard Gesswein,
Jayne Smith,
James Cole
Distributed by Imperial Entertainment
Release date(s) 1989
Running time 90 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

R.O.T.O.R. is a 1989 science fiction/action movie starring Richard Gesswein as Coldyron, Jayne Smith as Dr. Steele and Margaret Trigg as Sonya Garrin. The film has come to be regarded by some as a B-movie "cult classic".

Contents

[edit] Characters

Captain J.B. Coldyron: A brilliant, handsome and brave scientist. Coldyron can be considered a true renaissance man. While running the police robotics lab he also manages a ranch (along with a horse and a pretty girl). Coldyron's dream is a force of robotic officers but it is shattered by the meddling of the dastardly Earl G. Buglar.

Dr. C.R. Steele: Dr. Steele is the total package. Not only is she beautiful, she is brilliant and is as tough as nails. Steele is the designer of R.O.T.O.R.'s robotic chassis. She works out of Houston, Texas. She also sports one of the most trendsetting hairstyles in history.

Earl G. Buglar: Coldyron's commander in the police department. Bulgar has been embezzling money from the R.O.T.O.R. project and has promised a corrupt senator, Donald D. Douglas, that the robot will be ready in time for the next election. Buglar and Coldyron don't get along because of the fact that Buglar is so crooked he has to screw his hat on. Bulgar also enjoys drinking Coca Cola and is proficient with a rifle.

Sonya R. Garren: An innocent bride to be who is stalked by R.O.T.O.R. after it kills her fiancee for speeding. Sonya spends much of the movie fleeing from R.O.T.O.R. in her blue 1986 Impulse while Coldyron and Steele devise an ingenious plan for defeating R.O.T.O.R.

Dr. Houghtaling: Coldyron's assistant on the R.O.T.O.R. project. Buglar names him as project chief after Coldyron quits. It is his bungling that leads to the accidental activation of the robot.

Willard: An early model Police Comedy Relief Robot. Willard works in the lab with Coldyron and Houghtaling. It's his nonstop joking and dancing with Shooboogie that leads Coldyron to quip "It's hard to tell the boys from the toys!"

Shooboogie: The janitor at the robotics lab. He likes his tunes, goofing off with Willard and flirting with the female staff. While some think he is a jerk, Shoeboogie is extremely proud of his Native American ancestry and regales the staff with legends like the Blood Eagle. He accidentally gives R.O.T.O.R. a jump start with the batteries from his portable cassette player.

[edit] Plot

The film's conceptual roots can be clearly traced to its predecessors, The Terminator and RoboCop, which Cullen Blaine (director), Budd Lewis (writer) and Richard Gesswein (lead actor) adapted into this low-budget story about a leading scientist in the field of police robotics named Captain/Doctor J. Barrett C. Coldyron (played by the virile Gesswein and voiced over heroically by Loren Bivens), whose corrupt boss, Division Commander Earl Buglar (Michael Hunter), orders an experimental police-robot prototype to be completed within sixty days at the behest of the shady senator Donald D. Douglas, who intends to take public credit for the project and use it to catapult himself into the White House. Coldyron warns Buglar that the prototype is several years away from completion but is forced to resign and is replaced by his incompetent assistants, Dr. Houghtaling (Clark Moore) and Willard the Comedy Relief Robot. In Coldyron's absence, the prototype is inadvertently activated by Shoeboogie the Native American janitor and put on duty, where it proceeds to execute a motorist (James Cole) for speeding and terrorize his young fiancé, Sonya (Margaret Trigg), who the robot implicated as an accomplice in her boyfriend's violation. Upon learning his creation has escaped, Cpt. Coldyron enlists the help of his beautiful colleague from Houston, Dr. Corrine Steele (Jayne Smith), notable for her muscular physique and the white, skunk-like stripe in her hair, who designed the unit's combat chassis. Together, Steele and Coldyron track down the rampaging robot and attempt to stop it from killing again before it's too late.

[edit] Cult status

In recent years the film has enjoyed a surge in popularity and has since gained a modest international cult fan base following multiple screenings on obscure cable channels. Often cited as "one of the best-worst films ever made", it is cherished by B-movie enthusiasts for its humorous combination of poor writing and plot, poor direction and editing, poor acting, and poor special effects.

[edit] Extended edition

While the commercially produced VHS cassette of R.O.T.O.R. is somewhat easy to find, with multiple listings on internet marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon.com, the version most prized by R.O.T.O.R. experts is the slightly longer cut that is typically shown on cable television. It can be assumed that this version includes footage that was cut from the original release to improve the film's pacing. It was most likely created to allow the film to fit more snugly within a typical television time slot.

The extended edition contains several instances of superfluous dialogue and monologue tacked onto the tail ends of existing scenes. For example, in the original version, the scene in which Coldyron practices his ropin' at the same time he blows the stumps away ends immediately after the detonation of the primer cord explosive, while the extended edition includes an added voice-over line of a ruminative Coldyron thinking to himself, "Guess I'd better go back to straight nitro."

There are also some minor differences in the extended version that do not involve added footage. One such difference is the blue color used in the visual effect for R.O.T.O.R.'s "sensor recall" function, changed from red in the original version.

[edit] Philosophical implications

Despite its largely (inadvertent) humorous nature, the film presents the viewer with a number of serious ruminations about the nature of law and humanity, and the capacity for society to persist without destroying itself. Though most fans enjoy the film purely for its comedic value, others have cultivated a much broader and profound appreciation for this cinematic treasure. Ultimately, the decision is entirely up to the viewer, for as Coldyron himself once said, "We all have plenty of time to figure out what this means to each one of us."

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Several of the film's body actors are voiced over by the staff of Adam Rourke's Film Studio.
  • Writer Budd Lewis makes a brief cameo as a bespectacled, young scientist who notifies Coldyron of Buglar's phone call following the R.O.T.O.R. filmstrip presentation. The character is not addressed by name in the film but is identified as "Dr. Langley" in the credits. Lewis' cameo runs significantly longer in the extended edition.
  • R.O.T.O.R. is played by three actors: Caroll Brandon-Baker (who is the face of R.O.T.O.R.), Clark Moore (Dr. Houghtaling, etc.) and Brad Overturf (Diner Toughguy #1, Gas station booth attendant, Mechanic, etc.).
  • Many others involved in various capacities of production also appeared on-screen in various, minor roles (Paul Vela, Douglas Bryan, Jo Brewer, Randy Moore, Corri Lewis, etc.).
  • Michael Hunter, who played Commander Buglar, appeared in RoboCop as "Peter the Homeowner".
  • Loren Bivens, who voiced Coldyron, appeared in Blood Simple as "Strip-bar exhorter".
  • The movie's soundtrack was composed by David Newman, who would later score soundtracks for many notable films including The War of the Roses, The Sandlot, The Mighty Ducks, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Some have credited R.O.T.O.R. as being an important stepping stone to Newman's subsequent success while others argue that his work on R.O.T.O.R. was his best ever.

[edit] References

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