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The high-tech ARC Corporation that is directed by the unscrupulous Alex Whyte (Richard Cox) is researching a software that provokes violent reaction from someone that is attacked against the attacker. The efficient scientist Carl Lehman (David McIlwraith) has an argument with Whyte since his funds have been cut. On the next morning, Carl has a serious accident while his partner and friend Burt Arthurs (Maury Chaykin) is bringing coffee for them. Carl's pregnant wife Lauren Lehman (Teri Austin) is informed that her husband has died; however, the accident was provoked by Whyte. Carl becomes the guinea pig for the ARC Frankenstein Project and is turned into a cyborg. While testing the remote control unit, the scientist Gail Vernon (Lynda Mason Green) is attacked by Carl that escapes from ARC in a garbage truck. Then he eliminates a motorcycle gang that has attacked him. Carl realizes that he cannot be touched and he contacts Lauren from outside home to arrange a meeting with Burt. Meanwhile Whyte contracts the killer Hunter (Pam Grier) to get rid off Carl.

"The Vindicator" is a low-budget movie with a poor storyline and lame production. The characters and situations are not well-developed and the rushed beginning does not exactly explain the importance of the rage project or why it was necessary to eliminate Carl. The storyline has similarities with "Robocop" that was released more than one year later. Was "Robocop" a rip-off "The Vindicator"? My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Roboman"

Going into this movie, I was expecting a Robocop rip-off, what I got was a fairly entertaining Robocop rip-off that also reminded me of Darkman and The Guyver in equal amounts. Imagine my surprise then, to learn that this fairly obscure little movie actually predates all of those films by a good few years, and the only films that are blatant influences on it are The Terminator and Frankenstein.

A brilliant Scientist is killed by his boss to be recreated as an invulnerable Cyborg who will obey his every command. However, when the control chip for him is detached, he escapes, visiting his mourning wife, while being hunted by a Bounty Hunter(played by Pam Grier) and the company's scientists and hired muscle, before he decides to put an end to their schemes.

It's not brilliant, and all of the aforementioned movies, barring maybe the first Guyver, are better than it, but that doesn't mean it's not a fairly good B-grade Sci-Fi movie that never bored or failed to entertain me. The effects, done by Stan Winston, are actually pretty good, although the Cyborg's design could have been better, it's actual creation is excellent. Acting in the movie is fairly divided, with the main players all doing very well, but the supporting cast are pretty dreadful.

Worth watching to see a sort of Pre-Robocop Robocop.

You probably have never heard of this movie but it's a real find. It's a mixture of science-fiction/action and revenge themes. It has a comic book plot but it's presented in a fast paced, razzle-dazzle way. The cast is in pretty good form too. Chaykin really steals the show in an interesting plot twist. It doesn't have much to do with the original Frankenstein legend so The Vindicator is a better title than Frankenstein 88. It was shot in Montreal but you'd never know it. Unlike many Canadian films made at the time, it does not have an ultra-slow, cheap look about it. In fact, the special effects and sets are highly impressive. It only had a minimal release and then turned up on Pay-TV and video. If you like sci-fi even a tiny bit, check this out and tell a friend. You won't be disappointed!

"The Vindicator" is a weird little Canadian B-Movie. At first glance it would appear to be just another cheap (extremely cheap!) "Terminator" knockoff, but strangely enough it also shares some qualities with the original "RoboCop," which hadn't even been released yet when "Vindicator" appeared (1986). Coincidence? Who knows? Anyway, the story is thus: scientist Carl Lehman seems to be a pretty nice guy who works for a super duper secret government high-tech research lab, reporting to a sleazy boss named Whyte, whom he butts heads with about project funding early in the movie. Carl's got a loving wife at home and a baby on the way, which makes it all the more tragic when he is suddenly killed in a "lab accident." But wait! Carl's not really dead after all! Whyte has extracted Carl's brain and inserted it into his pet project, some sort of experimental bio-mechanical space suit. When Carl wakes up inside his new body, he understandably goes a little nuts, trashes the lab, and escapes. This is a problem because Whyte (for reasons known only to himself) has programmed the mechanical suit with a "Rage Reaction" program, which will cause Carl to kill anybody who touches him for any reason. In hindsight, that little addition to Carl's psyche was probably not the best idea.

So Robo-Carl wanders aimlessly through the movie for a while, killing a couple of random muggers and other assorted background characters, till he returns to his home and contacts his wife (this scene is supposed to be heartbreakingly touching, I guess, but turns out comical because Carl's robot voice is so heavily synthesized that you can barely understand a word he says). He of course tells her to leave the city and never come back because she's in danger, but she wants to stay and help him, yadda yadda yadda. Eventually Whyte hires a gang of commando thugs led by "Hunter," an apparent ninja assassin played by Pam Grier (!)to hunt down and destroy his runaway creation, using Carl's wife as bait, and predictable (but laughably cheap looking) mayhem ensues.

I'm a B-Movie kind of guy but "The Vindicator" was so half-assed that it turned into high comedy pretty quickly. I'm assuming that a good hunk of the budget went into Stan Winston's robo-Carl suit design, because that actually looks pretty cool, but the rest of the movie suffers from a cheap, made-for-TV kind of look. The script could've used a LOT more work, but then maybe the filmmakers had gotten wind of "RoboCop" going into production and rushed to get "Vindicator" out so they couldn't be accused of ripping them off. Either way, judging by the other comments here on IMDb, I'm not the only one who's noticed the parallels between "Vindicator" and "RoboCop," and obviously "Robo" is the superior film, so there's no need to waste your time sitting through this piece of nonsense unless you want to see a film that can best be described, at best, as a rough draft of "RoboCop" if it were made by an 8th grader.

This film had several different names whenever it came on television, and usually when I would watch it, it was titled RoboMan or something to such effect. I always loved the movie but whenever I would go looking for it, I could never find it because it wasn't actually called RoboMan (Not in the U. S., anyway).

I went on a deep search for the film one day looking for sci-fi movies by year and finally found it, and wondered if it was as good as I remembered it from all those years ago. And...

It was actually better than what I remembered. This film has awesome special effects, some gnarly gore and some cool action sequences. Also, unlike a lot of other low-budget fanfare from that era this film actually manages a very crisp pace so there's never a dull moment. It's superbly edited to manage a brisk runtime, all while still being able to tell an interesting story with some memorable action scenes accompanied by competent special effects.

I used to love this movie from way back when, and I was glad that it held up and I wasn't just remembering it through rose tinted glasses. It's well worth a watch if you're into films like a knockoff of RoboCop meets Toxic Avenger with a dash of Terminator.

I would also say it was a "Robocop" rip-off too, but it came out before it and for all I know "Robocop" stole from this movie, but I doubt it. A mediocre version of "The Terminator" that has a scientist involved in an accident and his brain and a few other parts are placed in this super robot body meant for space flight. When I think about that it also sounds a bit like "Darkman" doesn't it? The whole scientist in an accident thing. Anyway, this robot has his brain, but if he is touched or something the suit goes off and kills. The scientist has no control over it when it goes through these swings. If this isn't bad enough he is being chased by a really stupid bounty hunter woman. She hates men and would never let her self be killed by one. In fact, she would rather turn the gun on herself rather than be killed by the scientist in the suit. Of course, simply running away from the slow moving scientist never occurs to her, I guess she figured it would be easier to pull a trigger. There is an ending with our hero in quite a fight and then the very ending is kind of cruel. For some reason he is put on display or something.

As a microphone disappears overhead, scientists in the "Primate Lab" division of "ARC" witness a monkey going ape. Meanwhile, at home, absent worker David McIlwraith (as Carl Lehman) tells barely pregnant Teri Austin (as Lauren Collins) he suspects boss Richard Cox (as Alex Whyte) is up to no good. Relatively unconcerned (at this point), Ms. Austin responds, "You wanna try for twins?" Running a tight ship (with jeans to match), Mr. Cox has already determined Mr. McIlwraith is a risk to his top secret "Project Frankenstein," and McIlwraith "dies" in a freak accident.

"The Vindicator" gives presenter Michael Levy and viewers an excellent bang for the buck.

As it turns out, the "accident" was staged, and McIlwraith isn't really, totally dead. Cox and company put his brain (and eyes) in an indestructible containment suit. But, the suit is equipped with a protective device making McIlwraith wantonly kill anything it perceives as a threat. Think of it as "The Terminator" meeting "The Hulk" (the script wisely offers the comparison). As you might imagine, punks and Cox had better beware, but Austin and innocents are in danger too. No dummy, Cox hires Pam Grier (as Hunter) to track down McIlwraith before he completes his revenge.

"The Vindicator" is a good example of what to do with a formulaic project and limited budget.

Director Jean-Claude Lord and the crew pace it very well. And the lead performers are terrific. In two of three sexy "R-rated" scenes, Austin shows more than she did on "Knits Landing" (and it's a welcome sight). Cox is one of those actors who never gets the caliber of parts he deserved (and it shows). Grier seems a little lost at first, but is fine on later auto-pilot (there couldn't have been many re-takes). Unrequited lover Maury Chaykin (as Burt Arthurs) plays his role just right. And, McIlwraith (whom you may have seen in "Hollow Man II") follows suit. Make some popcorn.

******* The Vindicator (2/14/86) Jean-Claude Lord ~ David McIlwraith, Teri Austin, Richard Cox, Pam Grier

Maybe I was expecting a little too much from it, but 'The Vindicator' was a so-so Canadian low-budget get-up of a half-human / robot on the rampage for revenge against those who did him wrong. While being tacky, junky and trashy all rolled into one, it just didn't rally up the thrills like it could have done. The story is pure comic-book stuff with some outrageous inclusions and can be loosely tied to the 'Frankenstein' story. But the main cause of interest, and it's been thrown around was how it could be seen as a minor blueprint for Paul Verhoeven's superior 'Robocop (1987)'.

Comparisons aside (which on the other hand James Cameron's 'Terminator (1984)' could've been an influencer to it), it's standard b-grade ho-huh that I didn't find it all that exciting or gripping in it's bland story-telling (which had too many daft moments in a wonky script) and uniformed visuals. Director Jean-Claude Lord's (who was also behind the 1982 slasher 'Visiting Hours') handling is crudely makeshift and the pacing can get blotchy, but the grimy atmosphere and cold-blooded violence (at least the deaths are creative) seems to fit. However the premise had something original to work with, but the way Lord went about it wasn't. At times it seemed to get too mushy with some unwanted details, where I wished it kept to a more straight-forward, but harrowing revenge exploitation path.

Iconic cult actress Pam Grier appears as a hired gun to destroy the cyborg, but even her firebrand presence isn't all that flammable. David McIlwraith cruises through his part as the scientist turned machine. Richard Cox is perfectly snake-like in his performance, but the pick of the bunch is Teri Austin's gallant turn. The always dependable Stan Winston vividly crafts out the space-suit wearing cyborg and make-up FX with great care, and is one of the film's major highlights. Paul Zaza's music score starts off effective, to only go on to be mainly forgettable.

as a fan of robocop, i always loved this movie. i seen it when it first came out, and finally i bought it on DVD from Brazil, it was never released in the us on DVD. i like the film, but like everything else in this world, everyone has their opinion, love it or hate it. no matter what a movie does, someone will always say "why didn't they do it another way?" in other words you cant please everyone. if you love robocop, you will love this film. to me, its so unique thats its not cheesy, or silly like a lot of lower budget movies. this film always kept me interested. i can see a few scenes that robocop borrowed from here, but tell me what movies don't do that? a lot of films use other ideas from other movies, and sometimes change them around. fun film!

This movie is an evolutionary piece - from Terminator to Robocop .

Stan Winston did the SPFX !

In this film, a scientist working in a sinister robotics company with a really creepy boss(they always are) gets is killed by them in a horrible lab explosion and has his brain placed inside an indestructible robot body .

The rest of this movie goes on with a romance angle as this Cyborg/Man regains consciousness and wreaks havoc while trying to communicate with his wife, played by the gorgeous(back then in 1986) Terri Austin . (He tries to reconnect with his old life, like in that scene in RoboCop)

The rest of this movie is about breaking things, while trying to defeat the evil his evil boss from recapturing him for some ill-defined 'turn humans into cyborgs' project .

This film pays homage to previous movies like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL - - as the cyborg breaks free like the giant robot Gort does .

Except for the 'Frankenstein Suite' designed by Stan Winston, this movie's production values are typically Canadian: SLEAZY ! !

Pam Grier stars in this film as an hired killer-commando, a cheap role of the likes she was doing so much of during the 80's .

As for a Sci-Fi Horror B movie, out of 4 Stars, this film ranks about a <3

The movie starts with a monkey in a cage, who's been hooked up to some sort of robotic transmitter that people can command the monkey to perform certain acts. Then one of the scientists says, "Now take a look at what happens when we touch him with a robot." To which a small remote controlled robot enters the cage and touches the monkey, followed by inappropriate reaction from the monkey. Whenever a film starts with testing a monkey and we hear, "Ok Now take a look at what happens with when touch him with a robot." I'm going to be in for the long run.

Vindicator might not feel like an original story, crossing Robocop with the Hulk (film doesn't even try to hide that it has borrowed a concept from the hulk by making), with a scientist who's been rebuilt into a powerful after a freak accident, which was purposely cause by his coworkers to push forward an experiment.

Yes, this is low budget, and yes this is silly, and yes, this is very eighties, however the film runs smoothly, never feeling dull. It's villains are despicable and you'll root for the hero to give them their dues. Some of the directors choices are also good, for instance a church sequence that has a great shot of our hero jumping from a balcony into shattering wood floors.

This is a true 80's low budget gem. Hard to find but worth the hunt.

A remark that I've often encountered in reviews for "The Vindicator" is that this film is sort of like a knock-off of a "Robocop" even though it got released one year prior to the release of Paul Verhoeven's classic Sci-Fi movie. And the comparison is justified, too, even if "The Vindicator" was actually intended to be a cash-in on the success of "The Terminator" because that movie immensely popularized the formula of murderous cyborgs. So you see; the exploitation cinema industry is actually a very small world. "The Vindicator" is a quite gritty, fast- paced and mean spirited Sci-Fi slash horror hybrid with an admirably high amount of action and a handful of impressive low-budget special effects that are the courtesy of Stan Winston studios. Carl Lehman is a gifted scientist working for the greedy industrialist Alex Whyte, but when he complains about the budgetary restrictions for his research one day, Carl mysteriously dies in a lab explosion. Whyte and a few of his associates incorporate his brain and body into a hi-tech developed space suit to create the very first indestructible cyborg. Carl escapes before they can implant the temper remote control, however, which makes him a lethal killing machine that destroys everyone who even briefly touches him. While Cyborg-Carl attempts to get in contact with his mourning wife, Alex Whyte hires the female mercenary Hunter to destroy him. You can clearly spot how "The Vindicator" quickly got altered, with some re- writes of the plot here and there, to look more like "The Terminator". The film was initially intended as a modernized version of the legendary Frankenstein premise, but then the creators opted to make it a grim and darkly atmospheric cyborg slasher. The cyborg operation is still called "Project Frankenstein" and the alternative title "Frankenstein '88" was kept as well. The film benefices from a bleak and unsettling atmosphere and gratefully the plot never really leans towards sentimentality, what with the sub plot of Carl Lehman expecting a child. There are a couple of very gruesome murders (one guy is even crushed alive in his car) and gratuitous moments of sleazy and misogyny. Cult siren Pam Grier steals the acting show as Hunter. She's a seriously mean and ill-tempered mother who doesn't really hesitate to eliminate innocent bystanders.

Looks as if the Robocop writer has been wholesale looting The Vindicator. This is a very solid horror/action movie about a man set up in an accident to be used in cruel experiment. Anyone who have seen Robocop knows the story. Watch out for Pam Grier as a bitchy and darn good looking assassin. This highly effective, violent and bloody horror movie may not be to everyones liking, but this Canadian outing is well worth seeking out for anyone who is fan of the genre. 8/10

Ok, it's not "craptacular", I just wanted to use the line. I just don't know what the other reviewers are raving about, as this is just not GOOD. The movie does have great special effects and acting, IN COMPARISON to 80's sci-fi Canadian efforts. However, they don't stand up when compared to other films of the same time in the same genre (and Canadian science fiction in the 80's is kind of a narrow field anyway, right?) Even animated films like Akira beat it. Budget-conscious editing and production is apparent but forgivable, as the crew did do a great job with the money given to them (probably the loose change out of George Lucas' wallet). The performances give what is demanded of them, undoubtedly, but the movie has a plot as see-through as the (very bizarre) goop the main character gets trapped in. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, but it's not good either. It's certainly nothing to build Canadian sci-fi around (we still have someone named David Cronenberg), and if Atom Egoyan ever put his massive brain into this genre we'd get something really wonderful. In short, go rent it, give it a shot. It won't live up to the fantastic title, but you might enjoy it for what it is. An 80's Canadian sci-fi movie.

A scientist working on a top secret experiment is killed in an explosion but the corporation that funds his experiments transforms him into a robot.

A resurrection science fiction film that despite being a B-low budget affair has a grander 80's film quality feel thanks to some gritty, raw and rough round the edges special effects from Stan Winston. Richard Cox and Pam Grier are watchable and some performances are above average. Written by Edith Rey and David Preston, the dialogue is sometimes a little clunky, yet their story fairs better exploring some moral dilemmas.

Jean-Claude Lord's Vindicator was of its day. Although it predates Robocop (1987) in retrospect I remember the main draw to watch it was because of The Terminator (1984). That said, the Vindicator shares more with Frankenstein and the Wraith (1986). It has some nice visual moments, simmering violence and emotional clout. It has a certain off beat charm, a nostalgia that has stayed in my mind since watching the VHS. On revisiting The Vindicator it's not as fast paced as I remembered, but it's entertaining, worth viewing if for comparable curiosity only.

This curious precursor to 'RoboCop' stars David McIlwraith as a scientist turned into a cyborg after being seriously injured in an explosion. While the film lacks Paul Verhoeven's dark sense of humour, it features well crafted action scenes, great makeup effects (beneath the mask), an awesome body suit and lots of fascinating pseudoscience with McIlwraith working in a laboratory experimenting with rage control. The film also prods a bit into the personal identity crisis he faces after realising that he has become a cyborg; "I don't know what I am", he emotionally states at one point. Verhoeven would of course prod into such territory in further depth, but there is enough here to render 'The Vindicator' less a simple revenge thriller and more a resonating character drama. An interesting plot element is how he has been redesigned to kill any human beings who touch him, which leads to some complexities as he tries to reconnect with his wife (who has been told that he died in the explosion). Not everything quite adds up here with one character inexplicably transforming into a mindless sex maniac at one point to further the plot (!), but it is a pretty classy affair that stands up well if not judged alongside 'RoboCop'. The budget here was of course far more modest, and yet the filmmakers create some excellent set pieces; a sewer segment is especially eerie.

The combination of amazing special effects and oscar worthy acting makes the Vindicator one of the most important sci-fi films of recent years. For some reason still unknown to me this gem was found in a bargain bin, why some worthless human thought it right to dirty a modern classic by relagating to a bargain bin is beyond me. I have never been so terrified by a man in tin foil and random bursts of fire. Forget Terminator, Robocop, Aliens, and other films that blaintly ripped off this masterpiece, the vindicator is an unstoppable force.