Automatic

Although it is obviously "low-budget," this film combines "standard" action sequences with surprisingly well-done reflections on the plight of sentient "artificial life forms." I recommend it for its "science fiction" themes, and for those strictly seeking an "action-thriller" it's not lacking in explosions, shootings, and other mayhem either.:)

Olvier Gruner stars as J269 a robot who becomes the target of a group of mercenaries sent to destroy him after he kills a man trying to rape Nora Rochester (Daphne Ashbrook), fearing bad press Goddard Marx orders the machine dead in this well made yet very routine rip off of Robocop and The Terminator. Automatic however does have good actionscenes.

Oliver Grunner stars in this very entertaining movie about cyborgs and the effect they have on a futuristic society. John Glover stars as Goddard Marx, the president of RobGen; an artificial human production company. This IS the future and these things or androids are as common as automobiles and are used for factory labor, security, entertainment and even as sexual surrogate partners. Everything is fine at the company until a RobGen executive tries to savagely rape a female secretary named Nora Rochester (well played by Daphne Ashbrook). Oliver (he plays multiple roles very well in this movie!) interrupts the attack (he IS programmed to protect life, after all!) and in the course of the encounter accidently kills the out of control corporate man. What follows after this is a mad struggle for survival and escape as Goddard Marx calls in a special human merc unit led by a Major West (well played by Jeff Kober). There is lots of good special effects action as well as a few very interesting surprises in the plot. Grunner is always at his acting best and carries the role of J269, etc. well. Add this one to your collections of movies on the science fiction shelf! Good movie!!

This film is one of those that has you reaching for the brightness button on the remote. I'm sure that in some circumstances the Director must have been told to save on the electricity bill. Lots of sympathy for the decommisioned "'Tics" which occur during the film, but not much else worthy of note. As stated, the predictability of the film is noteworthy in itself - the fight scences, the heroine's dress, the crawl through the air vent, the finale - don't go out of your way to watch this one. See it once perhaps, and then log it away in the deep recesses.......

Olivier Gruner finally finds the one role he excels at, a robot who protects a woman from her boss/rapist who the corporation then decide to send an army to kill both her and the robot to avoid bad press and save face with stock holders, making Gruner the only one who can protect her and save the day. Automatic is a solid reason why one can't write off straight to video science fiction. Automatic is well directed, well made and has moments of true atmosphere. The movie also has some good ideas such as how robots are intertwined with humans and how the robot in question weren't trying to take over the world and rather provide confused responses to human nature. This is a movie where the bad guys are human and the hero is a robot who deals in black and white morals because it's the way he's been programmed. It also has that Blade Runner vibe of how the corporations are the evils of society and on its own level it succeeds rather well. This is easily the best thing you'll ever see from Olivier Gruner and aside from the bad acting from the cast (John Glover and Gruner aside...) the film works in both categories its been sold as. My only complaint was that it didn't feature more robot's responses toward issues regarding human nature but it is an Olivier Gruner movie. His best one by the way.

* * * out of 4-(Good)