Distruzione totale

The year is 2030 and America is in shambles. Big corporations run the country and the ozone layer has been depleted. A group of folks find themselves inside a remote TV station run by Lathan Hooks (Ralph Waite), who is secretly a member of a resistance group. And hiding among this group of 8 is a cyborg with "crash and burn" orders to kill. This was the third release by Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment (following PUPPET MASTER and MERIDIAN: KISS OF THE BEAST) and the second he directed (after MERIDIAN) for his new label. Revisiting this after 21 years, I'm surprised at how dated it now looks to me. It definitely fits into Band's world of futuristic desert wastelands also featured in PARASITE and METALSTORM. The acting is solid (co-lead Eva LaRue is now a CSI: Miami lead; Megan Ward makes her screen debut), but the plot is as flimsy as can be. The film also features the cheapest excuse to have a 80-foot robot (effects expertly done by Dave Allen and crew) on screen for a few minutes. It should also be noted that the DVD is an absolute mess with tons of ghosting issues. The source print used actually looks worse than the clips featured in the "making of" segment originally from 1990.

At least it doesn't live up to its title, which is a good thing. Crash and burnnnnnn. On the other hand it might have been more exciting if it did. I don't know, but I remember liking this straight-to-video b-grade action / Sci-fi fare by Charles Band when I saw it for the first time many moons ago, but upon my recent re-watch I was left slightly under whelmed. Boy did it take awhile for something remotely riveting to occur. My excitement early on arose from catching a glimpse of a movie poster of "The Angry Red Planet" on the wall. Not once, but twice. Outside a pouting Megan Ward and Jack McGee (in a truly offensive mood), everyone else acts robotic. Is this to throw us off…? I don't think so. Bill Moseley is the life of the party… as what starts off as uncharacteristic (in a slumber mood) later on has you thinking now I'm watching Moseley perform. Paul Ganus is your typical handsome, but stoic lead who catches the eyes of the ladies (young and old). He doesn't do much at first, other than look serious. All in a good days work. Actually I guess sex was on mind. Nothing else. Nothing more. As after getting that out of the way (about mid-way through the movie), while lying in bed (for about 10 seconds) his character was thinking straight (well its either that or he's considerably slow off the blocks) and it came to him that something wasn't quite right (during a "heart-pounding" test set-up to find out if everyone trapped in this remote TV station was who they said they were). Now that he knows who the evil corporate Sythnoid robot in disguise is. Although we the audience (and Ward) have already figured that out long ago. It's time to be a hero. Jump out of bed, break the emergency glass and grab the shotgun. Then get pummelled and shot. Talk about an effective hero. However this is when things do liven up. Nasty jolts, stupid one-liners, robots going haywire and Ward making everyone around her look like dummies. "Hey, kiss this!". Director Charles Band does an economical job with J.S Cardone's material and recycles Richard Band's music talents. Visually is works cementing a futuristic wasteland, as the setting is taut and the paranoid unease is felt. In the dying stages you can see where most of the money went to and the effects of the battery powered tinbot put those recent CGI drenched transformers films to shame. Mildly amusing low-rent Full Moon fodder.

The cacksters that brought you Arena and Robot jox now bring you this. CRASH AND BURN.

When i was a kid, two films in Gold video, Cheadle Hulme, always stood out Arena and robotjoxs. My dad being a sensible man always refused to rent either of them; because they looked crap.

I have bought all of these films and have to say crash and burn is the worst of the lot. It was the giant robot that did it for me. Why did these people make loads of films about dodgy stop motion robots?

It says on the cover of the box "From the makers of Robotjox and Arena," like this is some badge of honour, trust me it is not. Robotjox had a touch of class but this movie is cack. Watch it for its badness. It seems to have been filmed in an old warehouse, that just happens to have a huge hulking robot rusting away in the garden. Aaaahh

BAD BAD MOVIE. Damn you Transformers you caused these films to be made.

My review was written in August 1990 after watching the movie on Paramount video cassette.

Latest fantasy film from Charles Band is a well-executed but uninspired futuristic tale. It's going direct to video, unlike its recent predecessors from the Full Moon label.

Pic's claustrophobic format resembles scripter J. S. Cardone's previous efort "Shadowzone" in trapping a group of characters at a remote spot with something preying on them.

Story is set in the year 2030, when a technocratic government has outlawed robots and private use of computers. A motley crew is stuck at Ralph Waite's local tv station during a lengthy "thermal" (storm). A synth (robot) is killing the cast.

TItle "Crash and Burn" refers to a type of computer virus use to override the synth's programming (derived fro Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics) not to kill humans. There's an okay twist explaining the clue as to the synth's identity, but once this baddie is identified, the film's suspense evaporates.

Band gets good ensemble performances, especially from Waite as the rebellious figure. Young Megan Ward, cast as Waite's daughter, heads the cast of beautiful women, with both Eva LaRue and Katherine Armstrong offering diversion.

Ok, this is not a great movie. But it doesn't attempt to be. It's B movie city, and for that, it's not a half bad movie.

Full Moon productions continues to impress me, with the atmosphere and great b movie schlock they can create, with a shoestring budget.