Crash And Burn
1990 | R | 1 Hr. 25 Min | Sci-Fi | Full Moon Features
Director:
Synopsis:
Unicom is a powerful organization overseeing most of the world after its economic collapse. They have banned computers and robots in an attempt to ensure "life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic stability". When a Unicom Synth robot infiltrates a southwest TV station and kills the manager, a revolutionary against the Gestapo-like corporation, a lowly Unicom delivery man must help the rest of the station survive through the incoming "thermal storm".
The Bait and Switch
Ok, Uncle Charlie, I see what you're doing here! Crash And Burn is capitalizing on the Stuart Gorden cult classic Robot Jox that came out the year before. What's the catch you ask? Well, you have this giant robot on the poster in the same fashion as Robot Jox. Spoiler alert this one has nothing to do with Robots! Well ok, the last few minutes we are treated to David Allen's stop motion bot that is on the poster. Yet we do get a simple little tale that in the end works. For the small budget, this one has a tight story and that is what counts. J.S. Cardone has penned plenty of Full Moon Features but it would be his retelling of Prom Night (2008) and Stepfather (2009) that he will be remembered for.
Mr. Walton?
That's right Ralph White headlines a pretty solid cast along with Megan Ward's first movie and by far the best charter goes to Bill Mosely. Let's go back to Ward first, of courses she will go on to do many B movies including Arcade, Encino Man, and one of my favorite hidden gems PCU. She hit's her role like a veteran as the story revolves around her character. Delivering a top performance you can easily see how her parents were a big influence on her career. Her parents were drama teachers and cast her in plays they produced. When she was 9, her mother's job at a modeling agency led to her doing commercials for local department stores. I have always enjoyed watching her in almost any role she has been in (Sorry General Hosptial not you).
The true hero tho happens to be one of the bad guys, Bill Moseley once again finds himself playing the sadistic yet dark comedic villain. Moseley is strong in this one with his smirky slimy character that saves this movie. He gives it just the right amount of grit!
The one thing the movie does well it visually draws you into a dark, grim world that we have destroyed. The desolate feeling comes through as they run around this old factory that is just as dank as the outside world. You do get a Blade Runner vibe on a much lower scale.
One downfall or shortcut that was taken lies in the futuristic look that they try to produce. I had a hard time thinking a robot was still running on an Amiga 128 and 3" floppy disks. This is tech that was old when they were making this movie. I get that maybe this is what she put together from old scrap to make the TV station work, to run the a/c that keeps them alive but to run a robot? Eh, I was not buying that at all.
Finally, in the end, we get to see the Robot in action. David Allen's (Ghostbusters 2, Puppet Master) special effects work well here. It's kind of sad they did not do more with his talent on Crash and Burn. Special effects and a tight story teamed up with Bill Moseley are enough for you to tune into Crash And Burn. Somehow everything comes together with a late-night cable vibe that keeps you engaged. This might not be the greatest movie I'm going to watch during the COVID sit in but it was not the worst either.
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| 3 out of 5 Stars |
