ROBOT OVERLORDS is an odd little B-movie from the UK that feels a bit like an Asylum version of a TRANSFORMERS movie. It's shot in a low budget, on the street way, but it has a number of CGI effects of giant robot oppressors that turn out to be surprisingly good given the limitations. The plot is little more involved than having a bunch of characters running from place to place and striving to avoid the titular menace, and too much of the running time is unfortunately spent with annoying youth characters swapping unfunny jokes. That said, there are also a surprising number of famous faces in support, including a hamming-it-up Ben Kingsley, an out-of-place and uncomfortable Gillian Anderson, as well as Roy Hudd, Tamer Hassan, Geraldine James, and Callan McAuliffe, who these days appears in THE WALKING DEAD.
83 Reviews
Watchable
claudio_carvalho25 October 2015
After eleven days of war, robots from outer space domain the earthlings. People receive implants and are confined inside their houses while collaborators distribute supplies for the families. The teenager Sean Flynn (Callan McAuliffe) misses his father Danny (Steven Mackintosh), who is a pilot, and his mother Kate (Gillian Anderson) is constantly harassed by the collaborator Robin Smythe (Ben Kingsley). One day, Sean, his teenage friends Nathan (James Tarpey) and his sister Alexandra (Ella Hunt) and the orphan boy Connor (Milo Parker) accidentally discover how to turn off the implants for thirteen hours, using a battery with damaged contacts. The leave their house during the curfew to seek out Danny and soon Sean discovers that he has the ability of controlling the robots. Meanwhile Smythe is hunting them down. Will the youngsters succeed in their intent?
"Robot Overlords" is a watchable sci-fi that is sort of Terminator and Transformers franchises entwined in a silly story for teens. The film entertains but despite the names of Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, it is only reasonable. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Sob o Domínio dos Robôs" ("Under the Domain of the Robots")
"Robot Overlords" is a watchable sci-fi that is sort of Terminator and Transformers franchises entwined in a silly story for teens. The film entertains but despite the names of Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, it is only reasonable. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Sob o Domínio dos Robôs" ("Under the Domain of the Robots")
A Must see for all the family?? Really??
abermans25 March 2015
How can someone spend so much time, money and effort (Significant amounts by the look of things), get names such as Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley to join his project and end up with this sad excuse for a sci-fi blockbuster wannabe?
The storyline is stupid beyond anyone (above 3 year old) belief. The dialogues are moving between bad to embarrassingly cheesy. The acting is wooden at best. The CGI is dated. There is very little good to write about it. Dr. Who style? Maybe. How does that suppose to work on the Cinema screen??
Once the storyline was approved, this movie was doomed. If the 1% of the budget would have been spent on the writing, it could have made a huge difference.
This should have gone to video. Don't waste your money!
The storyline is stupid beyond anyone (above 3 year old) belief. The dialogues are moving between bad to embarrassingly cheesy. The acting is wooden at best. The CGI is dated. There is very little good to write about it. Dr. Who style? Maybe. How does that suppose to work on the Cinema screen??
Once the storyline was approved, this movie was doomed. If the 1% of the budget would have been spent on the writing, it could have made a huge difference.
This should have gone to video. Don't waste your money!
Maintain low expectations
onetogrowon25 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Robot Overlords
I wasn't expecting cinematic wonder, and the attachment of Ms. Anderson and Mr. Kingsley was enough to raise interest, but even the aforementioned talent could not save Robot Overlords.
Truthfully, the acting is acceptable, the special effects, while low budget, are decent and the production, as a whole, has more polish, than a typical "b" movie. It is the "Scooby Do" qualities that sink the show e.g. kids fighting for their lives with fireworks, bad guys are evil, rotten and bad, children save the day etc. etc.
Robot Overlords is much like an adolescent; vacillating between acting as an adult and acting as a child. The result is an awkward film. Other movies have bridged this space, with clever adult subtext and/or humor over their juvenile story. Robot Overlords misses this opportunity, and consequently, fails.
If you and your children are science fiction fans, it could make a movie night but, wait for the dollar rental.
Truthfully, the acting is acceptable, the special effects, while low budget, are decent and the production, as a whole, has more polish, than a typical "b" movie. It is the "Scooby Do" qualities that sink the show e.g. kids fighting for their lives with fireworks, bad guys are evil, rotten and bad, children save the day etc. etc.
Robot Overlords is much like an adolescent; vacillating between acting as an adult and acting as a child. The result is an awkward film. Other movies have bridged this space, with clever adult subtext and/or humor over their juvenile story. Robot Overlords misses this opportunity, and consequently, fails.
If you and your children are science fiction fans, it could make a movie night but, wait for the dollar rental.
Dumb
toldeanq14 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is such a dumb movie...an intelligent and powerful bunch of robots made a transmitter than can get deactivated just by electricity. And second just hear the dumb thing about it...we can not stop Sean interacting with the network because we should stop all the robots. So what??
Dumb Dumb, waste of time, it doesn't even explain why the robots came, an explanation which should made Sean's mom running to the bad guy.
Awful movie. And I'm only taking about the main idea of the movie.
The actors did a poor job at acting. The expressions and fake, it did not real at all realistic.And how about the girl?? Her role was only to kiss the guy in the end? The only character that in my opinion was a good and realistic one was the kid. He really was cool. He was something.
Main idea : Waste of time
Dumb Dumb, waste of time, it doesn't even explain why the robots came, an explanation which should made Sean's mom running to the bad guy.
Awful movie. And I'm only taking about the main idea of the movie.
The actors did a poor job at acting. The expressions and fake, it did not real at all realistic.And how about the girl?? Her role was only to kiss the guy in the end? The only character that in my opinion was a good and realistic one was the kid. He really was cool. He was something.
Main idea : Waste of time
For fans of old school sci-fi
amesmonde25 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
After eleven days the Robots from space took over Earth, three years later a group of youngsters figure out a way to fight back.
There's a handful of dedicated British actors including Tamer Hassan as Wayne and a cameo from Geraldine James. Sir Ben Kingsley appears as a traitor to the human race with a northern accent and Gillian Anderson stars along side the young lead actors who figure out how to defuse their restraining blots that keep them under home arrest.
Writers Jon Wright and Mark Stay borrow elements from classic film and TV science fiction shows, Matrix and Terminator-like flying machines, giant century robots, Borg space cubes and Stars Wars droid restraints to name a few. Even dogfighting spitfires like in ID4 and Robcop's ED-209 countdowns.
Callan McAuliffe is notable as Sean Flynn who with the help of his friends go looking for his Dad Danny played by Steven Mackintosh. The scope sometimes feels BBC kitsch but Wright offers some nice explosions and special effects. There's a beat pounding score with a Brit location and retro feel reminiscent of a mix of Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), The World's End (2013), Lifeforce (1985) and 1984 (1984).
Hardened scifi fans may want to skip Wrights' bread and butter addition as its derived from many other science fictions. While not as thought provoking as the recent The Machine, as fun as Attack the Block or as good as World's End, it is nicely put together and worth viewing for fans of old school British scifi who may get a restraining jolt buzz from this production.
There's a handful of dedicated British actors including Tamer Hassan as Wayne and a cameo from Geraldine James. Sir Ben Kingsley appears as a traitor to the human race with a northern accent and Gillian Anderson stars along side the young lead actors who figure out how to defuse their restraining blots that keep them under home arrest.
Writers Jon Wright and Mark Stay borrow elements from classic film and TV science fiction shows, Matrix and Terminator-like flying machines, giant century robots, Borg space cubes and Stars Wars droid restraints to name a few. Even dogfighting spitfires like in ID4 and Robcop's ED-209 countdowns.
Callan McAuliffe is notable as Sean Flynn who with the help of his friends go looking for his Dad Danny played by Steven Mackintosh. The scope sometimes feels BBC kitsch but Wright offers some nice explosions and special effects. There's a beat pounding score with a Brit location and retro feel reminiscent of a mix of Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), The World's End (2013), Lifeforce (1985) and 1984 (1984).
Hardened scifi fans may want to skip Wrights' bread and butter addition as its derived from many other science fictions. While not as thought provoking as the recent The Machine, as fun as Attack the Block or as good as World's End, it is nicely put together and worth viewing for fans of old school British scifi who may get a restraining jolt buzz from this production.
Holy Poop is this Bad
nathangauthier14 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Unbelievably bad. Insultingly so. Not camp, or funny, or art house, or anything of the sort, just bad. Bad effects. Horrible plot. Atrocious acting. Etc. Sir Ben, what were you thinking? I saw him on a talk show the other night and wish the host would have asked him about this turd. Embarrassing to everybody involved, including me the viewer. The crux of the movie is that super advanced robots have taken over the world and install chips in the heads of the few remaining humans to keep tabs on them. If people go outside without permission, the robots kill them. That is until some young children figure out that all you have to do to override the chips is to zap them with some low voltage electricity and then you're free to wander around all you want. Really, no government scientist, PhD in electronics, crazy survivalist, etc. Had every tried tinkering with the robot control chips before? And then to think that some 6 year old could thwart the super advanced alien race that has already taken over this world and others? And on that note, robots and aliens are different things. Why is this movie about really simple robot aliens w/o any mention of actual aliens? Weak!
Snorinator 3
jason2012-142-68732518 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Oh my Goodness was this movie dull. It looks like it had some amount of money thrown at it, but I assure you, every penny was wasted. It's like the kind of movie you would get if you asked a 9 year old boy to come up with a movie idea, and just did exactly everything they wrote.
So, let's put aside the superficial things and focus on the *AHEM* story to begin with.
The intro tells us there has been a war with robots (who just appeared from no-where) and we lost. We don't get to see any of that war, just hear a bunch of screaming and so on, but that's just as well because most of the movie takes place in a town that looks like it hasn't been touched at all. I guess it was a war where we didn't fight all that hard, or launch any nukes. You would think there would be a few burned out cars, craters, and smashed up buildings, but nope, it's like nothing happened at all.
OK, so assuming that unlikely premise, now we find out that every person who is left has had some sort of LED shower faucet illuminater placed just on the side of their heads. The occupation follows the main "rule" of the robots which is that nobody can go out of the house. Its a kind of curfew and we are shown from the markings on the wall that it must have been many months since the robots arrived and imposed it. Even though no-one can go outside, somehow people haven't all starved to death yet or died from the radiation of the melting down nuclear plants, or from lack of water, or disease, all of which would quickly kill a population interred in their own homes all day long. So back to the faucet LED. This thing allows the robots to track where all the humans are at any time, because the giant flaming robot cubes and interstellar robot war fleet is not able to do that on its own. We are shown some "baddies" who have thrown their lot in with the robots, who have the ability to wander around as they please and also turn off robots when they want to. Again, since the robots have already overtaken the whole world, there isn't really a need for those people, but they are necessary for the "story" so whatever.
The "story" focuses on a family of boys trying to find their father. They are able to leave their house after they find out they can de- activate the LED faucets with electricity, (because no-one in the sciences, army or government thought of that yet.)
You would think this would lead them on an exciting adventure through the war-torn streets, encountering the desperate plight of a subjugated people, hiding at every corner from robot planes and the giant walking robots, and trying to basically survive.
No, that doesn't happen, instead, they just wander from implausible plot point to even more implausible plot point, such as an English pub where a boxing match is going on and everyone is drinking and having fun (apparently the don't leave your home curfew doesn't affect beer).It's as if following a happy meal pirate treasure map than trying to survive in occupied territory. Trying to find their lost father in the world's most boring fetch quest. Of course none of these weak children get killed or hurt along the way as they encounter the numerous hyper-advanced robotic forces that defeated everything on Earth in 11 days. Not so much as a plaster was needed because the heroes have impenetrable main character armour.
This isn't really a spoiler to reveal what happens in the end, because I am in fact saving you the 120 minutes or so of your life you would lose from watching this miserable piece of trash.
So, i'm just going to reveal it.
One of the boys has unexplained magic that lets him control robots nearby. He uses this to command the robots to do their "shut down" animation sequence and turn into cubes and boxes. Eventually he is able to destroy the bigger ones, such as the flying fortresses and the cubes, because things like the flying fortress conveniently has a shower LED access point directly on the front prong so he can stand on it and look cool as they play the heroic music in the background. So, through his unexplainable magic he is able to defeat the robots in about 5 minutes that took over the whole of the planet without resistance during 11 days versus all the worlds armies. And yay, everyone's happy because he re-united with his father in the end, who helped out in a world war 1 era plane that was inexplicably impervious to futuristic robot plasma cannons. The robots found it interesting that the boy could capture and control other robot systems, but didn't consider it a high enough priority to send every single robot to exterminate him. I think they put out a memo or something, but by then it was too late.
So, to wrap up the other things:
the music... it's OK I guess.
the special effects... well, I personally know animators who have done better, but its not the worst either. It's not the thing that lets down this movie. They are slightly better than the tripods from the BBC, but only slightly.
The cast.. apparently the woman from x files was in this movie, go figure.
All in all... i would only recommend this if there was no other movie on the planet left to watch, and that includes the ones where Eddie Murphy pretends to be fat people.
So, let's put aside the superficial things and focus on the *AHEM* story to begin with.
The intro tells us there has been a war with robots (who just appeared from no-where) and we lost. We don't get to see any of that war, just hear a bunch of screaming and so on, but that's just as well because most of the movie takes place in a town that looks like it hasn't been touched at all. I guess it was a war where we didn't fight all that hard, or launch any nukes. You would think there would be a few burned out cars, craters, and smashed up buildings, but nope, it's like nothing happened at all.
OK, so assuming that unlikely premise, now we find out that every person who is left has had some sort of LED shower faucet illuminater placed just on the side of their heads. The occupation follows the main "rule" of the robots which is that nobody can go out of the house. Its a kind of curfew and we are shown from the markings on the wall that it must have been many months since the robots arrived and imposed it. Even though no-one can go outside, somehow people haven't all starved to death yet or died from the radiation of the melting down nuclear plants, or from lack of water, or disease, all of which would quickly kill a population interred in their own homes all day long. So back to the faucet LED. This thing allows the robots to track where all the humans are at any time, because the giant flaming robot cubes and interstellar robot war fleet is not able to do that on its own. We are shown some "baddies" who have thrown their lot in with the robots, who have the ability to wander around as they please and also turn off robots when they want to. Again, since the robots have already overtaken the whole world, there isn't really a need for those people, but they are necessary for the "story" so whatever.
The "story" focuses on a family of boys trying to find their father. They are able to leave their house after they find out they can de- activate the LED faucets with electricity, (because no-one in the sciences, army or government thought of that yet.)
You would think this would lead them on an exciting adventure through the war-torn streets, encountering the desperate plight of a subjugated people, hiding at every corner from robot planes and the giant walking robots, and trying to basically survive.
No, that doesn't happen, instead, they just wander from implausible plot point to even more implausible plot point, such as an English pub where a boxing match is going on and everyone is drinking and having fun (apparently the don't leave your home curfew doesn't affect beer).It's as if following a happy meal pirate treasure map than trying to survive in occupied territory. Trying to find their lost father in the world's most boring fetch quest. Of course none of these weak children get killed or hurt along the way as they encounter the numerous hyper-advanced robotic forces that defeated everything on Earth in 11 days. Not so much as a plaster was needed because the heroes have impenetrable main character armour.
This isn't really a spoiler to reveal what happens in the end, because I am in fact saving you the 120 minutes or so of your life you would lose from watching this miserable piece of trash.
So, i'm just going to reveal it.
One of the boys has unexplained magic that lets him control robots nearby. He uses this to command the robots to do their "shut down" animation sequence and turn into cubes and boxes. Eventually he is able to destroy the bigger ones, such as the flying fortresses and the cubes, because things like the flying fortress conveniently has a shower LED access point directly on the front prong so he can stand on it and look cool as they play the heroic music in the background. So, through his unexplainable magic he is able to defeat the robots in about 5 minutes that took over the whole of the planet without resistance during 11 days versus all the worlds armies. And yay, everyone's happy because he re-united with his father in the end, who helped out in a world war 1 era plane that was inexplicably impervious to futuristic robot plasma cannons. The robots found it interesting that the boy could capture and control other robot systems, but didn't consider it a high enough priority to send every single robot to exterminate him. I think they put out a memo or something, but by then it was too late.
So, to wrap up the other things:
the music... it's OK I guess.
the special effects... well, I personally know animators who have done better, but its not the worst either. It's not the thing that lets down this movie. They are slightly better than the tripods from the BBC, but only slightly.
The cast.. apparently the woman from x files was in this movie, go figure.
All in all... i would only recommend this if there was no other movie on the planet left to watch, and that includes the ones where Eddie Murphy pretends to be fat people.
The robot overlords might be preferable to this.
shawneofthedead22 April 2015
What would you expect from a film with so triumphantly cheesy a title as Robot Overlords? Something fun, campy and silly, probably, as ultra-stern robots try their darned best to lord it over a bunch of utterly disobedient humans. That is, indeed, broadly the plot of Jon Wright's film. But, somewhere along the way, it seems to have forgotten to include much in the way of humour or silliness. Instead, Robot Overlords seems rather too intent on crafting a somewhat dour vision of a robotically dystopian future - which, truth be told, it doesn't quite pull off.
Three years after the dreaded robot invasion, the entire world is kept on a strict curfew - no one is allowed to venture outside their designated homes for more than a few minutes. All humans have tracking devices implanted in their necks, which allow the robots to swiftly find and vapourise anyone who fails to comply. There doesn't seem to be much hope left for the human race, apart from those who have decided to cooperate with the robots, like uber-smug collaborator Robin Smythe (Ben Kingsley). But a quiet revolution begins when Sean (a decent but unremarkable Callum McAuliffe) and his buddies - clever Alexandra (Ella Hunt), her smart aleck brother Nathan (James Tarpey) and resourceful ten-year-old Connor (Milo Parker) - discover that an electric shock from a car battery can temporarily disable their tracking implants.
The film is not without its interesting moments. In fact, you might find yourself wishing that it would dwell a little more on the pockets of human resistance that we discover have sprung up all over town. Geraldine James - Kingsley's co-star in Gandhi - plays the matriarch of a community living out of a bar, evidently cobbled together from whomever was drowning their sorrows in alcohol three years ago. Sean's predicament also contains quite a few good sci-fi ideas, as he realises how he might be able to take down these apparently invincible machines.
But Robot Overlords never really fulfils its potential. Instead, it's a largely schizophrenic (and, fatally, predictable) experience. There are moments clearly targeted at a younger crowd: Sean and his buddies are undoubtedly the protagonists who propel the story forward, their youthful exuberance shining through when they mainline candy to celebrate their first taste of freedom. And yet, Wright also tosses in moments of horror so dark that it's impossible to tell just what vibe he's going for. The film opens with a terrifying and frankly not very kid-friendly sequence in which Connor becomes - quite spectacularly - an orphan. Sean also runs badly afoul of Smythe in another creepy scene that lays bare the extent of the robots' experiments on mankind.
At least there's fun to be had from the excellent adult cast, who manage to say a great deal with just a handful of scenes. Kingsley is delightfully pompous, a windbag who picks the worst side in a war to save his own hide. Gillian Anderson gets way too little to do as Kate, Sean's mom, but it's nice that her character doesn't merely sit around waiting for the guys in her life to rescue her. There's plenty of steel in Kate, as can be seen in her firm treatment of a former student and her repeated rejection of Smythe's lascivious advances.
As a director, Wright is patently drawn to quirky genre fare with a B-movie aesthetic and humour. With Robot Overlords, he finally tackles the genre holy grail of sci-fi, after exploring the supernatural in Tormented and alcohol-averse sea monsters in Grabbers. In made-on-the-cheap projects like this one, it's usually the special effects that let the side down. That's not the case here. The robots are obviously created on a meagre budget, but look largely decent for all that. What keeps the film from really soaring high is the fact that Wright takes a promisingly cheeky premise and removes most of the fun from it. The final result is inoffensive and mostly watchable - except for the robots' human avatar, which is a controversy waiting to happen - but there's hardly ever a sense of joy or triumph to proceedings. Surely, in a film bearing a title as flamboyant as this one, that's a crime of some sort.
Three years after the dreaded robot invasion, the entire world is kept on a strict curfew - no one is allowed to venture outside their designated homes for more than a few minutes. All humans have tracking devices implanted in their necks, which allow the robots to swiftly find and vapourise anyone who fails to comply. There doesn't seem to be much hope left for the human race, apart from those who have decided to cooperate with the robots, like uber-smug collaborator Robin Smythe (Ben Kingsley). But a quiet revolution begins when Sean (a decent but unremarkable Callum McAuliffe) and his buddies - clever Alexandra (Ella Hunt), her smart aleck brother Nathan (James Tarpey) and resourceful ten-year-old Connor (Milo Parker) - discover that an electric shock from a car battery can temporarily disable their tracking implants.
The film is not without its interesting moments. In fact, you might find yourself wishing that it would dwell a little more on the pockets of human resistance that we discover have sprung up all over town. Geraldine James - Kingsley's co-star in Gandhi - plays the matriarch of a community living out of a bar, evidently cobbled together from whomever was drowning their sorrows in alcohol three years ago. Sean's predicament also contains quite a few good sci-fi ideas, as he realises how he might be able to take down these apparently invincible machines.
But Robot Overlords never really fulfils its potential. Instead, it's a largely schizophrenic (and, fatally, predictable) experience. There are moments clearly targeted at a younger crowd: Sean and his buddies are undoubtedly the protagonists who propel the story forward, their youthful exuberance shining through when they mainline candy to celebrate their first taste of freedom. And yet, Wright also tosses in moments of horror so dark that it's impossible to tell just what vibe he's going for. The film opens with a terrifying and frankly not very kid-friendly sequence in which Connor becomes - quite spectacularly - an orphan. Sean also runs badly afoul of Smythe in another creepy scene that lays bare the extent of the robots' experiments on mankind.
At least there's fun to be had from the excellent adult cast, who manage to say a great deal with just a handful of scenes. Kingsley is delightfully pompous, a windbag who picks the worst side in a war to save his own hide. Gillian Anderson gets way too little to do as Kate, Sean's mom, but it's nice that her character doesn't merely sit around waiting for the guys in her life to rescue her. There's plenty of steel in Kate, as can be seen in her firm treatment of a former student and her repeated rejection of Smythe's lascivious advances.
As a director, Wright is patently drawn to quirky genre fare with a B-movie aesthetic and humour. With Robot Overlords, he finally tackles the genre holy grail of sci-fi, after exploring the supernatural in Tormented and alcohol-averse sea monsters in Grabbers. In made-on-the-cheap projects like this one, it's usually the special effects that let the side down. That's not the case here. The robots are obviously created on a meagre budget, but look largely decent for all that. What keeps the film from really soaring high is the fact that Wright takes a promisingly cheeky premise and removes most of the fun from it. The final result is inoffensive and mostly watchable - except for the robots' human avatar, which is a controversy waiting to happen - but there's hardly ever a sense of joy or triumph to proceedings. Surely, in a film bearing a title as flamboyant as this one, that's a crime of some sort.
Entertaining.
phillipimdb28 March 2015
I've never posted a review before.
I'm sick to death of reading reviews from nobodies full of self-aggrandising rubbish of the look-at-me-I'm-so-knowledgeable kind.
When I read IMDb reviews I want to know the answer to one question: is this film worth watching.
Answer: Yes.
Extra comment for people who need more: It is not blade runner nor star wars nor aliens nor any other visually stunning or game changing movie. It was fun to watch as long as you remember it a film for kids. Yes the story is the same basic good fights evil that, um, oh yes, 90% of all movies released in the last 20 years are about. So what. It was entertaining, it was refreshing to see a SciFi film not set in the NewYork or some other major US city. Why should every Alien invasion land on the white house lawn. I liked it. My kids liked it. We were entertained.
I'm sick to death of reading reviews from nobodies full of self-aggrandising rubbish of the look-at-me-I'm-so-knowledgeable kind.
When I read IMDb reviews I want to know the answer to one question: is this film worth watching.
Answer: Yes.
Extra comment for people who need more: It is not blade runner nor star wars nor aliens nor any other visually stunning or game changing movie. It was fun to watch as long as you remember it a film for kids. Yes the story is the same basic good fights evil that, um, oh yes, 90% of all movies released in the last 20 years are about. So what. It was entertaining, it was refreshing to see a SciFi film not set in the NewYork or some other major US city. Why should every Alien invasion land on the white house lawn. I liked it. My kids liked it. We were entertained.
Don't watch this movie.A total piece of crap
shariful-bony14 August 2015
This is a real piece of crap. Many holes in the plot and the cinematography is as bad as hell.
If your time has a value don't watch this movie. Get names such as Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley isn't enough when there isn't a story
The storyline is stupid beyond anyone (above 4 year old) belief. The dialogs are moving between bad to embarrassingly cheesy.
The acting is so so. The CGI is outdated. There is very little good to write about it.
Totally Disappointed
don't Watch it.
If your time has a value don't watch this movie. Get names such as Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley isn't enough when there isn't a story
The storyline is stupid beyond anyone (above 4 year old) belief. The dialogs are moving between bad to embarrassingly cheesy.
The acting is so so. The CGI is outdated. There is very little good to write about it.
Totally Disappointed
don't Watch it.
Great indie sci-fi movie for fans of witty dialogue and over the top adventure (Dr Who basically)
johnbkaramazov1 April 2015
There have been many great injustices in the span of human history - the holocaust, the Irish potato famine, the Spanish conquistador's devastation of the Americas, the Highland Clearances, the Armenian genocide... but none rank so highly as the one and two star reviews of this excellent film.
I just don't see what isn't to like. The script is sharp and witty, the story is pretty simple but gripping and the pace trips along nicely keeping you entertained. Young Milo Parker puts in an absolutely stellar supporting performance as cheeky sidekick Connor, Ben Kingsley camps it up as a bad guy everyone loves to hate. IT'S GOT KILLER ROBOTS, the vfx are creditable for such a relatively small film and look solid.
Probably the least believable thing in the entire film is Gillian Anderson's English accent, and it's got robots flying around English suburbia for goodness sake. Maybe the humour is too British for some people, I don't know? What I do know is that this was a great, mindless hour and a half of my time, I smiled along and cheered at the key moments. There's so much to appreciate about this film, it's a shame some people don't seem to be able to appreciate its successes, instead focussing on what it isn't rather than enjoying it for what it is.
Their loss.
Just give the film a go and make up your own mind. It's really fun and has some great moments. Trust me.
I just don't see what isn't to like. The script is sharp and witty, the story is pretty simple but gripping and the pace trips along nicely keeping you entertained. Young Milo Parker puts in an absolutely stellar supporting performance as cheeky sidekick Connor, Ben Kingsley camps it up as a bad guy everyone loves to hate. IT'S GOT KILLER ROBOTS, the vfx are creditable for such a relatively small film and look solid.
Probably the least believable thing in the entire film is Gillian Anderson's English accent, and it's got robots flying around English suburbia for goodness sake. Maybe the humour is too British for some people, I don't know? What I do know is that this was a great, mindless hour and a half of my time, I smiled along and cheered at the key moments. There's so much to appreciate about this film, it's a shame some people don't seem to be able to appreciate its successes, instead focussing on what it isn't rather than enjoying it for what it is.
Their loss.
Just give the film a go and make up your own mind. It's really fun and has some great moments. Trust me.
Better than most films with 10x the budget.
huwbutts12 August 2015
This movie is not amazing. But then again, when was the last time you saw one that was?
Fantastic Four opened just before the the writing of this. With that film being a complete disaster, it saddens me that it gets just about a lower score than Robot Overlords, because the latter is far superior.
What to expect: Good but not incredible CGI (again, far more believable than FF'S The Thing...or anything else in it for that matter...) Good acting: Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson are great, and the kids are surprisingly good too. Good pacing: I didn't get bored at any point. That's quite rare nowadays. A cliché story, kept fresh by the fact that it's British. Personally, I enjoyed this more than The World's End; darn it - I actually felt a little bit invested.
Nothing more to say than that I guess. This is low-budget done right, and I enjoyed it. What more do you want? A cookie?
Fantastic Four opened just before the the writing of this. With that film being a complete disaster, it saddens me that it gets just about a lower score than Robot Overlords, because the latter is far superior.
What to expect: Good but not incredible CGI (again, far more believable than FF'S The Thing...or anything else in it for that matter...) Good acting: Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson are great, and the kids are surprisingly good too. Good pacing: I didn't get bored at any point. That's quite rare nowadays. A cliché story, kept fresh by the fact that it's British. Personally, I enjoyed this more than The World's End; darn it - I actually felt a little bit invested.
Nothing more to say than that I guess. This is low-budget done right, and I enjoyed it. What more do you want? A cookie?
Only Watched This Because of Gillian Anderson
3xHCCH31 March 2015
The whole back story of this British sci-fi family film was summarized in a few frames flashed at the very beginning. "Three years ago... the Robots invaded Earth." "The war lasted just eleven days." Then a strange robotic being with an adult female face, a little boy's body and a disembodied voice declares that they mean Earth no harm. After their study of humanity, they will leave and never come back. They only have one strict rule for the earthlings to follow during their occupation: "Stay indoors!"
The story follows a group of teenagers led by Sean Flynn (Callan McAuliffe) who defy the robots, venturing out of the safety to his home to search for his lost father. Hot in pursuit is the ruthless Robin Smythe (a hammy Ben Kingsley), a human who had allied himself with the aliens. But Smythe is distracted by his attraction to Sean's mother Kate, (and I do not blame him as Kate was played by Gillian Anderson).
When we first saw the trailer for this film, I had no plans to watch it because it looked like a low-budget B-action flick with robots and unknown young actors. Indeed it was juvenile and very old-fashioned sci- fi, like something we could have seen on TV years back. The story could have been interesting, but the execution was not good, even cheesy. The corny title alone is a red flag that this is strictly for young teens, yet even they might find the technological aspects of this film too retro to be cool.
I only watched this film when I found out that Gillian Anderson would be in it. And yes, despite twenty years that passed since she gained me as a fan as Scully in "The X-Files," Ms. Anderson never looked better. She looked so good that it was not believable that she was the mother of McAuliffe. It was just too bad that her role here was too weak and insubstantial to merit her beauty and talent.
I would have rated this film lower, but only because of Gillian Anderson, I will be a little bit more generous and give it a 4/10.
The story follows a group of teenagers led by Sean Flynn (Callan McAuliffe) who defy the robots, venturing out of the safety to his home to search for his lost father. Hot in pursuit is the ruthless Robin Smythe (a hammy Ben Kingsley), a human who had allied himself with the aliens. But Smythe is distracted by his attraction to Sean's mother Kate, (and I do not blame him as Kate was played by Gillian Anderson).
When we first saw the trailer for this film, I had no plans to watch it because it looked like a low-budget B-action flick with robots and unknown young actors. Indeed it was juvenile and very old-fashioned sci- fi, like something we could have seen on TV years back. The story could have been interesting, but the execution was not good, even cheesy. The corny title alone is a red flag that this is strictly for young teens, yet even they might find the technological aspects of this film too retro to be cool.
I only watched this film when I found out that Gillian Anderson would be in it. And yes, despite twenty years that passed since she gained me as a fan as Scully in "The X-Files," Ms. Anderson never looked better. She looked so good that it was not believable that she was the mother of McAuliffe. It was just too bad that her role here was too weak and insubstantial to merit her beauty and talent.
I would have rated this film lower, but only because of Gillian Anderson, I will be a little bit more generous and give it a 4/10.
Oh My A z grade movie
whoozhe30 March 2015
One would expect a reasonably decent movie that starred Ben Kingsley. Maybe he is just after the dollar regardless of the script. This movie has every element that any decent director should shudder at. A terribly fragmented storyline. Kingsley barely using 1/100th of his acting talent. No wonder it went strait to DVD. Not even worth downloading. Normally I don't bother with reviews but this movie just begs some form of negative comments. Syfy cable do a better job at SciFi Watch a repeat of The Terminator. At least the "robot" s realistic. I a only adding this line because IMBA insist on a ten line minimum
Robot? Over bored.......
FlashCallahan5 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Earth has been conquered by robots from a distant galaxy, and survivors have been confined to their houses and must wear electronic implants, risking incineration by robot sentries if they venture outside.
In robot-occupied Britain, mainly One street, city centres are devastated and a gang of teenagers live in a seaside town constantly under robot threat, and Ben Kingsleys panto style villain.
Fairly intimidating sentries patrol the streets, and are merciless death machines, but they are nice enough to give you a five minute warning.
The Mediator is deceptively childlike but autonomous, promising everyone it will all be over soon.....
I was quite looking forward to this. I like the directors other movies, as they are tongue in cheek nods to their respective genres, so I was hoping that this would be also semi parody,me specially with the inclusion of Kingsley, who is always good for his ham.
But no, it's pretty serious all the way through, despite unintentional laughs, and the film cannot decide what it wants to be, despise 'homaging' almost every known TV series and film that is popular at the moment.
It's like a massive melting pot consisting of elements from The Walking Dead, Dr. Who, Transformers, Coronation Street, War of the Worlds, and those children film foundation movies we saw at school in the eighties.
But with all the fun and character detail taken away.
So we are left with a group of children looking for Steven Mackintosh, while dealing with a sub plot of Kinglsey trying to get it on with Gillian Anderson, which just doesn't seem right in a supposed family film.
And if things couldn't get any more incoherent, we then have Geraldine James and Tamer Hassan running some Burlesque type fight club for football supporters. And let's not mention the CGI boy..........strange.
So it had good intentions, but it's a bit of a mess. Maybe if they made it into a mini series and showed it on Saturday tea time just after the football results, maybe the characters could have been fleshed out, and it would have made more sense.
Oh wait a minute,they did that in the eighties with Tripods.
In robot-occupied Britain, mainly One street, city centres are devastated and a gang of teenagers live in a seaside town constantly under robot threat, and Ben Kingsleys panto style villain.
Fairly intimidating sentries patrol the streets, and are merciless death machines, but they are nice enough to give you a five minute warning.
The Mediator is deceptively childlike but autonomous, promising everyone it will all be over soon.....
I was quite looking forward to this. I like the directors other movies, as they are tongue in cheek nods to their respective genres, so I was hoping that this would be also semi parody,me specially with the inclusion of Kingsley, who is always good for his ham.
But no, it's pretty serious all the way through, despite unintentional laughs, and the film cannot decide what it wants to be, despise 'homaging' almost every known TV series and film that is popular at the moment.
It's like a massive melting pot consisting of elements from The Walking Dead, Dr. Who, Transformers, Coronation Street, War of the Worlds, and those children film foundation movies we saw at school in the eighties.
But with all the fun and character detail taken away.
So we are left with a group of children looking for Steven Mackintosh, while dealing with a sub plot of Kinglsey trying to get it on with Gillian Anderson, which just doesn't seem right in a supposed family film.
And if things couldn't get any more incoherent, we then have Geraldine James and Tamer Hassan running some Burlesque type fight club for football supporters. And let's not mention the CGI boy..........strange.
So it had good intentions, but it's a bit of a mess. Maybe if they made it into a mini series and showed it on Saturday tea time just after the football results, maybe the characters could have been fleshed out, and it would have made more sense.
Oh wait a minute,they did that in the eighties with Tripods.
Much better stuff for kids on TV
darrengee8 May 2016
Aimed at the CBBC teen market, this reminds me of some kind of Terminator Salvation meets Tripods. (Ask someone 40 plus!)
The plot doesn't seem overly logical to me... The war with the robot overlords has damaged things so much that the homes and infrastructure of the remaining humans are relatively untouched with everything functional. Street lights blaze away, no one looks gaunt or starving with their nice clean clothes etc.
These superkids can disable advanced robot technology very simply, whilst the adults under curfew can still have a good old Victorian style knees up including bare knuckle fighting! Maybe the booze is provided free by the robots so they can study drunken humans? Anyway why travel vast distances across the Milky Way to put us in an unnatural situation for them to scrutinise us? All the Transformers had to do was watch TV and hack the net!
The robot overlords are obviously not that good at Overlording as they need a pantomime human villain to do the more mundane stuff, like kidnapping and using the mind probe machine and other admin duties.
I'm not really sure how he fitted into the plot as the whole premise seemed so ludicrous and un-apocalyptic that I got bored at the point where Gillian Anderson escaped from the castle and stole the horse!
I understand this was low budget but then so were the original episodes of Dr Who. The cybermen made for much better, and scarier adversaries. None of the characters had any depth and the acting lacklustre.
I think the average teen would struggle to get anything out of this film, let alone anyone over the age of 18.
The plot doesn't seem overly logical to me... The war with the robot overlords has damaged things so much that the homes and infrastructure of the remaining humans are relatively untouched with everything functional. Street lights blaze away, no one looks gaunt or starving with their nice clean clothes etc.
These superkids can disable advanced robot technology very simply, whilst the adults under curfew can still have a good old Victorian style knees up including bare knuckle fighting! Maybe the booze is provided free by the robots so they can study drunken humans? Anyway why travel vast distances across the Milky Way to put us in an unnatural situation for them to scrutinise us? All the Transformers had to do was watch TV and hack the net!
The robot overlords are obviously not that good at Overlording as they need a pantomime human villain to do the more mundane stuff, like kidnapping and using the mind probe machine and other admin duties.
I'm not really sure how he fitted into the plot as the whole premise seemed so ludicrous and un-apocalyptic that I got bored at the point where Gillian Anderson escaped from the castle and stole the horse!
I understand this was low budget but then so were the original episodes of Dr Who. The cybermen made for much better, and scarier adversaries. None of the characters had any depth and the acting lacklustre.
I think the average teen would struggle to get anything out of this film, let alone anyone over the age of 18.
Pretty disappointing
Wizard-811 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
When I discovered a copy of this British movie at my local library, I was intrigued because the British film industry seldom makes movies like this. But upon watching it, I found out why the UK film industry seldom makes movies like this. I will give this to the movie - for what had to have been a limited budget, some of the special effects aren't that bad. Some are actually pretty good. The other parts of the movie do have the feel of a limited budgeted British television drama, though that didn't bother me too much. The main problem with the movie is with its script. I could look past the fact that the story seems to have been greatly inspired by the John Christopher "Tripods" books. But this telling of the same basic theme sorely lacks a lot of explanation. We don't really know how this society works, like how people get food or what they are expected to do imprisoned in their homes. It's also never really explained how one of the youths suddenly gets a connection with the robot invaders. If the movie could have gone into detail about things like those, I think it could have been really interesting. Another problem, though, is that the drama is kind of dull. A few more action sequences could have helped, as well as adding some real convincing emotion and character development during the quieter moments. While the movie is a Hollywood blockbuster wannabe, it falls quite short in its aim, and it isn't surprising that apparently no American distributor felt it was worth releasing to American theaters.
Highly subjective review. Be Warned. This is my opinion of what I've just seen.
angiris28 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Robots have invaded earth 3 years ago. The war lasted 11 days. They have 1 rule. Don't leave your home. "film begins"
Is that it? What the hell kind of intro is that?!
That was what I said when I saw this and knew I had to write a review after this expressing my own opinion on the matter. I've seen a lot of bad stuff. I like to think I rate fair. All in all I rate after what I personally think a film is and that is exactly what Im doing here.
Yes...I am rating this a 1 out of 10. I try to be fair with the films I watch. I know bad from good. I know mediocre from over. But this... THIS! This is a half-baked story,
Story & dialog = Boring and non-sensical due to the fact we have NO idea whats going on. We don't get any information about that after all. All we know is what the starting text told us. War, robots, home. Those 3 words sum up this film. ohh yea...and of course ANNOYING child acting.
Casting = I don't understand...what Ben Kinglsey...or Gillian Anderson. Wonderful Gillian Anderson who I loved from the X-Files which is getting a reboot soon. What...in the name of all that is SANE made you participate in this "thing"... whatever it is.
Camera = I had to mention this because sometimes through out this film the way it was shoot is actually making me queasy. The camera was shaking when it wasn't necessary and we're talking close-ups here. Never ending shaking cam from the very start. Yes...I get the film has to appear chaotic and disturbing BUT IT DOESN'T. A camera cannot fix that when the entire film screams: FAMILY FLICK. Which is funny considering its apparently not part of that genre.
Music = Ahh yes. The music here is pretty much as you'd expect the only keeping you awake through the sheer boredom of it all. Funny fact is also that at times the music outdoes the drama or action of the film itself. As if they knew they had to pump us up in order to keep us engaged because they knew this was doomed to fail WHICH IS MOST CERTAINLY is in MY own opinion.
THESE ACTORS....HAD NOTHING BETTER TO DO THE DAY THEY STARRED IN THIS. Whether its the money, the boredom, doing someone a favor (a BIG ONE) all in all. All except those god awful teen actors (STOP MAKING THESE FILMS Hollywood. Especially you JJ Abrams!STOP IT) had nothing...nothing... better to spend...correction "waste" their time on.
My first impressions of this was horrible. The poster with the child on it was disturbing me. I figured "another family sci fi piece of garbage" but I went with it. Film begins: Child screaming at his father with the most annoying voice I have ever heard. Not even fantastic Jim Carrey in Dumb Dumber with his "worst sound in the world" was this annoying. Holy mother of god.
And from there the film just flies from left to right following this corridor type of preset chronological progress due to the fact that REGARDLESS where these teens are...apparently they all know something about stuff that we don't. Let me elaborate on that, my dear reader. If you expect to get insight into whats going on throughout this film... don't. Forget about it! because it ain't happening here! You will be exposed to non-sensical, boring, linear half-baked, lackluster and UTTERLY ANNOYING story, acting, character progression and especially...ESPECIALLY that god awful child robot with his extremely freaking annoying voice and facial expression. Oh my god. It made my face cringe when I saw him. It made it cringe when he talked. It makes me cringe now just by mentioning it.
This film, this story, is the worst idea any writer and director has EVER had. EVER. I swear to god Titanic 2 is better than this and that film contains all that makes films bad. But bottom line is that you can LAUGH at titanic 2. You can enjoy pretty women. You can enjoy from time to time "okay-ish" acting.
This here... contains sloppiness. Lack of interest. The dialog that especially Ben Kingsley has is laughably bad. He's the dude working for the robots walking around PREVENTING THEM from getting killed. Thats it. Everybody else gets nuked when they go outside their homes. But when the kids do it. Good ol' Kingsley shows up and just before the countdown (with a crazily annoying robot voice counting down by the way) and says STOP! Can't do that! I got the code to shut you off! Take that robo! The kids gotta live or else we don't have a film.
Okay he doesn't actually say that BUT HE SHOULD because thats all his role is. Literally. That is all he does.
Im tired of ranting here guys. But like the title said. This is MY opinion on what I've just wasted my time seeing.
I think this is among the top 5 of the worst films I've ever seen here. And I base that on the fact that I don't ever want to watch this ever again. Unlike horrible garbage I've seen over the years this film has actually had people caring for it. People trying. Producers throwing money into special effects. The result is a god-awful excuse for a film. A film that made my face cringe. My skin crawl. Acting that annoyed me. Cast that shocked me. Awkwardly over the top music at times and finally THE WORST IDEA AND STORY FOR A FILM EVER MADE. This is boardroom story and dialog, guys. Stuff you cooked up in 5 minutes. Lackluster and half-baked.
This is my opinion after seeing this film.
Is that it? What the hell kind of intro is that?!
That was what I said when I saw this and knew I had to write a review after this expressing my own opinion on the matter. I've seen a lot of bad stuff. I like to think I rate fair. All in all I rate after what I personally think a film is and that is exactly what Im doing here.
Yes...I am rating this a 1 out of 10. I try to be fair with the films I watch. I know bad from good. I know mediocre from over. But this... THIS! This is a half-baked story,
Story & dialog = Boring and non-sensical due to the fact we have NO idea whats going on. We don't get any information about that after all. All we know is what the starting text told us. War, robots, home. Those 3 words sum up this film. ohh yea...and of course ANNOYING child acting.
Casting = I don't understand...what Ben Kinglsey...or Gillian Anderson. Wonderful Gillian Anderson who I loved from the X-Files which is getting a reboot soon. What...in the name of all that is SANE made you participate in this "thing"... whatever it is.
Camera = I had to mention this because sometimes through out this film the way it was shoot is actually making me queasy. The camera was shaking when it wasn't necessary and we're talking close-ups here. Never ending shaking cam from the very start. Yes...I get the film has to appear chaotic and disturbing BUT IT DOESN'T. A camera cannot fix that when the entire film screams: FAMILY FLICK. Which is funny considering its apparently not part of that genre.
Music = Ahh yes. The music here is pretty much as you'd expect the only keeping you awake through the sheer boredom of it all. Funny fact is also that at times the music outdoes the drama or action of the film itself. As if they knew they had to pump us up in order to keep us engaged because they knew this was doomed to fail WHICH IS MOST CERTAINLY is in MY own opinion.
THESE ACTORS....HAD NOTHING BETTER TO DO THE DAY THEY STARRED IN THIS. Whether its the money, the boredom, doing someone a favor (a BIG ONE) all in all. All except those god awful teen actors (STOP MAKING THESE FILMS Hollywood. Especially you JJ Abrams!STOP IT) had nothing...nothing... better to spend...correction "waste" their time on.
My first impressions of this was horrible. The poster with the child on it was disturbing me. I figured "another family sci fi piece of garbage" but I went with it. Film begins: Child screaming at his father with the most annoying voice I have ever heard. Not even fantastic Jim Carrey in Dumb Dumber with his "worst sound in the world" was this annoying. Holy mother of god.
And from there the film just flies from left to right following this corridor type of preset chronological progress due to the fact that REGARDLESS where these teens are...apparently they all know something about stuff that we don't. Let me elaborate on that, my dear reader. If you expect to get insight into whats going on throughout this film... don't. Forget about it! because it ain't happening here! You will be exposed to non-sensical, boring, linear half-baked, lackluster and UTTERLY ANNOYING story, acting, character progression and especially...ESPECIALLY that god awful child robot with his extremely freaking annoying voice and facial expression. Oh my god. It made my face cringe when I saw him. It made it cringe when he talked. It makes me cringe now just by mentioning it.
This film, this story, is the worst idea any writer and director has EVER had. EVER. I swear to god Titanic 2 is better than this and that film contains all that makes films bad. But bottom line is that you can LAUGH at titanic 2. You can enjoy pretty women. You can enjoy from time to time "okay-ish" acting.
This here... contains sloppiness. Lack of interest. The dialog that especially Ben Kingsley has is laughably bad. He's the dude working for the robots walking around PREVENTING THEM from getting killed. Thats it. Everybody else gets nuked when they go outside their homes. But when the kids do it. Good ol' Kingsley shows up and just before the countdown (with a crazily annoying robot voice counting down by the way) and says STOP! Can't do that! I got the code to shut you off! Take that robo! The kids gotta live or else we don't have a film.
Okay he doesn't actually say that BUT HE SHOULD because thats all his role is. Literally. That is all he does.
Im tired of ranting here guys. But like the title said. This is MY opinion on what I've just wasted my time seeing.
I think this is among the top 5 of the worst films I've ever seen here. And I base that on the fact that I don't ever want to watch this ever again. Unlike horrible garbage I've seen over the years this film has actually had people caring for it. People trying. Producers throwing money into special effects. The result is a god-awful excuse for a film. A film that made my face cringe. My skin crawl. Acting that annoyed me. Cast that shocked me. Awkwardly over the top music at times and finally THE WORST IDEA AND STORY FOR A FILM EVER MADE. This is boardroom story and dialog, guys. Stuff you cooked up in 5 minutes. Lackluster and half-baked.
This is my opinion after seeing this film.
Entertaining... if you're a child... maybe...
skot-2118 November 2015
Basic and by the numbers. I had extremely low expectations because It looked like a kids movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware not everything made is going to be something I will enjoy but this kind of watered down rubbish is completely devoid of any value on any level what's so ever.
It's a tired old plot, recycled and rehashed. Mailed in performances by the only two cast members with actual career (Kingley has been on a down slide since Iron Man 3, which I though he couldn't sink any lower) to the sci-fi channel level of CG, this film is a tragedy on so many levels and definitely not worth the time... clearly the people who made this didn't put any real thought or creativity into it. Robot designs were cheap, like Asylum Sharknado cheap, basically cubes, because cubes are easy to make in CG rather than designing complex, engaging robots that are visually interesting and worth showing off Instead we get cubes that are basically on screen very sparingly, either do to cost or embarrassment.
All the positive reviews posted are clearly by people who either A.) have some connection to the cast crew or producers, or B) are just idiots, which is why garbage like this continues to get made. What a waste... too bad all the time effort and money was spent on this wasn't put towards something people would actually enjoy, rather than cranking out this. Completely unnecessary, nothing we haven't seen elsewhere with better craftsmanship and purpose.
What a waste of a cool name and 90 minutes of my life, 90 minutes I will never get back.... do yourselves a favor, watch Red Dawn or any number of better films with the same plot, you know, the old "kids vs oppressors" troupe.
It's a tired old plot, recycled and rehashed. Mailed in performances by the only two cast members with actual career (Kingley has been on a down slide since Iron Man 3, which I though he couldn't sink any lower) to the sci-fi channel level of CG, this film is a tragedy on so many levels and definitely not worth the time... clearly the people who made this didn't put any real thought or creativity into it. Robot designs were cheap, like Asylum Sharknado cheap, basically cubes, because cubes are easy to make in CG rather than designing complex, engaging robots that are visually interesting and worth showing off Instead we get cubes that are basically on screen very sparingly, either do to cost or embarrassment.
All the positive reviews posted are clearly by people who either A.) have some connection to the cast crew or producers, or B) are just idiots, which is why garbage like this continues to get made. What a waste... too bad all the time effort and money was spent on this wasn't put towards something people would actually enjoy, rather than cranking out this. Completely unnecessary, nothing we haven't seen elsewhere with better craftsmanship and purpose.
What a waste of a cool name and 90 minutes of my life, 90 minutes I will never get back.... do yourselves a favor, watch Red Dawn or any number of better films with the same plot, you know, the old "kids vs oppressors" troupe.
What's not to like?
kris-gray23 October 2019
Well let me see -
1. There's no Yanks in it. 2. The Yanks aren't saving the world for a change 3. Gillian Anderson is in it 4. Sir Ben Kingsley is in it 5. Milo (Gerald Durrell) Parker is in it (first film) 6. Stephen Mackintosh is in it (just about) 7. There's no half naked girl running around screaming 8. There's not Yanks in it. 9. Did I say the Yanks aren't saving the world for a change
Okay the story is well trodden but the Yanks keep on making it so why can't the British? Previous reviewers cite bad acting, seriously? the above mentioned do a cellar job with a so, so script. Plot holes ok a few like if the humans have to stay in doors how do they get fed? but small gripes.
Loved the scene with the Spitfire. For this kind of film it's way above what the Sci-fi channel churn out on a regular basis, ignore the bad reviews, if you compare it to those others it's soooo much better.
1. There's no Yanks in it. 2. The Yanks aren't saving the world for a change 3. Gillian Anderson is in it 4. Sir Ben Kingsley is in it 5. Milo (Gerald Durrell) Parker is in it (first film) 6. Stephen Mackintosh is in it (just about) 7. There's no half naked girl running around screaming 8. There's not Yanks in it. 9. Did I say the Yanks aren't saving the world for a change
Okay the story is well trodden but the Yanks keep on making it so why can't the British? Previous reviewers cite bad acting, seriously? the above mentioned do a cellar job with a so, so script. Plot holes ok a few like if the humans have to stay in doors how do they get fed? but small gripes.
Loved the scene with the Spitfire. For this kind of film it's way above what the Sci-fi channel churn out on a regular basis, ignore the bad reviews, if you compare it to those others it's soooo much better.
A childish story with outdated looking robots.
peterp-450-29871627 August 2015
"Sean Flynn. You are a fascinating phenomenon."
I understand that this film was made for a young audience. Actually I should form an opinion with this in mind. Does that mean that films for a young audience always look terrible ? And must I, as an adult, always judge these movies from that perspective? Why ? "The Goonies", "How to train a dragon", "ET" and (I'm ashamed to say it) "Frozen" are clearly creative products meant for toddlers among us. If I were to write an opinion about these films, this would be a remarkable positive sounding opinion. Youth films can also be entertaining, with a subtle story and surprisingly good looking special effects. But just as "Big Game" this film fails on several levels and even sounding names like Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley can't change that.
First, there are the pitiful-looking special effects. This is due to the limited,available budget I guess. It doesn't look like a new version of "Transformers". It rather resembles an old episode of the "Power Rangers". Admittedly, at times it wasn't so bad, but most of the time it seemed as if a bunch of "Dinky Toys"-like robots were pasted onto the screen. Not to mention the mastermind that was connected to the whole army of robots. It looked like "Frank" from the eponymous film. This really made no sense at all.
But especially the story is terribly childish, incoherent and predictable. The opening text is enormously brief. That made me already suspicious. We're told that three years ago a swarm of robots invaded earth and there was a war that lasted 11 days. Since then (already 1264 days), the whole world gets grounded and everyone gets an implant in the neck so the robots can intervene immediately if someone leaves his house. The choice you have then is to get the hell out of there, rush to your home and get inside as soon as possible. Or get hit by a whopper of a laser beam and vaporize. Because that is the only rule the robots have introduced when taking over earth : "No one can leave his home". This rule applies until the occupiers are ready with their (unknown and according to them innocent) research, after which they will disappear again. Then again, those robots aren't exactly that superior, because they still use individuals, who are known as "collaborators", who make sure everybody obeys and follows that rule. They can even intervene by briefly saying a command in an imperative way, followed by an authorization code. The in anger erupting robot immediately calms down and runs of to take care of other stuff.
Instantly I asked myself some pressing questions. How did those house arrested earthlings get food and beverages ? I suppose the weak ones systematically disappear because there's no medical care available? Electricity, water and other utilities will malfunction after a while ? How is it possible that the partying gang can still consume alcohol ? The way the implants can be switched off briefly, is so simplistic that it seems unlikely. And scientists and rational people are seemingly deported first, so that they couldn't come up with this solution. And apparently Mr. Smythe (Ben Kingsley) still doesn't know how the brainwashing machine works, otherwise it wouldn't knock him out all of a sudden. And finally I was wondering who the hell would read the message in those tennis balls, since no one can leave his home.
The recurrent fact that's always used in youth films is again applicable here. The youngsters become true heroes after straightening the crooked, threatening situation and thus save the world from further disaster. Once again the adults are just a gang of morons who aren't able to solve these problems in a rational and intellectual way. Sean Flynn also happens to have an incomprehensible force. Live with it and don't try to comprehend it. Also there's the strange fact that the superior robot (also known as the "Mediator") can keep an eye on a whole network of robots, but isn't able to control this individual. I thought this was a bit exaggerated. But it fits in this rather illogical story. Kingsley does not play a memorable role, but he can demonstrate his "wounded self-esteem expression" again. Anderson still looks sensual. There isn't much more to say about her. Sean (Callan McAuliffe) plays the hero. Enough said. Nathan (James Tarpey) is the irritating member of the group. A windbag who turns out to be a wimp when the going gets tough. And Alex (Ella Hunt) represents the feminine gender and is of no further significance (besides a "Sleeping Beauty" moment at the end). The only amusing acting performance is that of Milo Parker as the little Connor. Brilliant how he can overpower a small group of adults just by using flares. And he's clever too ! I didn't know Stannum was Latin for tin.
Ultimately, this is a ignorable movie that really aims at a niche segment of the movie audience. It might be a bit too frightening for the really young kids. And a bit too childish for the older kids. And for us adults, it's completely bland and backward. But are you a "Dr. Who "fan and you're hooked on old-fashioned-looking Lego-blocks-like robots, this adventure film for kids might be able to entertain you. However, this was not for me.
More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT
I understand that this film was made for a young audience. Actually I should form an opinion with this in mind. Does that mean that films for a young audience always look terrible ? And must I, as an adult, always judge these movies from that perspective? Why ? "The Goonies", "How to train a dragon", "ET" and (I'm ashamed to say it) "Frozen" are clearly creative products meant for toddlers among us. If I were to write an opinion about these films, this would be a remarkable positive sounding opinion. Youth films can also be entertaining, with a subtle story and surprisingly good looking special effects. But just as "Big Game" this film fails on several levels and even sounding names like Gillian Anderson and Ben Kingsley can't change that.
First, there are the pitiful-looking special effects. This is due to the limited,available budget I guess. It doesn't look like a new version of "Transformers". It rather resembles an old episode of the "Power Rangers". Admittedly, at times it wasn't so bad, but most of the time it seemed as if a bunch of "Dinky Toys"-like robots were pasted onto the screen. Not to mention the mastermind that was connected to the whole army of robots. It looked like "Frank" from the eponymous film. This really made no sense at all.
But especially the story is terribly childish, incoherent and predictable. The opening text is enormously brief. That made me already suspicious. We're told that three years ago a swarm of robots invaded earth and there was a war that lasted 11 days. Since then (already 1264 days), the whole world gets grounded and everyone gets an implant in the neck so the robots can intervene immediately if someone leaves his house. The choice you have then is to get the hell out of there, rush to your home and get inside as soon as possible. Or get hit by a whopper of a laser beam and vaporize. Because that is the only rule the robots have introduced when taking over earth : "No one can leave his home". This rule applies until the occupiers are ready with their (unknown and according to them innocent) research, after which they will disappear again. Then again, those robots aren't exactly that superior, because they still use individuals, who are known as "collaborators", who make sure everybody obeys and follows that rule. They can even intervene by briefly saying a command in an imperative way, followed by an authorization code. The in anger erupting robot immediately calms down and runs of to take care of other stuff.
Instantly I asked myself some pressing questions. How did those house arrested earthlings get food and beverages ? I suppose the weak ones systematically disappear because there's no medical care available? Electricity, water and other utilities will malfunction after a while ? How is it possible that the partying gang can still consume alcohol ? The way the implants can be switched off briefly, is so simplistic that it seems unlikely. And scientists and rational people are seemingly deported first, so that they couldn't come up with this solution. And apparently Mr. Smythe (Ben Kingsley) still doesn't know how the brainwashing machine works, otherwise it wouldn't knock him out all of a sudden. And finally I was wondering who the hell would read the message in those tennis balls, since no one can leave his home.
The recurrent fact that's always used in youth films is again applicable here. The youngsters become true heroes after straightening the crooked, threatening situation and thus save the world from further disaster. Once again the adults are just a gang of morons who aren't able to solve these problems in a rational and intellectual way. Sean Flynn also happens to have an incomprehensible force. Live with it and don't try to comprehend it. Also there's the strange fact that the superior robot (also known as the "Mediator") can keep an eye on a whole network of robots, but isn't able to control this individual. I thought this was a bit exaggerated. But it fits in this rather illogical story. Kingsley does not play a memorable role, but he can demonstrate his "wounded self-esteem expression" again. Anderson still looks sensual. There isn't much more to say about her. Sean (Callan McAuliffe) plays the hero. Enough said. Nathan (James Tarpey) is the irritating member of the group. A windbag who turns out to be a wimp when the going gets tough. And Alex (Ella Hunt) represents the feminine gender and is of no further significance (besides a "Sleeping Beauty" moment at the end). The only amusing acting performance is that of Milo Parker as the little Connor. Brilliant how he can overpower a small group of adults just by using flares. And he's clever too ! I didn't know Stannum was Latin for tin.
Ultimately, this is a ignorable movie that really aims at a niche segment of the movie audience. It might be a bit too frightening for the really young kids. And a bit too childish for the older kids. And for us adults, it's completely bland and backward. But are you a "Dr. Who "fan and you're hooked on old-fashioned-looking Lego-blocks-like robots, this adventure film for kids might be able to entertain you. However, this was not for me.
More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT
a great film from the UK
d-reed810 April 2015
can/t understand why this film has a low score its got everything a good film needs a good storyline (most importantly the characters are believe able you can understand the plot )it goes along at a steady pace its not too slow, its aimed at the longer generation but grown ups will enjoy it too, its got some funny moments that make you chuckle and the special effects don't overshadow the scenes. After watching the film i can only say that IF the film had been made in Hollywood it would have a cast of A list stars and more special effects and CGI than Any Star wars film which may have made pots of money for some one but it may not have been so enjoyable
A worthwhile Brit Sci-fi pitched at the teen market
s32761693 April 2015
I'm surprised by some of the caustic reviews of Robot Overlords. I can but assume the reviewers missed the memo that explains this film is clearly pitched at a teen audience.
That said, Robot Overlords has enough on offer to prove enjoyable for anyone. Its adopts a softened approach to sci-fi, with the hard core death and destruction found in films like Alien, left on the shelf. What you get instead is a cleverly directed film, that is more reminiscent of Doctor Who or perhaps the Sarah Jane adventures.
The hero is a young teen boy and his friends who, inexplicably, take on an invading army of robots who conquered the armies of earth in short order. The story is not supposed to be taken seriously and instead, represents a fun ride for those willing to accept the limitations imposed, which reflect the ages of the likely target audience.
The acting is good with a strong cast and pretty decent special effects. My advice ignore the negative nellies and give Robot Overlords a go, you won't be disappointed. Seven out of ten from me.
That said, Robot Overlords has enough on offer to prove enjoyable for anyone. Its adopts a softened approach to sci-fi, with the hard core death and destruction found in films like Alien, left on the shelf. What you get instead is a cleverly directed film, that is more reminiscent of Doctor Who or perhaps the Sarah Jane adventures.
The hero is a young teen boy and his friends who, inexplicably, take on an invading army of robots who conquered the armies of earth in short order. The story is not supposed to be taken seriously and instead, represents a fun ride for those willing to accept the limitations imposed, which reflect the ages of the likely target audience.
The acting is good with a strong cast and pretty decent special effects. My advice ignore the negative nellies and give Robot Overlords a go, you won't be disappointed. Seven out of ten from me.
Very Poor Craftsmanship
sentilorieber10 July 2016
Don't waste any time - except you want to show your students how it's not done. The film is terrible on more than one level. There is no excuse for poor craftsmanship. The script seems to be pieced together by taking parts from other movies. But not in a respectable way by honoring other's ideas, they're just taken. The directing is so bad, even a Ben Kingsley looks bad. Don't let the producers pull this off - nobody needs more of this.
There are a lot of ideas in the script that are never fully explained - almost like in poorly crafted video games. The story would allow some suspense. But most of the time a solution pops up prematurely taking any kind of suspense there might have been. And please have the so called director attend a class on how to develop a character before letting him do anything like this again. There are some promising moments - so maybe that could put him on the right track.
There are a lot of ideas in the script that are never fully explained - almost like in poorly crafted video games. The story would allow some suspense. But most of the time a solution pops up prematurely taking any kind of suspense there might have been. And please have the so called director attend a class on how to develop a character before letting him do anything like this again. There are some promising moments - so maybe that could put him on the right track.
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