Buy it... if you enjoy Frederic Talgorn's romantic style of thematic development or the brassy fanfares that often accompanied the larger-than-life robot genre.

Avoid it... if the cheese factor in these simplistic B-film scores is just too great to overcome.

Talgorn

Robotjox: (Frederic Talgorn) There was a time in the 1980's when giant robots were the hottest thing around, and the father/son team of Albert and Charles Band brought several movies about them to the big screen. While many of these robot genre films were animated at the time (The Transformers seemingly spurred them all into production), advancements in film technology made live-action robot films possible at the outset of the 1990's. One of the first was Robotjox, directed by famed sci-fi, action, and horror master Stuart Gordon. The concept of this plot was as ridiculous as any of the other giant robot films that would follow. There always has to be some far-fetched reason why there are huge robots fighting each other over flaming ruins, and in the case of Robotjox, the story tells us that 50 years after the nuclear holocaust, war has been outlawed and all battles between the two superpowers (Soviets against Americans, of course) are settled by huge robots in arena duels. One such giant robot dual (all of which involving a guy controlling the machine from within) involves the ownership of Alaska... so that should give you enough information to make the proper judgment that Robotjox is an intellectual wasteland. They even made one of the robots in the film into a giant transformer capable of becoming a tank... how original! Poor sets, clumsy stop motion robot effects, and other difficulties with the low-budget renderings of the robots caused the film to be laughable, especially compared to the giant robot films that would greatly improve the effects as early as 1995. Movies like Robotjox were typically plagued by cheap synthetic scores, and in reality, this film could have been decently served by one as well. But Gordon's usual collaborator for these projects was French composer Frederic Talgorn, and enough funding in the budget was saved for him to conduct a rousing performance by the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra.

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It's truly sad to think that Robotjox is among Talgorn's most accomplished compositions, for the film is so wretched. But in his unfortunately sparse career in major film scoring, Robotjox has moments that highlight that career. Talgorn's usual strong development of thematic ideas is well utilized in rather simplistic fashion in this film, perfect for the contrasting characters and their underdeveloped dimensions. Three major themes exist, and all are given spectacular treatment by the ensemble. Talgorn hits us immediately with a heroic fanfare for brass over a sharp, Western-inspired rhythm. Opening and closing the film with simplistic masculine appeal, this theme is also used as the announcement piece for the early duels in the film. A softer string theme is presented as an interlude to this fanfare in the "Overture" and finale cue. A general nod to the human side of the story, this romantic string theme with noble brass counterpoint is the highlight of the score, and is given an extended performance in "We Can Both Live" at the end of the film. A third theme is presented for the Russian champion robot fighter, an entertaining militaristic piece for brass culminating in "Space Battle" and "Transformation." A dynamic performance by the Parisian ensemble is mixed with an ambient wet sound that fits the larger-than-life subject matter well. Detractions from the score exist in two significant doses, however, and both involve Talgorn's use of synthesizers. He approached the female fighter's character with synths in mind, both in a conversational piece ("Achilles' Bedroom") and in her fighting fanfare ("Fanfare for Athena"). A source cue tacked on to "Fanfare for Athena" ("The Jock Strap Bar") is a highly annoying light 80's disco rock deviation from the rest of the score. Due to money issues with the studio, the film was delayed a few years and largely forgotten (its title was even confused as "RoboJox" or "Robot Jox"). A score album was pushed back to a 1993 release by Prometheus in Belgium, and while the film bombed, the album is still readily available at soundtrack specialty outlets. Talgorn collectors and fans of high brass action should give it a second look. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download