Plot:
It's the future. The President's daughter has been kidnapped by the evil Black Mamba and his being held for ransom. The government inlists the help of their intergalatic hero, Robot, to storm Black Mamba's ship and retrieve the President's daughter. Of course, that is easier said than done.
Our thoughts:
It seems that the term low-budget is thrown around a lot and is used very loosely, mostly due to the fact that creating something from very little is a badge of honor in terms of filmmaking. Though I can't help but role my eyes when I read the claims of movies like, "Repo! The Genetic Opera" being cited as a low-budget effort. In comparison to mainstream efforts, an 8.5 million dollar budget could be consider low-budget. Maybe. Then there are movies like "Robot Bastard!" that bring a whole new meaning to the term. Almost a one-man, weekend project, Rob Schrab has created, I believe, to be one of the best short films.
Made on a budget of $18,000, "Robot Bastard!" packs enough punch in its runtime, that it puts most action movie epics to shame. A government employed robot, who oddly enough goes by the name Robot, has to storm a spaceship to rescue the President's daughter who is being held for ransom. Along the way, he must fight an army of Black Mummies, a man-made race of zombie like creatures. Which is where the movie manages to bring together splatter and action movie fans, as Robot despences the creatures using different methods, from blasting them away with one of his guns, or hand-to-hand combat. Where we get to see arms torn off and shoved through skulls, heads being splattered against walls, in all its green gory goodness. No sc-fi-action epic would be complete without a show down with the head villain, where the story is given a simple but fun little twist where the only thing left is for the movie to go out with a big bang. Literally.
It may be consider a rather simple movie, but what is amazing is the different filmmaking techniques that were combined to bring out one amazing short movie, that can only be described as epic. Mentioned before was the budget given for the project, and Rob Schrab made every penny count, with creating and designing some impressive characters and set pieces with simple house hold items. When you watch the movie (and you WILL watch this movie.) see how many different items you can identify. He combines that with both stop-motion animation and simple but effective, computer animation. That helps give the movie a rather unique style of combining both new and old science fiction styles, while maintaining this quality that'll leave you wondering how one man and a handful of select people managed to make such an effective homemade project. It'll also leave you wondering why the hell people in Hollywood, who have enormous budgets and endless recourses, aren't able to make something any where near as fun or as entertaining as "Robot Bastard!".
Do yourself a favor and check this movie out, you can watch it for free on the "Robot Bastard!" web site, so there really isn't any justifiable reason not to watch it. You may or may not like it as much as I did, but you'll sure as hell respect Rob Schrab and what he managed to create with so little. |
