88 Films UK Blu-ray Synopsis: From the heady days of early 90s Hong Kong exploitation cinema comes Robotrix, a hi-octane, fast and furious science fiction romp, packed with glorious action sequences and bonkers plotlines. When evil inventor Ryuichi Samamoto (Chung Lin) transfers his mind into that of a powerful cyborg (Billy Chow), he becomes a murderer and rapist. But when one of his victims, Police officer Salina Lam (Chikako Aoyama) becomes super robot Eve-27, she teams up with android sidekick Ann (Amy Yip) and together they seek to bring the criminally insane scientist to justice. Like a crazy mix of The Terminator (1984), The Power Rangers and of course, Robocop (1987), Robotrix combines the mad doctor movie with extreme martial arts to deliver a sexy, seductive, bionic tale of lust and violence given a uniquely Asian futuristic spin.

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Medium Rare UK DVD Synopsis: Robotrix is the infamous Hong Kong exploitation category III film that set the standard, starring the undisputed queen of the genre, Amy Yip. A scientist discovers a way to transfer a dying person's consciousness into a new cyborg body. This technique is used to save Selina (Amy Yip), a policewoman gunned down in the line of duty. She becomes the sexy super heroine Robotrix and the fight against crime will never be the same again!

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Hong Kong Classics UK VHS Synopsis: The sexy action flick set the standard for category III movies, packed with beautiful robot babes battling an evil killer, pausing only to experience human sex! When cute cop Selina is shot during a kidnapping, computer expert Dr. Sara puts her memory into the body of a futuristic robot. Together with gorgeous robot Ann (Amy Yip) they must stop an evil scientist who has put his own mind into another robot in order to conquer the world. Ann, who possesses more than her fair share of lethal weapons, insists on going undercover as a prostitute so she can find out what sex is like, much to the delight of her prospective clients! The action is non-stop and every outfit is skimpier than the last, as Amy Yip demonstrates just why she is the Queen of category III movies...

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Views: After a female cop is shot dead while trying to protect the playboy son of a wealthy Sheik during a kidnapping, she is given a second chance at life when a scientist transports her consciousness into an identical robot. Once used to her new body, Detective Lam sets out to find the kidnapper with the help of the police, Doctor Sara, and her well-endowed android assistant Anna – all while trying to keep her policeman boyfriend happy in the bedroom and stop her secret getting out. They soon come face-to-face with the killer kidnapper – a deadly robot that is driven by the consciousness of a mad scientist – and must fight to the death in a bid to stop him!

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From the silly story and wacky characters, to the wild sex and crazy action pieces, Robotrix could easily have been a soft-porn masterpiece. Littered with lots of naked breasts and plenty of genitals, the film often tries to take itself seriously – such as the scene where a female cop can't accept that her mind and consciousness has been transferred into a robot that looks exactly like her – but the film is so camp in many ways, it fails to deliver any straight drama. Of course, a lot of that is down to director Jamie Luk who also penned the script along with first-time-writer So Man Sing who went on to write Girls Without Tomorrow, The Blade, Once Upon A Time In China & America, and Bio Zombie. Jamie Luk Kim Ming probably has one of the most recognisable faces in Hong Kong cinema and started as a bit-player in many Shaw Brothers films from The Savage 5 to Rendezvous With Death. He went on to star in over 160 films including roles in Sammo Hung's Carry On Pickpocket, Shaolin Drunkard, Lee Rock, Bogus Cops, The Great Magician, and Jackie Chan films such as Twin Dragons, Rumble In The Bronx, and Shinjuku Incident. Luk started writing in the early 80s, providing the script for kung fu comedy The Legend Of The Owl and it didn't take long for him to get his first credit as director with Love With The Perfect Stranger. From there, Luk went onto direct many more including Reincarnation, King Of Stanley Market, Doctor Vampire, Bomb Disposal Officer Baby Bomb, The Case Of The Cold Fish, Troublesome Night 15, and One Nite In Mongkok – most of which he also wrote and appeared in. While I wouldn't say that Robotrix is the pinnacle of his career, it's definitely one of his most popular (if not 'the' most popular) film he's ever made. Taking some inspiration from The Terminator, Robocop, and a host of bad 80s killer-robot-movies, Luk throws everything but the kitchen sink at Robotrix from violent sex to explosive gun-fights, and wild martial arts action to gore filled deaths – to be honest, I was actually surprised that Golden Harvest was behind it.

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The film was produced by Chua Lam (Tsui Lam) who had acquired the services of Jamie Luk when only the idea and casting for Robotrix was in place. It was up to Luk to create the script and get things rolling, although he was encouraged to be quick about it. Over the years, Chau had produced some great titles including Yuen Biao's Peacock King and its sequel, The Seventh Curse, Vampire Vs Vampire, City Hunter, Crime Story, Thunderbolt, Mr. Nice Guy, and most of Luk's own titles. He had been a part of the industry for many years working on roles as a planner and production manager from the Shaw Brothers classic, Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires to Jackie Chan's Armour Of God, and penned the cult classic Oily Maniac starring Danny Lee. On top of Luk's rushed script, I think it's safe to say that the cast weren't exactly putting on the greatest performances of their careers. The biggest culprit of this would be the handsome David Wu Dai Wai – a Taiwanese actor who has appeared in films such as Return Engagement, In The Line Of Duty 5: Middle Man, Tiger Cage 2, Young Wisely 1 & 2, Full Throttle, Farewell My Concubine, Hu-Du-Men, and was the narrator for the Western release of Jackie Chan: My Story which actually annoyed the fuck out of me. While I've never thought of him as a great actor, I do enjoy seeing Wu on-screen, with the awesome Tiger Cage 2 being the first film I'd have seen him in. The wonderful Amy Yip Ji Mei, no doubt hired for her big bust and looks, returns to the Cat. 3 scene but gets to play a bit more of a respectable heroine throughout this time. By the time Robotrix came about, Yip had already made an impression in films such as The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 & 3, Ghost Fever, Jail House Eros, My Neighbours Are Phantoms, Erotic Ghost Story, Mortuary Blues, and To Be Number One – along with small appearances in Miracles, She Shoots Straight, and more. 1991 would prove to be a busy year for the lady with no less than 10 roles in films like Legend Of The Dragon, Blue Jean Monster, Magnificent Scoundrels, Queen Of The Underworld, Sex & Zen, Robotrix, and a cameo in Erotic Ghost Story 2. I actually really enjoyed her here and thought she did a great job in the action department, as well as handle the comedy and acting quite well as the kick-ass, android assistant to Hui Hui Daan's Doctor Sara. Due to some Japanese investment, one of the main roles was dedicated to Nipponese actress Aoyama Chikako – an equally busty actress who made her Hong Kong film debut with a cameo in the Chau Lam produced Au Revoir, Mon Amour alongside Anita Mui and Tony Leung Kar Fai. Robotrix would be her first major role her in the industry and no doubt had her question her line of work, considering the amount of crazy action and nudity she had to endure – although she did get to have a sex scene with the handsome David Wu, so I'm sure it wasn't all bad. And then there was the wonderful Billy Chow Bei Lei...

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As the only actor selected by Jamie Luk, Billy stars in one of his most memorable and exciting roles as a robotic sex-fiend with no concern for human life. I'm a big fan of Chow's having watched him kick-ass for many years in classics like Dragons Forever, Eastern Condors, Paper Marriage, Pedicab Driver, The Blonde Fury, Magic Cop, Escape From The Brothel, Kickboxers Tears, Fist Of Legend, and many more. Along with Dick Wei, he has long been one of my favourite Hong Kong villains and rarely fails to entertain with his moves – or even his performance. While he starred in almost 80 films, Billy's career started to dwindle just after the turn-of-the-century with films like Unbeatables, Dragon The Master, Hero Youngster, and Roaring Dragon, Bluffing Tiger failing to provide any real positive feedback from fans. So it was a nice surprise to see him come back out of retirement over a decade later to appear in Chin Kar Lok's fun Golden Job – although slightly disappointing at the same time because we didn't really get to see him fight, except for a bit of gun-play. In Robotrix, Billy goes full Terminator and then some as he creates chaos across Hong Kong – delivering brutality and violence akin to that seen in the classic Story Of Ricky that sees him run over cops in his car, force a drill through Chikako's chest, decapitate someone with a briefcase, punch through peoples stomachs, and rape any woman he can. In one pretty visual sex scene, Billy actually fucks a woman to death before throwing her through a window, where she comes crashing down on a car below. It's an insanely brutal moment and was one of the many cuts that suffered at the hands of the BBFC, when Robotrix got its initial release back in the 90s. The rest of the cast is filled out with plenty of recognisable faces such as Kwai Chung, Wu Fung, Lam Chung, and Stuart Ong, with many western actors such as Vincent Lyn, Ken Goodman, Roger Thomas, and Mark King getting in on the fun!

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When it comes to the action, Jamie Luk worked alongside an action team led by the wonderful Yuen Tak – one of the infamous 7 Little Fortunes and kung-fu brother to Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Corey Yuen Kwai, and Yuen Wah. Much like his brothers, Tak's career took a similar path starting work as a stuntman before appearing in Shaw Brothers movies, then moving on to work as a martial arts director and action choreographer for many great hits such as The Dragon From Russia, New Legend Of Shaolin, 2000 AD, The Iceman Cometh, Saviour Of The Soul, Operation Scorpio, High Risk, and so much more. In Robotrix, Yuen Tak provides many fun action scenes, directing the main cast involved with more robotic martial moves that works for the girls in the sense that they aren't trained martial artists. Of course, Billy Chow shines as expected but his final showdown with the heroines isn't exactly like that of his fights in Dragons Forever or Pedicab Driver – but they're still a lot of fun and suit the style of the film perfectly. While Robotrix may my have its flaws it has still entertained me for years now, and this gorgeous Blu-ray release from 88 Films has just taken that to a whole new level. I doubt I'm going to get bored of it anytime soon...

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Overall: Campy fun, brutal, and totally bonkers, Robotrix is one of the best Cat. 3 exploitation flicks of early 90s Hong Kong cinema and never fails to entertain me!

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88 Films Blu-ray Extras: Introduction with Director Jamie Luk, Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Scenes from Alternate Version, Trailers, English Language Titles

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Watch my unboxing video of this 88 Films release HERE​