Robotrix
Robotrix (Chinese 女机械人 pinyin: nǚ jīxièrén "Woman Robot") is a 1991 Hong Kong science fiction exploitation film directed by Jamie Luk Kin-ming and produced by the Golden Harvest Company. Bill Lui, the winner of the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards (Best Art Direction), is the Art Director of this film. It features the soft-porn star Amy Yip, Taiwanese-American actor David Wu, Japanese actress Chikako Aoyama, kung fu expert Billy Chow, and Hui Hsiao-dan. The plot concerns a female police officer who is gunned down, only to have her mind transferred into a cyborg clone. The idea of mind uploading as well as some cult elements inside the film make Robotrix become a science fiction film classic in Hong Kong. This erotic R-rated thriller is notable for a Hong Kong film on general release in featuring frequent female full-frontal nudity, and is particularly notable for a scene of brief full-frontal male nudity (of Hong Kong Chinese actor Chung Lin, playing the robot version of Japanese scientist Ryuichi Sakamoto), as it is perhaps the first time in Hong Kong cinema that a Chinese adult male's genitals have been fully revealed on camera in a film for general release. It was also perhaps notable for leading the way in Hong Kong category 3 martial arts films. Cast member Vincent Lyn said of the film, "Now that was one wild shoot. The cast and crew were all over the place and you were lucky to find out what you were doing before the cameras rolled. I spent more time laughing on the set than anything else."
| Robotrix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jamie Luk Kin-ming |
| Written by | Jamie Luk So Man-Sing |
| Produced by | Henry Chan |
| Starring | Amy Yip David Wu Chikako Aoyama Chung Lin Billy Chow Hui Hsiao-dan |
| Cinematography | Jim Yeung |
| Edited by | Peter Cheung Ng Wang Hung |
| Music by | Jim Yeung Siu Hung Yeung |
Production companies | Golden Harvest Paragon Films Ltd. |
| Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes[3] |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Box office | HK$5,486,008 (Hong Kong)[1][2] |
Robotrix (Chinese 女机械人 pinyin: nǚ jīxièrén "Woman Robot") is a 1991 Hong Kong science fiction exploitation film directed by Jamie Luk Kin-ming and produced by the Golden Harvest Company.[4] Bill Lui, the winner of the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards (Best Art Direction), is the Art Director of this film. It features the soft-porn star Amy Yip, Taiwanese-American actor David Wu, Japanese actress Chikako Aoyama, kung fu expert Billy Chow, and Hui Hsiao-dan.[5][6] The plot concerns a female police officer who is gunned down, only to have her mind transferred into a cyborg clone.[7] The idea of mind uploading as well as some cult elements inside the film make Robotrix become a science fiction film classic in Hong Kong.[8]
This erotic R-rated thriller is notable for a Hong Kong film on general release in featuring frequent female full-frontal nudity, and is particularly notable for a scene of brief full-frontal male nudity (of Hong Kong Chinese actor Chung Lin, playing the robot version of Japanese scientist Ryuichi Sakamoto), as it is perhaps the first time in Hong Kong cinema that a Chinese adult male's genitals have been fully revealed on camera in a film for general release.[citation needed] It was also perhaps notable for leading the way in Hong Kong category 3 martial arts films. Cast member Vincent Lyn said of the film, "Now that was one wild shoot. The cast and crew were all over the place and you were lucky to find out what you were doing before the cameras rolled. I spent more time laughing on the set than anything else."[6]
Plot
[edit]A criminally insane scientist, Ryuichi Sakamoto (Chung Lin), transfers his mind into a cyborg and immediately commits a series of rapes and murders. Among his victims is female police officer Selena Lin (Chikako Aoyama). The scientist Dr. Sara (Hui Hsiao-dan) transfers Selena's mind into a cyborg named Eve-27, including Sara's robotic assistant named Ann (Amy Yip), the cyborg-robot team join the police force and pursue the criminal Sakamoto by investigating a series of murdered prostitutes. After Selena/Eve-27 have sexual relations with her policeman boyfriend Chou (David Wu), Ann become curious about human sexual activity, but without human mind Ann is not capable to know further...[9]
Cast
[edit]- Amy Yip – Ann
- David Wu – Chou
- Chikako Aoyama – Selena Lin/Eve-27
- Billy Chow – Ryuichi Sakamoto's cyborg
- Chung Lin – Ryuichi Sakamoto
- Hui Hsiao-dan – Doctor Sara
- Ng Kin-chung – Puppy
- Bowie Wu – Police Commissioner
- Lee Hin-Ming – Informer Hui
Box office
[edit]The film grossed HK$5,486,008 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical run from 31 May to 13 June 1991 in Hong Kong.[1][2]
Blu-ray reprint
[edit]This film was first released on Blu-ray Disc on March 27, 2020. Then on November 11, 2024, online boutique movie store Shoutfactory released a Blu-Ray Disc of “Robotrix” as a part of its Golden Harvest compilation release called “Golden Harvest Vol. 1 Supernatural Shockers.”
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Robotrix at the HKMDB".
- ^ a b c "Robotrix in Hong Kong Film Archive". 1991.
- ^ "Robotrix at Hong Kong Cinemagic".
- ^ Williams, Linda Ruth (2005), Contemporary Cinema, Indiana University Press, p. 453, ISBN 0253347130.
- ^ Hammond, Stefan; Wilkins, Mike (1996), Sex and Zen & a Bullet in the Head, A Fireside book, Simon and Schuster, pp. 166–168, ISBN 0684803410.
- ^ a b Meyers, Richard (2001), Great Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan— and More, Citadel Film Series (2nd ed.), Citadel Press, p. 163, ISBN 0806520264.
- ^ Staff (2004), The Scarecrow Movie Guide, Seattle: Sasquatch Books, pp. 339–340, ISBN 1570614156.
- ^ "《銃夢》式科幻題材港產片一早有，《女機械人》成人情節可圈可點". HK01. 12 February 2019.
- ^ Crow, Jonathan (2007), "Robotrix (2000)", Movies & TV Dept., The New York Times, archived from the original on 21 November 2007, retrieved 23 June 2012.