By Robert Scucci
| Updated 27 seconds ago
Tubi is now, and forever will be my favorite streaming platform because they’re brave enough to offer hidden gems like 1990’s Crash and Burn, a Charles Band-directed film that was also branded as Robot Jox 2: Crash and Burn in most European markets. The original Robot Jox was produced by Charles Band under his Empire Pictures banner before it went bankrupt, but it’s completely unrelated to Crash and Burn, despite the fact that most of the promotional material would lead you to believe otherwise.
You don’t need to do a crash course on Robot Jox to enjoy Crash and Burn in all of its post-apocalyptic glory, but if you’re into low-budget, B-movie sci-fi that leans into every familiar trope, you’ll feel right at home firing this one up.
A Familiar Setup
Crash and Burn takes place at a remote television station run by Lathan Hooks (Ralph Waite), one of the last independent voices in a dystopian future where the ozone layer has collapsed, deadly thermal storms force people indoors and underground, and the authoritarian Unicom corporation maintains control over society. When Unicom courier Tyson (Paul Ganus) stops at the station to wait out a storm, he unknowingly walks into the middle of a secret resistance operation.
After Lathan is murdered, the remaining occupants learn that a Unicom Synth robot has infiltrated the station and is eliminating them one by one. With paranoia mounting and no way to escape the storm outside, Tyson and Arren (Megan Ward) must figure out who among them is the killer before it’s too late.
It’s a simple premise that’s shockingly efficient given the film’s 85-minute runtime. We learn about Unicom’s initiative to drive humanity into obscurity by banning technology for the sake of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic stability,” and those slogans sit at the center of the film’s conflict.
We have all of our factions under one roof, and it’s everybody against everybody unless they can put their heads together, make peace with one another, and consolidate their strength against the oppressive regime trying to wipe them out, one shadow-government murder at a time.
Blood From The Thing, Android From Alien
With cliché setups come every other trope in the book, and Crash and Burn excels at wearing its influences on its sleeve. When the crew tries to figure out which one of them is the Synth robot, everybody cuts their hand or finger in a communal setting to see who actually bleeds. The android itself, whose identity I won’t spoil here, could be anybody because the Synths are so advanced that they look completely human. Everybody is already on edge and acting suspicious, so trying to suss out who’s devoted to Unicom and who’s part of the resistance based on vibe alone isn’t exactly the most reliable strategy.
Just when you think the android reveal is going to play out like Alien, the film suddenly throws a giant mech into the mix, stomping around and wreaking havoc, while the constantly looming threat of a thermal storm hangs over everybody. It’s supposedly coming soon, but who knows when?
But for how generic Crash and Burn may be, it remains a fun movie because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The whole station is set up like a giant frat house where intimacy is shared, jokes are cracked, and everybody kind of looks out for each other before they truly understand what’s at stake. And thanks to Jack McGee’s Winston Wickett, there’s enough comic relief to keep things moving as the bumbling TV personality tries to talk his way out of every jam with an almost poetic lack of tact and grace.
Crash and Burn is one of those movies you’ll enjoy if you go into it with tempered expectations. It greatly benefits from its isolated setting, where the empty corridors effortlessly create a claustrophobic environment that’s every man (and woman) for themselves. You’ll pick up on more tropes than you can count, but they’re simply the vehicle that keeps the story moving. Fortunately, everybody involved leans into those limitations, making for a solid, low-stakes, late-night viewing that any fan of low-budget sci-fi could get behind.
As of this writing, you can stream Crash and Burn for free on Tubi.
