Director: Charles Band
Script: J.S.Cardone
Cast: Paul Ganus, Megan Ward, Bill Moseley, Eva Larue, Jack McGee, Eliz Machellen, Keith Armstrong, Ralph Waite
Running time: 85 minutes
Year: 1990
Certificate: 15
Set sometime in the future – around 2035, apparently – Crash and Burn sees our world now struggling to cope with increased UV radiation, with most people living in special domed cities governed over by a mega corporation called Unicom. A rebel group has been set up in secret to try and undermine Unicom, which, like most large corporations in sci-fi movies, is up to no good.
Our film starts with a motorcycle courier, (Tyson Keen) delivering fuel to a remote TV/radio station, based somewhere in the middle of a wasteland. Tyson (played by Paul Ganus) discovers that the TV station is on its last legs and is actually a front for one of the rebel leaders. When said leader, Lathan Hooks (Ralph Waite, from The Waltons), is murdered one evening, while trying to block a Unicom signal, the remaining crew, and Tyson, set about trying to work out who the killer is. They suspect that one of them is a Unicom plant and is actually a synthetic – an android. Cue a scene reminiscent of the blood testing one in John Carpenter’s The Thing.
Unfortunately, Crash and Burn never comes close to that classic sci-fi horror film in excitement levels, but for a low budget Charles Band production it’s still very watchable and good fun. Alas, the giant robot that’s promised in the film’s trailer doesn’t really get to do much and has very short exposure, although Dave (Jack the Giant Killer) Allen’s creation is still impressive, especially for those, like me, who love a bit of stop-motion animation.
While there’s not really enough story to pad out the 85 minute run time, with too much time focussing on characters wandering down dark and shadowy corridors and such like, Crash and Burn is still a worthwhile watch, with a likeable cast, a cool central location – actually an old steel mill – and some fun bargain basement death scenes. Megan Ward is suitably lovely as the nerdy leading lady and Bill (Chop-Top) Moseley is suitably batty as a dodgy engineer, who may or maybe not be the dreaded synthetic they’re all worried about.
Crash and Burn is certainly worth checking out by Full Moon / Empire Studios fans and more general sci-fi fans alike, although its predecessor, Robot Jox is a lot more impressive, but somewhat strangely was actually released after this film. Plus, any film that showcases very 80s underwear, sex with synthetics, retro computers and a giant robot can’t be all bad…
88 Films have done a great job on the presentation of the film as it looks good and the sound is very clear too. There are a number of special features on the disc including;
Audio commentary with director Charles Band and actor Bill Moseley – A somewhat disappointing commentary track that has our commentators mostly just explaining what we’re seeing on the screen, rather than providing the hoped-for behind-the-scenes anecdotes. However, it’s worth a listen as there’s still enough additional information given, especially by Band, to save the day. For example, he talks about how movie budgets have been shrinking and instead of having 15 – 20 days to shoot a movie they now have only 5 or 6 days. The guys also talk about Dave Allen’s incredible model work and how he used forced perspective shots to help sell an FX shot.
Audio commentary with film journalists Dave Wain and Matty Budrewicz – Although Matty isn’t a fan of the film, which Dave Wain ribs him about; this is still a better audio track than the other one on the disc. There’s much more passionate discussion about the film and about the Full Moon stable, in general. Apparently Band released 8 films during a year-long period between 1989 and 1990, although that doesn’t mean they all were high quality releases.
Making of Crash and Burn (7 mins) – This is very much of an electronic press kit type of making of featurette, but helps viewers to understand the world building of the film a bit more, and we learn that the giant robot was only 4.5 foot tall in reality.
Remastered Trailer (1.05 mins) – A decent, fun trailer, although it emphasises the robot too much, me thinks…
Blooper reel (6 mins) – Mostly actors seen ‘stiffing’ and giggling, with lead, Paul Ganus, seemingly the worst offender.
