Sunday, January 22, 2017

Robots of the 1980s: A Gallery

The 1980s brought a new era  of robots to the cinema and our TV screens.  The age of robot sidekicks was largely over, as Star Wars (1977) receded from the forefront of popular culture (although there were still some, like Bubo in Clash of the Titans [1981]).

Robots in the 1980s were often villainous in nature, or the central protagonists.  The 1980s was, in many ways, the great age of robot protagonists such as Voltron, the Guardians of the Gobots, and the Transformers.

1

Identified by SGB: Hector. Saturdn 3.

Identified by Hugo: Bubo. Clash of the Titans.

Identified by SGB: Crichton. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1981).

5

Identified by SGB: Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

Identified by 4thtroika: The Last Starfighter.

Identified by 4thtroika: Chopping Mall.

9

Identified by Hugh: Optimus Prime. Transformers.

Identified by Hugh: The Guardians (led by Leader 1). Challenge of the Gobots.

Identified by Hugh: Small Wonder.

Identified by Hugh: Voltron.


Identified by SGB: Batteries Not Included.

Identified by Hugh: Kamelion. Doctor Who.

Identified by Avi Green: MacGyver.

Identified by Hugh: ED-209. RoboCop.


18


Identified by Hugh: Crow and Tom Servo. MST3K

12 comments:

  1. 3. Clash of the Titans
    10. Transformers
    11. GoBots
    12. Small Wonder
    13. Voltron
    15. Doctor Who
    17. RoboCop
    19. MST3K

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can identify at least a few:

    No.10 is Optimus Prime from the Transformers cartoon series.

    No.12 is Vicky from the Small Wonder sitcom series.

    No.16 is a small sentry-bot I'd seen in the first episode of MacGyver's second season, equipped with a lethal laser to guard a government laboratory.

    And no.17 is the huge ED209 robot from Robocop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellent work, Avi. I especially want to compliment you for recognizing the robot from MacGyver.

      Delete
  3. Hi John,

    #2 Saturn 3 hector
    #4 Buck Rogers In The 25th Century Crichton
    #6 Halloween III
    #14 Batteries Not Included

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great work, SGB! You rock at recognizing 1980s era robots of film and television! You're awesome.

      Delete
  4. 7. The Last Starfighter
    8. Chopping Mall

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:01 PM

    #7 is The Last Starfighter

    ReplyDelete
  6. 18 - Sharon from captain power and the soldiers of the future.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 9. Terrahawks (a Gerry Anderson puppet show from the 1980's).
    18. Captain Power and the Soldiers Of The Future (the early CGI effects used here persuaded Ron Thornton to use Lightwave for all the groundbreaking CGI effects for J. Michael Stracynski's next show, Babylon 5).

    ReplyDelete
  8. And #9 is Terrahawks.

    ReplyDelete

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