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%%* AllJustADream
%%* AndYouWereThere
%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling:
%%** Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
%%* AndYouWereThere
%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling:
%%** Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
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%%* AndYouWereThere
%%*
** AndYouWereThere: ...At least until Ro-Man suddenly runs out of a cave at him in the end.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling:
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%%* InfantImmortality: Averted. Twice.
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->''"What in hell can any director do with a lousy cast and a lousy story? There was a film, in the days of 3-D, which only because it was in 3-D, played the Paramount Theater in Hollywood (one of the major houses). The picture lasted one performance, then was scrapped until television came in. It claimed to be a science-fiction piece. The only science (or fiction) about it was the fact it came into being at all."''
-->-- '''Creator/EdWood''', ''Hollywood Rat Race''
-->-- '''Creator/EdWood''', ''Hollywood Rat Race''
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* BigBad: The Great Guidance, the space overlord who sent Ro-Man to Earth in the first place.
* CrapsackWorld: There are only two life-bearing planets in the Universe. One is Earth, the other is a mechanical dystopia. The dystopic planet attacked Earth, and has won. There are only eight people left at the start of the film, relentlessly pursued by a robotic fiend.
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* DownerEnding: Disregarding the [[spoiler:AllJustADream]], this is a ''bleak'' movie.
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* DrivenToSuicide: Meta-example: Phil Tucker, who against all odds genuinely thought he was making a thoughtful horror masterpiece, was so distraught with the savage reviews of ''Robot Monster'' he attempted suicide. He reconciled with his film's infamy, even speaking to Michael Medved about it in the latter's book ''50 Worst Movies''.
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* [[PeopleInRubberSuits People In Ape Suits And Diving Helmets]]
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* [[PeopleInRubberSuits People In Ape Suits And Diving Helmets]]PeopleInRubberSuits: Ro-Man looks like a person wearing a cheap gorilla costume and a diving helmet.
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%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without explaining how they apply to the film. Just a trope name is not context; just a trope name and a character's name is not context. Examples should be understandable to people who have never seen the film.
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%% ZeroContextExample Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without explaining how they apply to the film. Just a trope name is not context; just a trope name and a character's name is not context. Examples should be understandable to people who have never seen the film.
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%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
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%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: AnnoyingYoungerSibling:
%%** Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
%%** Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
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* DrivenToSuicide: Meta-example: Phil Tucker was so distraught with the savage reviews of ''Robot Monster'' he attempted suicide. He reconciled with his film's infamy, even speaking to Michael Medved about it in the latter's book ''50 Worst Movies''.
to:
* DrivenToSuicide: Meta-example: Phil Tucker Tucker, who against all odds genuinely thought he was making a thoughtful horror masterpiece, was so distraught with the savage reviews of ''Robot Monster'' he attempted suicide. He reconciled with his film's infamy, even speaking to Michael Medved about it in the latter's book ''50 Worst Movies''.
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Moved to the Trivia page.
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* FollowTheLeader: ''Invaders From Mars'', released a month earlier.
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* ApocalypseHow: Starts off as a Class 3a, thanks to the the effect of the Calcinator Death Ray. [[spoiler:Later upgraded to a Class X, as the Great One gets pissed off at Ro-Man's failure to kill the humans and unleashes a "Q-Ray" which completely destroys the planet]].
to:
* ApocalypseHow: Starts off as a Class 3a, thanks to the the effect of the Calcinator Death Ray. [[spoiler:Later upgraded to a Class X, as the Great One gets pissed off at Ro-Man's failure to kill the humans and unleashes a "Q-Ray" which completely destroys the planet]]. Subverted when it turns out to [[spoiler: be AllJustADream.]]
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%%* ThreeDMovie
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If anything, it's a lampshade hanging. But it's not quite that, either.
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* MarsNeedsWomen: Actually justified in a weird way - Ro-Man has no idea why he wants to get into Alice's pants, and while he's struggling with it Great Guidance orders him to kill her, so he goes into the MadnessMantra.
to:
* MarsNeedsWomen: Actually justified Played with in a weird way - Ro-Man has no idea why he wants to get into Alice's pants, and while he's struggling with it Great Guidance orders him to kill her, so he goes into the MadnessMantra.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robot-monster_319.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Our "hero".]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Our "hero".]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robot-monster_319.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Our "hero".]]
org/pmwiki/pub/images/robot_monster.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Our "hero".]]
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* ShutUpKirk: Johnny gives Ro-Man a piece of his mind:
-->'''Johnny:''' "I think you're just a big bully, picking on people smaller than you."
-->'''Ro-Man:''' "Now I will kill you."
-->'''Johnny:''' "I think you're just a big bully, picking on people smaller than you."
-->'''Ro-Man:''' "Now I will kill you."
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%%* NotableOriginalMusic: By ElmerBernstein, of all people.
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%%* NotableOriginalMusic: By ElmerBernstein, Music/ElmerBernstein, of all people.
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* KickTheDog: Ro-Man shows the family the destruction of humanity on their video screen. Why? Oh, ''just to make them feel shitty''.
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* KickTheDog: Ro-Man shows the family the destruction of humanity on their video screen. Why? Oh, ''just to make them feel shitty''. JustifiedTrope, when you consider it's trying to drive the humans to despair and perhaps [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]].
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Moved to episode recap page.
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* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
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Moving trivia to new tab.
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* ActingForTwo: George Barrows as both Ro-Man and Great Guidance. It makes for some pretty cheesy fun, given that both characters have several conversations together but look almost exactly alike and have ''the exact same voice''.
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* [[FountainOfExpies Iconic Characters]]: Ro-Man: ''the'' classic BMovie monster of all time.
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* NamesTheSame: Ro-Man [=XJ2=] should not be confused with XJ-2, one of [[MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Jenny's]] older sisters.
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%%* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove
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* DrivenToSuicide: Meta-example: Phil Tucker was so distraught with the savage reviews of ''Robot Monster'' he attempted suicide. He reconciled with his film's infamy, even speaking to Michael Medved about it in the latter's book ''50 Worst Movies''.
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%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without explaining how they apply to the film. Just a trope name is not context; just a trope name and a character's name is not context. Examples should be understandable to people who have never seen the film.
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%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without explaining how they apply to the film. Just a trope name is not context; just a trope name and a character's name is not context. Examples should be understandable to people who have never seen the film.
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* ThreeDMovie
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* [[spoiler:AllJustADream.]]
* AndYouWereThere
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
** Johnny himself is this too.
* AndYouWereThere
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
** Johnny himself is this too.
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*
%%* AndYouWereThere
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* BMovie: And how!
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-->'''Johnny''': "You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!"\\
'''Ro-Man''': "I will destroy you!"
'''Ro-Man''': "I will destroy you!"
to:
-->'''Johnny''': "You You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!"\\
pinwheel!\\
'''Ro-Man''':"I I will destroy you!"you!
'''Ro-Man''':
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* DeusExMachina
* ElmerBernstein: Well, everybody has to start somewhere.
* ElmerBernstein: Well, everybody has to start somewhere.
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* ElmerBernstein: Well, everybody has to start somewhere.
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* EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys: Well, sort of...
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* FantasticRacism
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* IdiotBall
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Twice.
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Twice.
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* {{Jerkass}}: Ro-Man. Seriously.
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* KidHero
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* LogicBomb
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* NiceHat: Ro-man's helmet.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Right there in the title.
* NotableOriginalMusic: By ElmerBernstein, of all people.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Right there in the title.
* NotableOriginalMusic: By ElmerBernstein, of all people.
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* TheProfessor: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ...The Professor.]]
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* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
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* RobotNames
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* ShirtlessScene
* SpockSpeak
* StockFootage
* SpockSpeak
* StockFootage
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--> '''Ro-Man''': "I am ordered to kill you. I must do it with my hands."\\
'''Alice''': "How is it you're so strong, Ro-Man? It seems impossible."\\
'''Ro-Man''': "We Ro-Mans obtain our strength from the planet Ro-Man, relayed from individual energizers."
* TinMan
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters
'''Alice''': "How is it you're so strong, Ro-Man? It seems impossible."\\
'''Ro-Man''': "We Ro-Mans obtain our strength from the planet Ro-Man, relayed from individual energizers."
* TinMan
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters
to:
--> '''Ro-Man''': "I I am ordered to kill you. I must do it with my hands."\\
\\
'''Alice''':"How How is it you're so strong, Ro-Man? It seems impossible."\\
\\
'''Ro-Man''':"We We Ro-Mans obtain our strength from the planet Ro-Man, relayed from individual energizers."
*energizers.
%%* TinMan
* %%* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters
'''Alice''':
'''Ro-Man''':
*
%%* TinMan
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* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove
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In his book, ''On Writing'', Creator/StephenKing recalls seeing the movie as a kid, and says that he felt it was "art of quite a high nature"[[note]]In King's other non-fiction essay book, ''Danse Macabre'', King provides an account of the first time he saw the movie while high and "almost laughed [himself] into a hernia."[[/note]]. It was also JohnCarpenter's favourite film when he was a child.
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In his book, ''On Writing'', Creator/StephenKing recalls seeing the movie as a kid, and says that he felt it was "art of quite a high nature"[[note]]In King's other non-fiction essay book, ''Danse Macabre'', King provides an account of the first time he saw the movie while high and "almost laughed [himself] into a hernia."[[/note]]. It was also JohnCarpenter's Creator/JohnCarpenter's favourite film when he was a child.
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Cross-Wicking
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* WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}
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* WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}RobotAntennae: The villain Ro-Man's head is a space helmet with antennae sticking out of it.
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Hottip cleanup.
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In his book, ''On Writing'', Creator/StephenKing recalls seeing the movie as a kid, and says that he felt it was "art of quite a high nature"[[hottip:*:In King's other non-fiction essay book, ''Danse Macabre'', King provides an account of the first time he saw the movie while high and "almost laughed [himself] into a hernia."]]. It was also JohnCarpenter's favourite film when he was a child.
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In his book, ''On Writing'', Creator/StephenKing recalls seeing the movie as a kid, and says that he felt it was "art of quite a high nature"[[hottip:*:In nature"[[note]]In King's other non-fiction essay book, ''Danse Macabre'', King provides an account of the first time he saw the movie while high and "almost laughed [himself] into a hernia."]]."[[/note]]. It was also JohnCarpenter's favourite film when he was a child.
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* KillAllHumans - Eight are left at the start and it goes down from there.
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* KillAllHumans - KillAllHumans: Eight are left at the start and it goes down from there.
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* ShaggyDogStory: The ending essentially renders the rest of the movie a moot point.
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* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[Series/MyseryScienceTheater3000 The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
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* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[Series/MyseryScienceTheater3000 ([[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
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* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[MsT3K The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
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* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[MsT3K ([[Series/MyseryScienceTheater3000 The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
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* IconicCharacters: Ro-Man: ''the'' classic BMovie monster of all time.
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* IconicCharacters: [[FountainOfExpies Iconic Characters]]: Ro-Man: ''the'' classic BMovie monster of all time.
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* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Ro-Man ''almost'' seems like he's going to stop being a JerkAss at the end, but the Great One has other plans.
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* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Ro-Man ''almost'' seems like he's going to stop being a JerkAss {{Jerkass}} at the end, but the Great One has other plans.
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* JerkAss: Ro-Man. Seriously.
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* JerkAss: {{Jerkass}}: Ro-Man. Seriously.
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* ElmerBernstein: Well, everybody has to start somewhere.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robot-monster_319.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Our "hero".]]
->''"I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do 'must' and 'cannot' meet? Yet I must - but I cannot!"''
-->-- '''Ro-Man [=XJ2=]'''
A 1953 BMovie, released in 3D, by Phil Tucker, ''Robot Monster'' is one of the most famous SoBadItsGood sci-fi films ever made. Simply put, it is about a family having a picnic in California and meeting an evil alien invader: the nefarious Ro-Man, who has used a special DeathRay to destroy all humans. But the family survived by taking [[AppliedPhlebotinum a special serum invented by their scientist dad]].
Using his amazing advanced galaxy-conquering technology -- you can tell, because it emits soap bubbles at moments of high drama -- Ro-Man must find a way around their defenses. The kicker is the Big Guy's also struggling with unforeseen human desires... oh, did we mention the scientist's nubile daughter? Not to mention her hunky lab assistant boyfriend, annoying younger brother and... Yeah, you figured? OK then.
So far, so run-of-the-mill. It could even be argued that hey, as compared to, say, ''[[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate Manos]]'', this thing has an actual plot (though not a good one), also a soundtrack involving the onscreen actors speaking in their own voices. But no other classic bad movie can boast of [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ro-man2.jpg Ro-Man]], the titular "Robot Monster". Quoth the film's then-twentysomething ''auteur'', recalling the inspiration (and, not incidentally, budget) behind his lead character:
''"...I talked to several people that I knew who had robot suits, but it was just out of the way, money-wise. I thought, ‘Okay, I know George Barrows.’... When they needed a gorilla in a picture they called George, because he owned his own suit... I thought, ‘I know George will work for me for nothing. I’ll get a diving helmet, put it on him, and it’ll work!’"''
Well... no. At least, not in the way he intended.
In his book, ''On Writing'', Creator/StephenKing recalls seeing the movie as a kid, and says that he felt it was "art of quite a high nature"[[hottip:*:In King's other non-fiction essay book, ''Danse Macabre'', King provides an account of the first time he saw the movie while high and "almost laughed [himself] into a hernia."]]. It was also JohnCarpenter's favourite film when he was a child.
For the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode see ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S01E07RobotMonster here]]''.
----
!!''Robot Monster'' provides examples of:
* ThreeDMovie
* ActingForTwo: George Barrows as both Ro-Man and Great Guidance. It makes for some pretty cheesy fun, given that both characters have several conversations together but look almost exactly alike and have ''the exact same voice''.
* ActionFigureSpeech: The titular aliens, looking for all the world like a guy in a gorilla suit wearing a space helmet flailed around wildly while speaking.
* AfterTheEnd: It's explained that much of movie takes place after Ro-Man has (almost) completely wiped out human civilization.
* [[spoiler:AllJustADream.]]
* AndYouWereThere
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
** Johnny himself is this too.
* ApocalypseHow: Starts off as a Class 3a, thanks to the the effect of the Calcinator Death Ray. [[spoiler:Later upgraded to a Class X, as the Great One gets pissed off at Ro-Man's failure to kill the humans and unleashes a "Q-Ray" which completely destroys the planet]].
* BMovie: And how!
* BullyingADragon: Johnny taunts Ro-Man from an apparently safe vantage point.
-->'''Johnny''': "You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!"\\
'''Ro-Man''': "I will destroy you!"
* DanBrowned: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9IKsH9BXg The trailer]] claims, "''Robot Monster'' brings you an actual preview of the devestating forces of our future."
* DownerEnding: Disregarding the [[spoiler:AllJustADream]], this is a ''bleak'' movie.
* DeusExMachina
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: They're apparently [[{{Slurpasaur}} baby alligators]] with fins glued to their backs. They don't bring much to the plot, as they are StockFootage from ''OneMillionBC''!
* EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys: Well, sort of...
* EvilOverlord: The Great One (who is played and voiced by the same actor who does Ro-Man, except with a slightly different helmet).
* TheFaceless: Stockings, worn over the face and under the helmets, to convey the effect.
* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[MsT3K The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
* FantasticRacism
* FollowTheLeader: ''Invaders From Mars'', released a month earlier.
* FunnyForeigner: It's unknown if the Professor was supposed to be one, but he certainly sounds like it (the actor playing him, John Mylong, was Austro-Hungarian).
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Ro-Man ''almost'' seems like he's going to stop being a JerkAss at the end, but the Great One has other plans.
* IconicCharacters: Ro-Man: ''the'' classic BMovie monster of all time.
* IdiotBall
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Twice.
* InNameOnly: Ro-Man is supposed to be short for 'robot man'.
* JerkAss: Ro-Man. Seriously.
* KickTheDog: Ro-Man shows the family the destruction of humanity on their video screen. Why? Oh, ''just to make them feel shitty''.
* KidHero
* KillAllHumans - Eight are left at the start and it goes down from there.
* LogicBomb
* MadnessMantra: "I must... but I cannot..."
* MarsNeedsWomen: Actually justified in a weird way - Ro-Man has no idea why he wants to get into Alice's pants, and while he's struggling with it Great Guidance orders him to kill her, so he goes into the MadnessMantra.
* MechanisticAlienCulture: The film features Ro-Man... Appearing as a man in a gorilla suit with a deep sea diver's helmet, the alien invader's exact morphology is elusive. It seems to be a cyborg, it comes from an advanced civilization, it is able to resist radiation, and speaks in a typical [[RoboSpeak robotic]] [[CreepyMonotone style monotone]] [[{{Zeerust}} popular at the time in B-movies]]. However they are not simply constructs or tools, as we learn in the scene where the earth stationed Ro-Man contacts the leader of the Ro-Men, who is a similar diving helmeted gorilla-bodied biped.
* MomentKiller: The Great Guidance calls up Ro-Man at the most ''inopportune'' times....
* NamesTheSame: Ro-Man [=XJ2=] should not be confused with XJ-2, one of [[MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Jenny's]] older sisters.
* NiceHat: Ro-man's helmet.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Right there in the title.
* NotableOriginalMusic: By ElmerBernstein, of all people.
* OrWasItADream: [[spoiler: While it may have been Bobby's dream, it seems it could have been a clairvoyant dream.]]
* [[PeopleInRubberSuits People In Ape Suits And Diving Helmets]]
* TheProfessor: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ...The Professor.]]
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Ro-Man has a gorilla body because there was no money for a robot costume, and the actor playing him already owned his own gorilla suit.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
* WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}
* RobotNames
* RuleOfThree: The end? Nope, [[spoiler:Ro-Man comes out of a cave stretching his arms at the viewer!]] The end? [[spoiler:Put that funky shot again, boy!]] The end? [[spoiler:[[BeamMeUpScotty Play it again, Sam!]]]]
* ShirtlessScene
* SpockSpeak
* StockFootage
* {{Technobabble}}
--> '''Ro-Man''': "I am ordered to kill you. I must do it with my hands."\\
'''Alice''': "How is it you're so strong, Ro-Man? It seems impossible."\\
'''Ro-Man''': "We Ro-Mans obtain our strength from the planet Ro-Man, relayed from individual energizers."
* TinMan
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters
* VideoPhone: Ro-Man uses a video linkup to communicate with Great Guidance on the planet Ro-Man.
* VillainProtagonist: Technically, 'Villain is the Only Character Who Isn't a Trite Cliche', but close enough.
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove
* YouAreNumberSix: The main Ro-Man differentiates from the others by his codename, [=XJ2=].
----
[[caption-width-right:350:Our "hero".]]
->''"I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do 'must' and 'cannot' meet? Yet I must - but I cannot!"''
-->-- '''Ro-Man [=XJ2=]'''
A 1953 BMovie, released in 3D, by Phil Tucker, ''Robot Monster'' is one of the most famous SoBadItsGood sci-fi films ever made. Simply put, it is about a family having a picnic in California and meeting an evil alien invader: the nefarious Ro-Man, who has used a special DeathRay to destroy all humans. But the family survived by taking [[AppliedPhlebotinum a special serum invented by their scientist dad]].
Using his amazing advanced galaxy-conquering technology -- you can tell, because it emits soap bubbles at moments of high drama -- Ro-Man must find a way around their defenses. The kicker is the Big Guy's also struggling with unforeseen human desires... oh, did we mention the scientist's nubile daughter? Not to mention her hunky lab assistant boyfriend, annoying younger brother and... Yeah, you figured? OK then.
So far, so run-of-the-mill. It could even be argued that hey, as compared to, say, ''[[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate Manos]]'', this thing has an actual plot (though not a good one), also a soundtrack involving the onscreen actors speaking in their own voices. But no other classic bad movie can boast of [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ro-man2.jpg Ro-Man]], the titular "Robot Monster". Quoth the film's then-twentysomething ''auteur'', recalling the inspiration (and, not incidentally, budget) behind his lead character:
''"...I talked to several people that I knew who had robot suits, but it was just out of the way, money-wise. I thought, ‘Okay, I know George Barrows.’... When they needed a gorilla in a picture they called George, because he owned his own suit... I thought, ‘I know George will work for me for nothing. I’ll get a diving helmet, put it on him, and it’ll work!’"''
Well... no. At least, not in the way he intended.
In his book, ''On Writing'', Creator/StephenKing recalls seeing the movie as a kid, and says that he felt it was "art of quite a high nature"[[hottip:*:In King's other non-fiction essay book, ''Danse Macabre'', King provides an account of the first time he saw the movie while high and "almost laughed [himself] into a hernia."]]. It was also JohnCarpenter's favourite film when he was a child.
For the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode see ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S01E07RobotMonster here]]''.
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!!''Robot Monster'' provides examples of:
* ThreeDMovie
* ActingForTwo: George Barrows as both Ro-Man and Great Guidance. It makes for some pretty cheesy fun, given that both characters have several conversations together but look almost exactly alike and have ''the exact same voice''.
* ActionFigureSpeech: The titular aliens, looking for all the world like a guy in a gorilla suit wearing a space helmet flailed around wildly while speaking.
* AfterTheEnd: It's explained that much of movie takes place after Ro-Man has (almost) completely wiped out human civilization.
* [[spoiler:AllJustADream.]]
* AndYouWereThere
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Carla, Johnny's younger sister.
** Johnny himself is this too.
* ApocalypseHow: Starts off as a Class 3a, thanks to the the effect of the Calcinator Death Ray. [[spoiler:Later upgraded to a Class X, as the Great One gets pissed off at Ro-Man's failure to kill the humans and unleashes a "Q-Ray" which completely destroys the planet]].
* BMovie: And how!
* BullyingADragon: Johnny taunts Ro-Man from an apparently safe vantage point.
-->'''Johnny''': "You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!"\\
'''Ro-Man''': "I will destroy you!"
* DanBrowned: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9IKsH9BXg The trailer]] claims, "''Robot Monster'' brings you an actual preview of the devestating forces of our future."
* DownerEnding: Disregarding the [[spoiler:AllJustADream]], this is a ''bleak'' movie.
* DeusExMachina
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: They're apparently [[{{Slurpasaur}} baby alligators]] with fins glued to their backs. They don't bring much to the plot, as they are StockFootage from ''OneMillionBC''!
* EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys: Well, sort of...
* EvilOverlord: The Great One (who is played and voiced by the same actor who does Ro-Man, except with a slightly different helmet).
* TheFaceless: Stockings, worn over the face and under the helmets, to convey the effect.
* FailOSuckyName: "Wyatt Ordung" was the film's screenwriter. ([[MsT3K The bots]] take his name as a question, and choose "Wyatt".)
* FantasticRacism
* FollowTheLeader: ''Invaders From Mars'', released a month earlier.
* FunnyForeigner: It's unknown if the Professor was supposed to be one, but he certainly sounds like it (the actor playing him, John Mylong, was Austro-Hungarian).
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Ro-Man ''almost'' seems like he's going to stop being a JerkAss at the end, but the Great One has other plans.
* IconicCharacters: Ro-Man: ''the'' classic BMovie monster of all time.
* IdiotBall
* InfantImmortality: Averted. Twice.
* InNameOnly: Ro-Man is supposed to be short for 'robot man'.
* JerkAss: Ro-Man. Seriously.
* KickTheDog: Ro-Man shows the family the destruction of humanity on their video screen. Why? Oh, ''just to make them feel shitty''.
* KidHero
* KillAllHumans - Eight are left at the start and it goes down from there.
* LogicBomb
* MadnessMantra: "I must... but I cannot..."
* MarsNeedsWomen: Actually justified in a weird way - Ro-Man has no idea why he wants to get into Alice's pants, and while he's struggling with it Great Guidance orders him to kill her, so he goes into the MadnessMantra.
* MechanisticAlienCulture: The film features Ro-Man... Appearing as a man in a gorilla suit with a deep sea diver's helmet, the alien invader's exact morphology is elusive. It seems to be a cyborg, it comes from an advanced civilization, it is able to resist radiation, and speaks in a typical [[RoboSpeak robotic]] [[CreepyMonotone style monotone]] [[{{Zeerust}} popular at the time in B-movies]]. However they are not simply constructs or tools, as we learn in the scene where the earth stationed Ro-Man contacts the leader of the Ro-Men, who is a similar diving helmeted gorilla-bodied biped.
* MomentKiller: The Great Guidance calls up Ro-Man at the most ''inopportune'' times....
* NamesTheSame: Ro-Man [=XJ2=] should not be confused with XJ-2, one of [[MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Jenny's]] older sisters.
* NiceHat: Ro-man's helmet.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Right there in the title.
* NotableOriginalMusic: By ElmerBernstein, of all people.
* OrWasItADream: [[spoiler: While it may have been Bobby's dream, it seems it could have been a clairvoyant dream.]]
* [[PeopleInRubberSuits People In Ape Suits And Diving Helmets]]
* TheProfessor: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ...The Professor.]]
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Ro-Man has a gorilla body because there was no money for a robot costume, and the actor playing him already owned his own gorilla suit.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots
* WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}
* RobotNames
* RuleOfThree: The end? Nope, [[spoiler:Ro-Man comes out of a cave stretching his arms at the viewer!]] The end? [[spoiler:Put that funky shot again, boy!]] The end? [[spoiler:[[BeamMeUpScotty Play it again, Sam!]]]]
* ShirtlessScene
* SpockSpeak
* StockFootage
* {{Technobabble}}
--> '''Ro-Man''': "I am ordered to kill you. I must do it with my hands."\\
'''Alice''': "How is it you're so strong, Ro-Man? It seems impossible."\\
'''Ro-Man''': "We Ro-Mans obtain our strength from the planet Ro-Man, relayed from individual energizers."
* TinMan
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters
* VideoPhone: Ro-Man uses a video linkup to communicate with Great Guidance on the planet Ro-Man.
* VillainProtagonist: Technically, 'Villain is the Only Character Who Isn't a Trite Cliche', but close enough.
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove
* YouAreNumberSix: The main Ro-Man differentiates from the others by his codename, [=XJ2=].
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