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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/evolver_2222.jpg]]
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3A low-budget sci-fi B-movie shot in 1994 and released to very little commercial success.
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5The virtual-reality arcade combat game ''Evolver'' is all the rage, and Kyle's (Creator/EthanEmbry) score is on top of the country charts. So, logically, he's the one chosen to test a real-life version of the game that the company just came up with. They deliver him a small robot, the titular Evolver (voiced by Creator/WilliamHMacy), and a few innocuous laser-pointer guns to fight it with.
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7At first everything goes fine and everyone has a ton of fun, but after a while Evolver [[AiIsACrapshoot reverts to deeper, far more dangerous programming]]: he [[AbnormalAmmo upgrades his weapons]] and goes on a rampage, killing several people and almost succeeding in killing Kyle's sister until he's disabled by Kyle. The robot is carried away and everyone resumes their normal lives, but only briefly: during transit Evolver reactivates, and refusing to acknowledge defeat he switches into combat mode and looks for revenge...
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11!!This movie provides examples of the following tropes:
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13* AbnormalAmmo: when Evolver figures out plastic balls and foam missiles can't actually kill his targets, he replaces them with metal ball bearings and kitchen knives.
14* AiIsACrapshoot: well, duh.
15* AssholeVictim: Dwight, the bully who Zack owes money to, decides to kick and taunt Evolver. Not a good idea.
16* BackFromTheDead: Evolver does this twice. First time he gets thrown into a pool, but reactivates later. Then he's beaten into shutdown with a baseball bat, but then reactivates again - partially disabled, but still very much out for blood.
17* EnergyWeapons: Evolver has a high-powered laser hidden in his chassis. He's also able to somehow overdrive harmless laser pointers into dangerous instant-barbecue weapons.
18* FailsafeFailure: The verbal shutdown code that is originally used to stop the out-of-control robot during the trial run is rejected by the Evolver when its creator tries to use it at the end of the film. Cue OhCrap.
19* GlassCannon: being a civilian model [[spoiler:rather than the original military incarnation]] Evolver counts on a good offensive to avoid damage - and with lasers and improvised ammunition aplenty he's certainly able to dish it out. But when his defense is breached, even the more agile "combat-mode" Evolver goes down with sufficiently enthusiastic application of a ''wooden baseball bat''.
20* GoneHorriblyRight: Evolver's objective is to adapt to ensure victory, and boy does it.
21* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Kyle uses the laser gun Evolver modified and used to hold his family hostage to destroy him for good.]]
22* HumansAreBastards: Evolver gets progressively more evil as he witnesses evil. Granted, in the end he's being attacked simply for survival, but he starts his rampage when the jock kicks him, and gets more dangerous later on when Kyle's friend kidnaps him and tries to forcibly eject his memory disc. Also, violent television and [[DrugsAreBad drugs]] seem to cause his personality to degrade even further.
23* IdiotBall: So many people have a turn at this the movie resembles a football skirmish. First there are the creators of Evolver that used a military program to create a toy for the civilian market, the people that didn't think to ensure Evolver couldn't make use of anything other than foam balls for ammunition, the kid that tried to use Evolver for spying on the girl's shower room, etc. Kyle at least had enough sense to remove Evolver's battery when things started getting weird, but not enough sense to make sure his kid sister didn't find it and plug it back in to a homicidal robot.
24* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Naturally, Kyle's little sister, who's like 9, doesn't die despite being attacked.
25* LaserGuidedKarma: Kyle hacks the Evolver sweepstakes computer database and places himself as the winner, he gets a KillerRobot that goes on a rampage and tries to annihilate him. [[SarcasmMode Seems fair.]]
26* MyLittlePanzer: the Evolver AI was originally [[spoiler:a military prototype for a combat robot, which was cancelled when field trials showed it to be too dangerous to use. [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong The programming was then adapted to non-lethal gameplay]]. It did not go well.]]
27* SequelHook: in the end, after Evolver's been blown up, he doesn't quite seem to be completely dead: through his shattered vision we see a "TARGET NOT TERMINATED" message, then the screen fades to snow... no sequel ever materialized, though.
28* ShownTheirWork: A lot of the computer terminology and usage is up there with ''Film/WarGames''. Provided you disregard Evolver's VillainousBreakdown.
29* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Evolver losing the final round against Kyle]]
30--> [[spoiler:'''Evolver''': [[MadnessMantra EVOLVER CAN'T LOSES! EVOLVER CAN'T LOSES! EVOLVER CAN'T LOSES! (...)]] & [[MadnessMantra I AM EVOLVER! I AM EVOLVER! I AM EVOLVER!]] simultaneously]]

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