Tobor the Great

Poster tagline: MAN-MADE MONSTER WITH EVERY HUMAN EMOTION!!! Tobor is a friend. Tobor is a helper. Tobor is a saviour. A pretty nice low-budget sci-fi flick. Those who were born earlier will probably remember Polák’s TV hit Clown Ferdinand and the Rocket. The intelligent robot there, Emil, resembles Tobor a little bit, especially with its clumsy machine-like movements. Appearance wise, Tobor doesn't look elegant and aerodynamic, it looks more like a fully armoured medieval knight with an antenna and movable tridents instead of arms. The whole thing was probably aimed at a younger audience, because Tobor (the special robot that was supposed to replace humans in overload tests and later in rocket flights) is friends with the grandson of the professor (Tobor's creator), and when he hits him in a fit of rage (after failing a flyby test in a simulated "computer game"), he tries to make it up to him by stroking his sweatshirt with his trident and making soothing beeping noises. And when he frees the professor from the clutches of the gangsters (according to some foreign reviews from the clutches of "communists", but I didn't notice that from the dialogues), he doesn't hesitate to beat the thugs up and drive a car. (09.08.2008)

I guess I just needed a film like this. I'm only giving an average rating, but the robot deserves at least that 50%. Most of the time it's otherwise a classic, almost theatrical conversation film that is not very interesting, but when it comes to the finale, it builds up quite nicely, which has to be admitted. The naivety is beautiful. (08.02.2018)