In the mid 1980s, the world of science fiction found itself heavily inspired by the winning formula that was THE TERMINATOR. Thus, a fair few projects actually managed to get some (cheap) funding to make their own variations on the theme. ASSASSIN is one such film, a thriller which by its very nature needs to be violent but which finds itself restricted due to the television-movie format. The far too simplistic plot line sees a renegade scientist create a robot which looks like a man and then set it on a mission of assassination again all of the people he doesn't like. This is how deep the film gets with only a couple of barely surprising twists thrown in to enliven the mixture.
This is a television movie that feels very much like a television movie. Namely, an emphasis on talk, talk and more talk, lots of sentimentality and romantic sequences which feel like they belong on a soap. The science fiction aspects are kept to a bare minimum, so don't go expecting any amazing special effects because there simply aren't any. Instead, Asimov gets quoted, and the robot falls in love and makes love to a woman in an exceptionally clumsy sub-plot which humanises the monster at the expense of creating a scary menace. Richard Young, playing "Robert Golem" (you can tell whoever thought up that name thought they were being really clever) is just a blank space as the robot, neither convincing nor unconvincing. He certainly doesn't possess any on screen presence and he just looks like a normal guy, not the superhuman monster that Schwarzenegger was.
The soapy leads are taken by Robert Conrad and Karen Austin, whose developing relationship serves to slow things down even further. Not exactly good news. The acting is television level and nobody impresses with their performance. The various action sequences are lacking in imagination and often get repetitive, with the robot being shot and then jumping out of a window more times than I care to remember. Even the finale is ludicrously unrealistic and the film as a whole has more than its fair share of contrivances and gaping plot holes. Generally it's a waste of time and talent and nothing compared to the classic which "inspired" it.
This is a television movie that feels very much like a television movie. Namely, an emphasis on talk, talk and more talk, lots of sentimentality and romantic sequences which feel like they belong on a soap. The science fiction aspects are kept to a bare minimum, so don't go expecting any amazing special effects because there simply aren't any. Instead, Asimov gets quoted, and the robot falls in love and makes love to a woman in an exceptionally clumsy sub-plot which humanises the monster at the expense of creating a scary menace. Richard Young, playing "Robert Golem" (you can tell whoever thought up that name thought they were being really clever) is just a blank space as the robot, neither convincing nor unconvincing. He certainly doesn't possess any on screen presence and he just looks like a normal guy, not the superhuman monster that Schwarzenegger was.
The soapy leads are taken by Robert Conrad and Karen Austin, whose developing relationship serves to slow things down even further. Not exactly good news. The acting is television level and nobody impresses with their performance. The various action sequences are lacking in imagination and often get repetitive, with the robot being shot and then jumping out of a window more times than I care to remember. Even the finale is ludicrously unrealistic and the film as a whole has more than its fair share of contrivances and gaping plot holes. Generally it's a waste of time and talent and nothing compared to the classic which "inspired" it.