Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Micransix Crappy film

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Leofwine_draca 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.

zardoz-13 Robert Conrad doesn't break a sweat "Assassin," a second-rate, contemporary, sci-fi thriller. Neither should you. Retired secret agent Henry Stanton (Robert Conrad) comes out of retirement to save the day on one last assignment. Stanton's old boss Calvin Lantz (Robert Webber) wants Stanton to track down an invincible robot murderer. The catch is that this cyborg killer looks like a flesh and blood human. Indeed, "Assassin" is a lowest common denominator revenge movie with a robot tracking down former agency operatives and killing them with extreme impersonality. Symbolically, writer & director Sandor Stern gives the villain the surname Golem. Historically, the Golem was a Jewish monster sent to protect its people but revolts again them. "Assassin" amounts to a poor man's "Terminator" with few surprises. The cyborg has to recharge itself occasionally and it hides from our heroes while they scour an entire motel to locate it. Meanwhile, Conrad looks like he has packed on the pounds. He doesn't shed his shirt. In his glory days, Conrad always removed his shirt. He doesn't perform any strenuous stunts. He and his leading lady Karen Austin flirt with each other while Conrad's former boss, Calvin (Robert Webber), worries about his own life. Richard Young is okay as Golem. He can imitate voices. He can leap out of windows as long as they are no higher than the sixth floor. Veteran heavy Jonathan Banks plays a suspicious good guy. "Assassin' is abysmal.

BA_Harrison This mid-80s made-for-TV sci-fi thriller takes its cues from The Terminator, with a human-like robot assassin, created by a top secret government agency, programmed to kill those on a hit list compiled by its deluded, deceased designer. Ex-agency operative Henry Stanton (Robert Conrad) reluctantly comes out of retirement to try and stop the renegade mechanical menace, aided by attractive robotics expert Mary Casallas (Karen Austin).Writer/director Sandor Stern is no James Cameron, but he still manages to deliver a fair bit of tension and some hokey fun from the premise, with his murderous machine (effectively played by Richard Young) interfacing with an ATM to extract cash, taking a couple of high dives from several stories up, leaping over moving cars, opening up compartments in his body to modify himself, and even bedding a desperate bar floozy when his mission calls for it (he's anatomically correct and can go for hours on a full charge!).The plot does get unnecessarily convoluted and clichéd at times, with Henry haunted by his past, developing a relationship with Mary, and discovering that his superior has been hiding a terrible secret, but Stern just about keeps the pace going right up to the hilariously explosive ending.5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

rsoonsa This science-fiction film stars Robert Conrad as Henry Stanton, a retired C.I.A. operative who is persuaded by his former supervisor (Robert Webber) to accept another mission, one in which it is hoped that he may be able to address a problem of a rogue agent, Robert Golem (Richard Young), who is homicidal, with his victims being Agency and high government officials. Stanton is accompanied in his efforts to locate the vicious renegade by another former Agency employee, now one of Golem's targets, Mary Cassales (Karen Austin) who reveals to her new partner that the killer as an almost indestructible robot, designed for assassination purposes, and that she was instrumental in its production. The script, by director Sandor Stern, contains some interesting material, and neatly explains Asimov's three laws of robotics, but elements of romantic love between the two protagonists and between Golem and a smitten woman (Jessica Nelson) seem extraneous, and a point of view is difficult to find throughout. Conrad is most effective during the film's first half, when he is able to use his deceptively simple naturalistic skills, and Austin always contributes a developed interpretation, with only a lack of any sensual chemistry between Conrad and her serving to somewhat hamper the narrative's rhythm. Stern directs well and the work never becomes dull; however, his scenario is rather serried with story lines and he loses his way as the picture moves along, inevitably giving most emphasis to a series of frenetic action scenes, most of which demonstrate the android's superhuman physical talents. Although obviously derivative, the score by Anthony Guefen is effective, and particularly so in connection with scenes meant to generate feelings of suspense, while Chuck Arnold handles the cinematography nicely and there is crisp editing as always by James Calloway.