Shoktir Lorai (Review)

Shoktir Lorai

aka শক্তির লড়াই
Shoktir Lorai
????
Written by ???
Directed by ???

Still better than the remake

Robocop gets remade by Bangla cinema, and the result is far from the worst Robocop film. Shoktir Lorai (শক্তির লড়াই) takes the basic premise of a murdered man being rebuilt into a robot who fights for justice, adds an evil counterpoint built by the villains, and throws in as many other Bangla tropes as they can to bring about a movie that is amazing and ridiculous while still being as Bangla as possible.

Bangla cinema is full of over the top characters and over the top action films, and it’s amazing just how naturally science fiction fits right in. We’ve seen a prior example of Bangla robots battling it out with Machine Man, and that film even stole some of the same parts of Robocop that Shoktir Lorai did! (though it was mostly stealing from Terminator franchise!)
Shoktir Lorai
As usual with these rarities, the review is a longform synopsis with commentary and we’ve included plenty of pictures and animated gifs. Thanks to Bangla cinema being so rarely written about in English, the cast and character names are partial guesses, and there are no subtitles to speak of. But at TarsTarkas.NET, we don’t need no stinking subtitles! I can’t seem to tell if this film was originally made for television or if it had a theatrical run, but television is where it first caught my attention as someone uploaded a clip to YouTube, and after that it was only a matter of two years of searching before I located a copy. Basically, any rare film you can’t find in less than an hour will probably take years to locate, that’s the disparity of rare cinema. So if people can fill in the blanks on who Shahin Alam and Notun are as well as all the actresses/actors who are nameless, it would be a great help!
Shoktir Lorai

Dr. Johan Buchi (Danny Sidak) – Our Hero is a do gooder scientist who tries to do the right thing and stand up to criminals, but just ends up putting his family at risk. The villains get their revenge and Johan is 99% murdered, but is rebuilt into…
Robocop (Danny Sidak) – Dr. Johan Buchi is back in Robocop form, rebuilt by his father in law to be a powerful cyborg that just so happens to be handy to use as a blunt instrument of revenge. He at first doesn’t remember anything except having a sense of justice, but eventually remembers his family.
Wife (Munmun) – Dr. Johan Buchi’s wife and Dr. Mola’s daughter. I couldn’t figure out her name, which is a real shame. Her and Johan have a daughter who might be named Lita, but she gets killed early in the film. Supports her newly Robocopped husband’s excursions of vengeance where he beats up the criminal underworld. Oddly she didn’t have her daughter rebuilt into a cyborg warrior, a shame because we missed out on Kindergarten Robocop! Munmun was also in Banglar King Kong
Dr. Mola (???) – Tubby Buddy! It’s good to see a familiar face, this guy who is in practically every Banglar film we watch! This time he’s a famed scientist who works on cyborg technologies and rebuilds the nearly dead Dr. Buchi, as well as Julie, into cyborg super powered people.
Inspector Suhil (???) – A heroic cop who tries his best to clean up the mean streets, which might happen now that a cyborg is throwing piles of criminals into his police station every night. Is sort of in a relationship with Charmine.
Charmine Mola (???) – Wife’s sister and Dr. Mola’s younger daughter, she has a carefree attitude and playfully flirts with Inspector Suhil, though she also flagrantly breaks the law while doing so with no remorse. Does little to advance the plot besides adding two songs.
Sharif Mohammad (???) – The grey haired businessman villain whose criminal empire blunders across Dr. Johan Buchi, so they order him wiped out when he refuses to not testify against them. Is incredulous when Robocop starts smashing up all his stuff.
Julie (???) – Sharif Mohammad’s girl who he shoots so she can have Robocop-ish powers of her own, though she’s more of Wonder Woman with super strength and bullet-deflecting metal bracelets. Her soundtrack is punctuated with crows shrieking which is awesome.

Shoktir Lorai
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Let’s not forget the trailer to Asylum’s Android Cop!


[adrotate banner=”1″]Asylum’s version of Robocop, Android Cop, also went the trailer route, and you can see the hot futuristic action of an android and his best friend, Michael Jai White, as they take down Charles S. Dutton, who has grown corrupt in the years since the Roc sitcom. There are gunfights, gunfights in abandoned industrial parks, gunfights in abandoned commerce parks, a flying gunship, a car with lots of spikes on it, and a stunt that wouldn’t look out of place in a Matix movie. Will Android Cop cover similar ethical grounds as Robocop? It is a mystery that can only be solved by watching Android Cop!

In this futuristic, action-packed thriller, a cop and his robotic partner enter the Zone, a forbidden section of the city inhabited by a disease-stricken populace. Together, they discover the real reason everyone is sick and attempt to stop the illness – with the help of the machine’s powerful technology and weaponry.

Android Cop drops on February 4th!

Android Cop – Asylum strikes again

[adrotate banner=”1″]You knew it was coming, but you wouldn’t believe it! Yes, Android Cop is Asylum’s mockbuster of Robocop, and might be good enough to satisfy everyone who is making angry noises about the new Robocop remake. Or not. Or maybe the remake will be good. It is a mystery that can only be solved by watching both films.

Android Cop will star Michael Jai White as Android Cop, and also feature Charles S. Dutton and Kadeem Hardison! This is an awesome cast list.

In this futuristic, action-packed thriller, a cop and his robotic partner enter the Zone, a forbidden section of the city inhabited by a diseased stricken populace. Together, they discover the real reason everyone is sick, and attempt to stop the illness – with the help of the machine’s powerful technology and weaponry.

This plot has nothing to do with either Robocop plots, which is good.

If all else fails, you will be able to buy this for a dollar…in the Wal-Mart discount DVD bins!

via FCS

Android Cop Asylum

Robocop remake visuals

[adrotate banner=”1″]Robocop is awesome, so it is with great wariness that we approach the remake. Though we’ve already had a fair share of awful Robocop sequels and tie-ins, so something awful with Robocop in it isn’t that much of a shock any more. But regardless, the eye is still wary. The studio has responded with viral marketing to ease the pain away and to reassure the wary public that there will be familiar elements. Thus, the OmniCorp Website is up with a slick new video featuring an all new ED-209 blowing up a tank. OmniCorp being the new version of Omni Consumer Products from the original film. ED-209 is slicker and more modern, but still features the same basic design. The faux commercial on the site touts urban pacification tools such as the police drone that looks like a stealth flyer, hinting there may be larger issues broached with the new Robocop. Hopefully so, as the classic Robocop has a lot going on under the hood.

The cast is already geeked out, with Samuel L. Jackson playing a media mogul, Gary Oldman as one of the techs behind Robocop, and Hugh Laurie as the head of OmniCorp. Alex Murphy actor Joel Kinnaman is a practical unknown compared to them. José Padilha is directing, and we will be watching. Carefully.

The site also hints to the Robocop design under the TC-2000 heading. But no big reveal…yet! It does fit in with the rumor that the suit will be more CGI than a giant metal suit, so Robocop can be more mobile.
TC-2000

The new ED-209:
New ED-209

Robocop Remake changing everything Robocop

[adrotate banner=”1″]Word on the street (and by street, I mean internet) is that the Robocop costume in the new Robocop movie will be totally redesigned to show off more of his face, including a see-through visor. What other changes we’ll get is unknown at this time, because they ain’t talking yet! New Robocop actor Joel Kinnaman is the guy spilling the beans, and he also mentions the ultraviolence from the original will be toned down. Director José Padilha does good work, so we’ll continue to watch with slight trepidation. Because Robocop is awesome, even if all the sequels and tv miniseries and actual tv series and cartoons and Korean commercials were various shades of terrible. So I don’t think that even a terrible Robocop remake will make a dent in the reputation of the original, except in the minds of 13 year olds who won’t have seen the original anyway.

Robocop 3 Japanese Poster

We got a secret look at the new Robocop design!


via Movieweb