Robot Monster appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The 2D version offered an erratic presentation.
Sharpness became the iffiest aspect of the image, as that element varied quite a lot. While aspects of the movie showed nice delineation, others felt blocky and soft. I must assume this came as a side effect of the source 3D photography, but it left us with an inconsistent set of visuals nonetheless.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws became an occasional distraction, with sporadic instances of specks, marks and scratches. Nothing major arrived, though.
Blacks usually felt fairly deep and dense, while shadows offered decent to good clarity. Enough of the 2D satisfied for a “C+” but the end result lacked consistency.
As for the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural audio, it showed the expected drawbacks that came with the movie’s age and low budget. Though speech remained intelligible, the lines tended to feel somewhat edgy and metallic.
Score felt a bit harsh and shrill, while effects could come across on the rough side and lacked range. None of this came as a surprise, but this nonetheless wound up as a mediocre soundtrack, even when I considered the movie’s roots.
This package includes both the movie’s 2D and 3D versions. Indeed, it comes with two ways to watch 3D: Blu-ray 3D for those of us with the proper TVs and also an anaglyph edition for those without the necessary equipment.
I gave both a look, and unsurprisingly, the Blu-ray 3D image proved the more satisfying by far. Picture quality remained consistent with what I saw with the 2D version – and actually probably looked better, as the stereo presentation hid some of the issues.
The anaglyph offered iffier visuals, as that format came with its issues. That meant this one appeared softer and murkier than the Blu-ray 3D or the 2D.
The BD3D also came with stronger 3D effects than the anaglyph, though I wouldn’t claim it delivered a terrific stereo presentation. The 3D added some depth as well as occasional pop-out moments, but it didn’t become especially memorable in that regard.
As expected, the BD3D worked better in this regard than did the anaglyph. The latter’s stereo effects actually worked acceptably well, but they came across as inconsistent and not as positive as those seen with the BD3D.
Ultimately, the BD3D became the best way to watch the movie. While I don’t think the stereo elements impressed across the board, they added some punch and they almost distracted from the terrible quality of the movie itself. Almost.
The set comes with a mix of extras, and we launch with an audio commentary from actor Greg Moffett, film historian Mike Ballew, and 3D Space Museum’s Eric Kurland and Lawrence Kaufman. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at production elements, the use of 3D and Moffett’s experiences.
Don’t expect lots of revelations from Moffett, as he doesn’t remember a lot about the shoot. And I don’t blame him, as it seems like a lot to ask for an 80-year-old to clearly recall much from what he did at the age of 10.
Still, Moffett generates the commentary’s most interesting moments, as he does provide a handful of insights – and he maintains an appropriately snarky attitude toward the movie itself. The others try too hard to claim Robot Monster offers a decent film, a choice that undermines their credibility.
Even without that, Ballew, Kaufman and Kurland don’t give us much of value. They toss out a few worthwhile notes about 3D but otherwise they fail to deliver much that I’d call informative. All of this leads to a dull and fairly insight-free commentary.
Note that the commentary doesn’t cover the “Slick Slaven” short that leads into Robot Monster. You can skip to the film’s actual beginning and miss nothing.
Under the banner of 3D Bonus Content, we get one hour, three minutes, 52 seconds of material. This opens with “Memories of a Pooped-Out Pinwheel”, a segment that includes notes from Moffett.
The actor talks about his career and memories of Monster. Moffett touches on pretty much everything he mentions in the commentary and does so in a more efficient manner, so this reel makes the commentary even less useful.
Once “Pinwheel” ends at the 19:51 mark, filmmaker Hillary Hess leads us through a discussion of stereo photography. This mainly means a tour of old images shot in that format, which becomes fun given the 3D presentation.
At 40:43, “3D Content” shifts to a short called Dance of the Blonde Slave’s Revenge. A similar effort called Madonna and Her Bubbles follows.
Neither offers much real entertainment value, but the titular Blonde Slave is pretty hot, at least. They act as interesting 3D curiosities.
When we hit 49:29, we get examples of 3D comic books from the 1950s. As with the preceding shorts, they offer some historical worth.
As the timer gets to 51:45, 3D Film Archive founder Bob Furmanek and film historian/collector Bob Burns visit Monster’s Bronson Canyon location.
This mainly acts as an excuse for Burns to wander the cave, recite movie lines and show off the Ro-Man helmet. It becomes a waste of time.
“Whatever Happened to Ro-Man?” starts at 55:50 and brings a 3D short by “Ray Zone”. It delivers an “interview” with Ro-Man at his SoCal home. It seems cutesy and without much cleverness.
The final one-minute, five-seconds of “3D Bonus Content” demonstrate some of the work done for the 3D restoration. It adds a little information.
2D Bonus Content occupies a total of 37 minutes, 34 seconds. For the first part, Furmanek discusses his interest in 3D films as well as his discovery of the Slick Slaven short that opens Monster.
Furmanek offers some useful details, and we see a little of the elderly Slaven – real name Trustin Howard – from late in his life.
At 7:36, we find a trailer for Monster. Promos for other 3D movies of the era follow along with print ads for some of these films.
When we reach 24:53, we learn reissues of Robot Monster retitled it Monster from Mars. This area shows the altered title cards for that version.
As we get to 25:26, filmmaker Joe Dante leads us into Trailers from Hell. Under the changed Monster from Mars title, Dante offers commentary over the trailer to make this a brief but effective piece.
“Mistakes and Innovations” arrives at 27:25 and looks at the movie’s odd “nighttime” grading as well as its use of different footage per eye for some scenes. It brings a few good details.
After a quick ad for a Bob Burns book at 31:34, Furmanek reappears at 31:56 to talk about Robot Monster in a little more depth as well as notes about the 3D restoration. He gives us a handful of decent thoughts.
That ends “2D Bonus Content” but we get one more component on the disc: a 1953 episode of the TV series You Asked For It that featured Bela Lugosi. It spans seven minutes, 54 seconds.
Asked took viewer requests and enacted them, so Lugosi took the opportunity to revisit his role as Dracula. Mainly he pulls off a hokey magic trick so this becomes a silly clip, though it’s fun to see Lugosi as his most famous part.
It’s not entirely clear why this piece appears on the Robot Monster release, though Lugosi and co-star Shirley Patterson discuss 3D films.
We can watch this segment with or without commentary from Lugosi biographer Geoffrey Rhodes. He tells us about Lugosi’s status at the time and his connection to 3D movies in this short but informative chat.
One of Hollywood’s most famous “bad movies”, Robot Monster indeed offers poor filmmaking. However, it never quite becomes entertaining in its awfulness, so expect a boring ride. The Blu-ray comes with mediocre picture and audio as well as a decent collection of bonus materials. Even aficionados of crap cinema should skip this clunker.
