Robotrix (女机械人) is a 1991 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Jamie Luk Kim-Ming, and produced by Anthony Chow Deng-Au and Chua Lam, with distribution by Golden Harvest. The film stars David Wu, Chikako Aoyama, Amy Yip, Chung Lin and Hui Hsiao-dan, with screenplay writers Jamie Luk Kim-Ming and So Man-Sing, and music composed by James Wong Jim & Yeung Shiu-Hung. The film was theatrically released in May 1991 for Hong Kong.
Note: As I’ve purchased the film a while back, this is more akin to a ‘delayed unboxing’ post but most of the photos were sorted at the time of its arrival. This post has also been updated on 7th September 2025 to reword a few sections whilst keeping the same message across. This post also contains images from the box art and booklet that are not suitable for work.
Background:
“From the heady days of early 90s Hong Kong exploitation cinema comes Robotrix, a hi-octane, fast and furious science fiction romp, packed with glorious action sequences and bonkers plotlines. When evil inventor Ryuichi Sakamato (Chung Lin) transfers his mind into that of a powerful cyborg, he becomes a murderer and rapist. But when one of his victims, Police officer Selena Lin (Chikako Aoyama) becomes super robot Eve-27, she teams up with android sidekick Ann (Amy Yip) and together they seek to bring the criminally insane scientist to justice. Like a crazy mix of The Terminator (1981), The Power Rangers and of course, Robocop (1987) Robotrix, combines the mad doctor movie with extreme martial arts to deliver a sexy, seductive, bionic tale of lust and violence given a uniquely Asian futuristic spin.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, September 2021.
During my venture into the Hong Kong cinema I have been entertained by the modern day cop genre thanks to Jackie Chan’s Police Story. So when I heard about Robotrix I was expecting it to be a James Bond type of adventure which would be a different change of pace, but in reality its also your traditional Hong Kong film combined with the sci-fi elements of Terminator and Robocop. This combination turned out to be pretty effective, because Robotrix was surprising fun and entertaining. The characters were likeable, the story is rather unique and I also enjoyed the humour throughout especially with the cops during the hostel scenes. Also the music was great too.
But at the end of the day, this is a Category III film which also means that there’s even a few sex scenes here and there. One of the scenes I actually noticed an error that pretty much gives away the fact that it’s dry-humping, but I suppose that’s what gives these scenes some form of charm to it. I also didn’t expect to see some violence like a person being ran over in detail, but for the most part this film is rather light-hearted overall.
Robotrix also holds a pretty big importance in Hong Kong cinema. Not only did it provide full frontal nudity of the girls like other Category III films have done, but it was also apparently the first film to briefly display full frontal male nudity which was interesting to discover, but I suppose there’s strict rules in relation to it (like how all full-frontal parts in Japanese cinema are censored by Japanese law).
Robotrix has been released before in the UK, but had previously been cut by the BBFC due to scenes of sexual violence. With 88 Films licensing the film for a re-release, it got re-submitted and is now uncut and uncensored for the first time, to which the director provided a mini response to thank its fans and look forward to this release (with the hope that more of his films also see a UK release).
About 88 Films:
88 Films, is an independent UK distributor for Asian Cinema, Italian Cinema, Horror, Cult Classics and Action. Their line-up of films in the Asian Cinema scene includes the works of Jackie Chan (Armour of God, Miracles), Sammo Hung (Dragons Forever, Heart of Dragon), Nam Nai Choi (Erotic Ghost Story, Robotrix), Lau Kar-leung (The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, Martial Club), Chen Chi-Hwa (Half a Loaf of Kung Fu, Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin), Wong Jing (Casino Tycoon, God of Gamblers) and also many individual films from John Woo, Tsui Hark, Vincent Kok, Yuen Woo-ping and more. The distributor recently expanded to the US with ten Shaw Bros films such as The Chinese Boxer and Human Lanterns but also other works including US exclusive releases of In the Line of Duty I-IV series and Police Story 3: Supercop.
Their 2023+ line-up for Asian Cinema will include the Fight Back to School trilogy, The Last Blood (Hard Boiled II), Magic Cop, Twin Dragons, The Untold Story, and a re-release of Battle Creek Brawl.
Deluxe Collector’s Edition Contents:
For its return to the UK, distributor 88 Films went all-out with the presentation and packaging by offering Robotrix the deluxe collector’s edition treatment in the same vein that they had done with Erotic Ghost Story and The Young Master for their Blu-ray releases.
This deluxe collector’s edition release is presented with a rigid box showcasing newly illustrated artwork by R.P. “KUNG FU BOB” O’Brien, an Amaray case housing the disc, six replica lobby cards, double-sided poster featuring the new artwork and the original theatrical poster artwork, and an 80-page perfect-bound book featuring four write-ups. The articles covered are ‘Robotrix: An interview with director Jamie Luk’ by Matthew Edwards, ‘Robotrix versus Censorship: Category III battles with the BBFC and beyond’ by Matthew Edwards, and ‘The Bodyguard: An interview with Robotrix actor Vincent Lyn’ by Matthew Edwards, and ‘Robotrix and the UK’s VHS Cat III and HK Cinema boom of the 90s…’ by Tim Murray.
The box art features ratings, synopsis and information about the release, including specifications. The artwork on the Amaray case does include information and specs on the back. The deluxe collector’s edition Blu-ray release retailed for £34.99 SRP and would eventually be re-released as a standard edition Blu-ray that omits the rigid box, postcards, poster and booklet but included an o-card slipcase for its first print run. Print run was unspecified which for their previous CATIII deluxe release was around 2000 units.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with brand-new artwork by R.P. “KUNG FU BOB” O’Brien
- Amaray case packaging
- 6 Replica Lobby Cards
- Double-sided Poster featuring newly illustrated artwork and the original theatrical poster artwork
- 80-page perfect-bound book featuring new articles by Matthew Edwards & Tim Murray
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 20th September 2021
The deluxe collector’s edition release for Robotrix presents the film on a single Blu-ray disc, with the authoring and encoding done by 88 Films. The film’s presentation is based on a HD restoration from the original negatives.
The Blu-ray features the original Hong Kong theatrical cut presented in Cantonese audio with English & English SDH (due to some brief scenes spoken in English) subtitles and the classic English dub. The theatrical is the original Category III uncut and uncensored version.
The white subtitles, newly remastered, are unlockable during playback and the Blu-ray disc is locked to players set to Region B. A few on-disc features are included like alternate shots from different theatrical releases of the film in Asia, and audio commentaries.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Cantonese Linear PCM 2.0 Mono English Linear PCM 2.0 Mono |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.85:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Introduction by Director Jamie Luk
- Audio Commentary with Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Scenes from the Alternative Version
- English Language Titles
- Hong Kong Trailer
- English Trailer
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Robotrix is available to own on Blu-ray from 88 Films for the United Kingdom & Ireland.
The deluxe collector’s edition release has since discontinued, but the standard edition can be purchased through 88 Films’ official website, and Amazon UK.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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