History Film / ROTOR

** R.O.T.O.R. is supposed to be the perfect robot cop that is able to clean up all of the scum in the city. It only kills one person on-screen and spends the rest of the movie failing to kill Sonya.

** Even the cook, who sees Sonya run in through the backdoor and into the dining room and gives it nothing more than a "don't see that every day" response. When ROTOR comes in through the backdoor, though, the cook tries to attack him with a knife!

* AcronymConfusion: On the BondOneLiner "Justice served. C.O.D.". The film doesn't seem to know "C.O.D." means "cash on delivery", and it's unclear what the film is confusing it for (D.O.A.?)[[note]]Certificate of Death, maybe?[[/note]]
** Exactly what R.O.T.O.R. stands for actually changes during the film (the second R is alternately "Research" or "Reserve").

--> '''Bill Corbett:''' Ha ha. It's ''funny'' because he's ''rural''.

** You '''really''' have to wonder, though, from this one line during his presentation.
--> '''Coldyron'': "I've already wondered if our creation is gonna rescue society, or destroy it."

* R.O.T.O.R. is supposed to be the perfect robot cop that is able to clean up all of the scum in the city. It only kills one person on-screen and spends the rest of the movie failing to kill Sonya.
* Also early in the movie there's a radio traffic report saying the highways are packed with people fleeing town for the weekend, which left the Rifftrax boys in shocked disbelief at how empty they were in the footage actually shown.

* InformedAbility: R.O.T.O.R. is supposed to be the perfect robot cop that is able to clean up all of the scum in the city. It only kills one person on-screen and spends the rest of the movie failing to kill Sonya.

* IndecisiveParody: Due to the inconsistent tone and the addition of obviously comedic elements, the movie is unable to decide whether it wants to be a parody of ''Film/{{Robocop}}'' or a straight rip-off.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Coldyron retires from his job after an argument with Bugler. He rejoins the force shortly after when R.O.T.O.R. goes berserk.
* TheEighties: Depressingly so. The reason the R.O.T.O.R. project was even able to get funding is because crime is so rampant that even with ''twenty-five years'' as a projected completion date, it just sounds like a direly needed weapon for law-enforcement and thus a sure-fire political move.

* AllCrimesAreEqual: Due to faulty programing, R.O.T.O.R tries to execute anyone who breaks any law whatsoever. In one scene he kills a guy for speeding, and, somewhat oddly, tries to kill his passenger for what it considers resisting arrest.
* AlmightyJanitor: Definitely averted with Shoeboogie. He fancies himself a ladies' man with a trove of "Indian lore", but he's just an annoying loser whose clumsiness activates the killer robot.

--> '''Redneck:''' Hey, faggot city cop!

* ComicallySmallBribe: Sonya's fiancee attempts to wave R.O.T.O.R. off with a $20 bribe. Not that R.O.T.O.R. would ever have accepted any bribery attempts, but still, the attempt is rather pitiful.

* CopHater: At the very least the trio of guys at the diner, who are willing to attack what's supposed to look like a regular police officer on Sonya's behalf.

* CoversAlwaysLie: Look at the trope image. R.O.T.O.R. doesn't have [=RoboCop=]'s body armor, and it doesn't take place during a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

* IdiotBall: No one ever uses R.O.T.O.R.'s WeaksauceWeakness until the very end of the film.

* KarmaHoudini: Shoeboogie's janitorial negligence is responsible for activating the killer robot, but he seems to escape cosmic comeuppance. So does Houghtaling, Willard the robot, Commander Bugler, and everybody else who directly contributed to the robot's going berserk (and in Bugler's case, [[spoiler:blowing away Coldyron in a police station parking lot]]). The only people who suffer are innocent bystanders and the two most competent and noble scientists.

* MisappliedPhlebotinum: R.O.T.O.R's most far fetched ability is something called "Sensor Recall" which allows him to see into the past to view events that happened in whatever area he's looking at, which he mainly uses when trying to hunt down someone in order the check if they had been through said area recently. Ignoring the fact that [[ScienceFantasy such a power seems more like magic than anything vaguely scientific or technological]], you would think whatever designer discovered such an ability would use it for more things than just a cop robot, as, to name just one thing, historians could use it to see into the past and find out if some famous historical even ''really'' happened the way everyone thinks.

'''[[Podcast/RiffTrax Mike]]:''' ''(as Coldyron)'' I'm just a shmoe who taught a robot to see through time.

** "Look at you! You look like you've got both eyeballs coming out of the same hole!" comes a close second.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Barrett Coldyron, Detective Glorioso, Dr. Corrine Steele, Detective Mango, and of course, Shoeboogie.
-->'''Bill Corbett''': Detective ''Mango?!'' Is this a Music/JimmyBuffett mystery?

* TooDumbToLive: Sonya. After R.O.T.O.R. [[spoiler:kills her fiancé]], she flees with her car and R.O.T.O.R. follows her with the intent to kill her. She shakes him off, then stops on the open road and is looking for her purse (!) when she sees a police officer in the rearview mirror although she knows R.O.T.O.R. (looking like a police officer) is still following her. She only survives because R.O.T.O.R. somehow forgets to use his gun and lets her escape quickly.

** For R.O.T.O.R., minor traffic violation + $20 bribe = death.

--> ''YT Comment:'' That's not Cold Iron. That's Coldy Ron.

** And then there's doozie number two that is the R.O.T.O.R. Project core programming ("AllCrimesAreEqual -- KillEmAll"). Even with a ''very'' generous prediction window of twenty-five years minimum (from the late part of TheEighties) before society goes to hell bad enough that such a set of directives will be needed, the thing is pretty much a walking civil liberties lawsuit (which makes the first point even more baffling).

* IronicEcho: "Justice delivered. C.O.D."[[note]]'''Bill:''' ''(chuckling)'' I don't think cash changes hands![[/note]]

* KarmaHoudini: Shoeboogie's janitorial negligence is responsible for activating the killer robot, but he seems to escape cosmic comeuppance. So does Houghtaling, Willard the robot, Commander Bugler, and everybody else who directly contributed to the robot's going berserk (and in Bugler's case, [[spoiler:blowing away Coldyron]]). The only people who suffer are innocent bystanders and the two most competent and noble scientists.

* MisappliedPhlebotinum: R.O.T.O.R's most far fetched ability is something called "Sensor Recall" which allows him to see into the past to view events that happened in whatever area he's looking at, which he mainly uses when trying to hunt down someone in order the check if they had been through said area recently. Ignoring the fact that [[ScienceFantasy such a power seems more like magic than anything vaguely scientific or technological]], you would think whatever designer discovered such an ability would use it for more things than just a cop robot, as, to name just one thing, historians could use it to see into the past and find out if some famous historical even ''really'' happened the way everyone things.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Coldyron has a little robot on his desk, but what the heck is with the griffin statue on Bugler's?

* LetsGetDangerous: After Coldyron indulges in a long FauxlosophicNarration, Steele's response? She's changed into camo offscreen, and growls, "Let's do it!"

---> Dr. Steele, will you be my friend? I don't want to push. Who knows where this could go? I know: You are huge. You could pick me up and toss me across the room. And, frankly, [[TooKinkyToTorture I would love every minute of it.]] Your [[SkunkStripe skunk mullet]] would draw attention to us at restaurants and people would say "Who are they who believe they can flaunt societal decorum?" and I would tell them to "Cram it!" because you and I should be friends. Good friends. I'm making you a mix tape, downloading it to my [=MP3=] player and sending it, online, to your heart. Call me?

* {{Homage}}: Steele's SkunkStripe is an homage to ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'', which [[{{Foreshadowing}} Foreshadows]] the ending when R.O.T.O.R. II resembles her.

* SkunkStripe: Worn by Steele.

* VagueAge: Steele's SkunkStripe and initial outfit seem to imply that she's meant to be several years older than her actress, but her general appearance is just so bizarre that it's difficult to tell just what the filmmakers were going for.