Eliminators (1986) – Hey Kid, Shut Up, I’m Watching Mandroid

Eliminators (1986)

Director: Peter Manoogast

Cast: Andrew Prine, Denise Crosby, Patrick Reynolds, Roy Dotrice

Robots. Cavemen. A ninja who shows up two-thirds of the way through for absolutely no reason. A mandroid who can't stay on a boat. This is Eliminators, and it is exactly the fever dream you're hoping it is.

This week, John and Sean dive headfirst into the 1986 Charles Band-produced sci-fi action romp that somehow got a PG rating despite side boob, constant explosions, and a villain who gets yeeted 100,000 years into the past by a random keyboard punch. It's stupid. It's charming. It almost works. We love it.

In this episode, we discuss:

“Bubblegum, Paperclips, and Tank Treads” — The plot holds together by vibes alone, and that's somehow fine. The mandroid falls off the back of a boat mid-river, John rewinds it twice, and we break down why this movie's relentless, logic-free momentum is actually its greatest asset.
“The Sandbox Theory of Screenwriting” — Robots, time travel, Neanderthals, a ninja who materializes from the woods two-thirds in — John's thesis is that this script was written by handing kids a box of action figures and transcribing the chaos. We make the case for why that works here when it absolutely shouldn't.
“The Mandroid Disguise Industrial Complex” — A fedora, a tarp-cape, and a giant red flashlight bolted to his head. Incognito. We also settle the tank tread debate: hyped in the trailer, used for five minutes, abandoned, brought back only to fall over. A true cinematic crime.
“PG? Are You Sure About That?” — Wet T-shirts, a bar brawl led by someone named Bayou Betty, laser violence, side boob. Apparently all fine in 1986. We dig into what the ratings board was and wasn't paying attention to, and what it says about this gloriously unhinged era of filmmaking.

We Also Talked About:

Mr. Inbetween (Hulu) — An FX series Sean fell hard for: 26 half-hour episodes about an Australian hitman balancing contract kills with single parenthood. Dark, funny, completely addictive.
The Magician (2005) (Tubi) — The Scott Ryan mockumentary that originated the Ray Shoesmith character before Mr. Inbetween existed. Essential context.
WWE Biographies: Legends (Amazon) – The Von Erichs — Three hours of documented tragedy covering the same ground as The Iron Claw but with more Kevin, more Sportatorium, and more time to sit in the sadness. Sean watched it. He reports back.
Video Vixen (Bloodstream) — A shot-on-video indie slasher streaming on Bloodstream (free, but they want your email, which John resents) about a cam girl with a snuff fetish that eventually stops being a fetish and just becomes murder. The most interesting thing about it is the intentionally chaotic camera work — 1080p to vertical phone shot to Super 8 grain, switching based on which influencer is on screen. Cool concept, largely forgettable execution. John supports it on principle because indie filmmakers need somewhere to put their stuff, but he's not going to pretend it's good.
King Kong (1976) (Pluto) — John revisited the Jeff Bridges-and-Jessica-Lange remake. Practical effects, a worthy successor to the original, and a soft spot for a giant ape that never fully goes away.
SNL on Peacock — John went back to episode one and kept going. What he found: a legitimately fascinating variety show buried under 40 minutes of content per 90-minute slot, missing skits, and enough '90s-era comedy choices to keep a content moderation team busy for years.