Assassin (1986)
Article 5727 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 3-22-2020
Directed by Sandor Stern
Featuring Robert Conrad, Karen Austin, Richard Young
Country: USA
What it is: TV-Movie-style Terminator

When an agent goes on a killing spree, a former member of the agency is called in to catch him, only to discover that he’s chasing a robot.

Given that, at the time of this writing, Robert Conrad passed away only a month and a half ago, and given that “The Wild Wild West” was my favorite TV show as a kid, I’m glad to have a chance to encounter him in action, albeit in such a highly derivative TV thriller. His presence is welcome and familiar, and most of my pleasure in this movie is due to his presence. I wouldn’t call this movie a TERMINATOR clone; it only uses the concept of a killer-robot-on-the-loose and fashions a similar title. The plot they dredge up for this take on the idea is by the numbers. When you’re less than a minute into the movie, and you find yourself wondering if Conrad is going to turn out to be a former agent who is called back into action to fight a new menace, and the movie promptly obliges, you know you’re not dealing with writers struggling to come up with something new. Conrad made it watchable for me, but it is a pretty weak movie with a rather silly ending.