{"id":491144,"date":"2026-02-26T07:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/491144\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T07:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:22:12","slug":"r-rated-90s-sci-fi-actioner-is-the-wildest-robocop-ripoff-you-never-heard-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/491144\/","title":{"rendered":"R-Rated 90s Sci-Fi Actioner Is The Wildest RoboCop Ripoff You Never Heard Of\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Robert Scucci<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t | Published 41 seconds ago\t\t<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019ve ever found yourself watching RoboCop<\/a> and wondering if there was a crappier version starring Billy Blanks, I\u2019d point you to 1993\u2019s TC 2000. That\u2019s right, the Tae Bo guy leads a dystopian sci-fi action flick in which his partner becomes a ruthless killing machine with only fragmented memories of her past life. Cybersecurity is compromised, government buildings are leveled, and the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Thankfully, we get enough montages involving flexed muscles and shadowboxing to reassure us that, after all is said and done, everything will be right in the world.<\/p>\n

TC 2000, despite its sloppy mixed martial arts messaging, remains an entertaining entry in writer-director T.J. Scott\u2019s filmography, and for his first feature-length project, it certainly has legs. Those legs belong to Billy Blanks, who unflinchingly steps up as the action hero nobody asked for and commits fully to the premise.<\/p>\n

Humans Vs. Cyborgs Vs \u2026 Picasso?<\/p>\n

\"TC<\/p>\n

Set in an underground city in the year 2020, TC 2000 centers on an elite police force designed to protect the wealthy from the remaining surface dwellers, who are always looking for a way into their heavily fortified community<\/a>. Jason Storm (Billy Blanks) and his partner Zoey Kinsella (Bobbie Phillips) work as Tracker-Communicators, or TCs, whose sole purpose is to keep the riff raff out of the compound. When the community\u2019s force field is breached by common citizens who just want a safe place to rest their heads, Zoey suspects they were given intel from the inside, meaning the city is no longer secure.<\/p>\n

Through exchanges between Jason and his superior, The Controller (Ramsay Smith), we learn that, with the help of his muscle man Bigalow (Matthias Hues), he plans to replace TCs with the next iteration of cybernetically infused enforcers known as TC-Xs.<\/p>\n

\"TC<\/p>\n

When gang leader Niki Picasso (Jalal Merhi) infiltrates the city with the intention of seizing whatever pre-collapse firepower is hidden within its walls, Zoey is killed and secretly converted into a TC-X by The Controller. He programs her to gain Picasso\u2019s trust through seduction, intending to infiltrate another gang known as the Lifers, who guard a research facility he wants to claim.<\/p>\n

Exiled from the force and framed for his partner\u2019s murder, Jason needs a training montage to restore balance and properly confront The Controller. With the help of his mentor, Master Sumai (Bolo Yeung), Jason learns the facility was once owned by Zoey\u2019s father to repair the environment, but has since been converted into a chemical weapons manufacturing plant. Now guarded by Zoey, who has been programmed to assassinate her former partner, breaching the factory seems impossible for anyone but Jason Storm.<\/p>\n

A Martial Arts Showcase<\/p>\n

\"Martial<\/p>\n

While TC 2000 leaves plenty to be desired in terms of on-screen chemistry, special effects, truly menacing villains, and meaningful internal conflict between Jason Storm and his superiors, it more than makes up for its lack of depth with its fight sequences. Billy Blanks tries his hardest to be a leading man and action hero, and the effort is commendable, but he is just not that guy. He can throw hands and roundhouse kick as well as Jean-Claude Van Damme<\/a>, but he lacks the charisma needed to carry the show alone.<\/p>\n

As for the evil forces at play, Picasso may go down as one of the least threatening villains in cinema history. He listens to records and struts around like he is a badass, but if I am being honest, I kept waiting for him to clutch his pearls and yell \u201ccurses!\u201d upon defeat. What I anticipated is not too far off from what actually happens in TC 2000.<\/p>\n

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If you head over to Tubi and fire up TC 2000<\/a>, you might find yourself drifting during the expository scenes. When the fights ramp up, though, it is worth your time if you love a good old-fashioned cybernetic beatdown. It\u2019s cheesy but it\u2019s charming. It\u2019s sloppy, but it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s best not to take this one too seriously, because it will ruin the experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Robert Scucci | Published 41 seconds ago If you\u2019ve ever found yourself watching RoboCop and wondering if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[225157,225158,88,1630,225159,225160,15079,206,225161,900,125239,12226,225162,7382,225163,37679],"class_list":["post-491144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-billy-blanks","tag-bobbie-phillips","tag-entertainment","tag-entertainment-news","tag-jalal-merhi","tag-matthias-hues","tag-movie-news","tag-movies","tag-ramsay-smith","tag-reviews","tag-robocop","tag-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi-action","tag-streaming","tag-tc-2000","tag-tubi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}