Science & Tech Quote by John Badham

Badham isn’t really talking about a robot suit; he’s talking about the quiet revolution of movie magic when it stops being a clever prop and becomes a bodily experience. The telling detail is how he frames the sequel: not as a cash-in, not as a “bigger story,” but as a leap in tactile realism. “Huge advances” lands with the practical, workshop pride of a director who knows that an audience’s belief is often won or lost in the mechanics.

The subtext is a defense of sequels on craft terms. In Hollywood, sequels are usually justified with market logic. Badham justifies one with engineering and choreography: the suit responds “in sync,” a phrase that could be read as a manifesto for the whole illusion. Cinema works when the performer and the apparatus stop fighting each other. The suit isn’t just worn; it’s operated, like a new instrument. That’s why his emphasis sits on arms, on movement, on the simple physical feedback loop. It’s not the robot “looking better” that excites him, it’s the actor feeling more connected, less like they’re dragging a costume through a scene.

Contextually, this is the era when practical effects were becoming more sophisticated and more performer-friendly, before CGI made “anything” possible but often less tangible. Badham’s excitement is almost analog: progress measured in sync, in responsiveness, in the moment a technology finally disappears into the body.