The 25 greatest movie robot battles

16. Robocop 3 (1993)

The Robots: First up, an Otomo robot. The more accurate nomenclature would be: android ninja terminator. See? Better already. And of course, the heroic and law-abiding Robocop. Part-man, part-machine, and all awesome.

The Battle: Robocop ventures to the rebel base to find it deserted, and on fire a bit. Apart from one of the ninjas, who repeatedly knocks him on his behind with a series of flying kicks. Ignoring Robo's warnings, the ninja slices his fingers off and severs his right arm at the elbow.

The Victor: Robocop, of course. That buffoon didn't stand a chance coming up against Robo's special arm gun. Probably because of all that pesky synthetic skin.

15. Small Soldiers (1998)

The Robots: The Commando Elite, a fleet of pint-sized robot soldiers whose sole mission is to eradicate... The Gorgonites, a race of friendly alien robots. Marketed as childrens toys, the inclusion of military AI microprocessors turns these action figures into cute killing machines.

The Battle: As the Elite turn their war efforts (a nailgun mounted on a jeep) onto the humans, Archer, emissary of The Gorgonites rallies his troops to take down their enemies, despite being programmed to lose. An absence of hi-tech weaponry means nothing to Archer's team, who use their brute force to take down the Elite.

The Victor: While the Elite leader, Chip, tackles Archer in a final showdown, the human assistance in the battle equals a win for the good guys.

14. Iron Man 2 (2010)

The Robots: The one and only, Iron Man, a.k.a. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), in his Mark VI armoured suit and U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), kitted out in a souped-up weaponised version of Stark's Mark II armour, also referred to as War Machine. Their adversaries are Ivan Vanko and his squadron of armoured drones.

The Battle: Taking on a gaggle of the evil Vanko's drones, Iron Man and War Machine are surrounded by their hulking statures. The giant machine gun holstered on War Machines back comes in handy as the pair blast away...

The Victor: Stark and Rhodes defeat the drones, and Vanko opts for the self-destruct option on his suit.

13. Jason X (2001)

The Robots: The KM-14 (Lisa Ryder), a 'knowledge matrix android'. A fembot originally designated as chaperone for the kiddies on their trip to space, she receives a kick-ass upgrade turning her into a robotic killing machine... A worthwhile opponent for Jason, who after previously having his ass well and truly whupped by the fembot, is rebuilt by a trillion little nanites who upgrade him with an arsenal of robotic parts.

The Battle: As smug as a cat in a barrel of fish, Kay-Em saunters in brandishing her impressive upgrade and delivers her first blow verbally (Im afraid Im gonna have to hurt you now), which has zero effect on Jason who plunges a knife into her. But it was a ruse! As he leans in to retrieve his weapon, Kay-Em fills him with lead, sending him flying into the next room. Cue a lot of punching, kicking, knifing and machine gun fire. Jason loses most of his limbs.

The Victor: Not long after, the upgraded Jason decapitates KM, crowning him the winner of their inter-galactic tussle.

12. Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)

The Robots: Leader of the Autobots, the valiant Optimus Prime, and a trio of his brutal Decepticon foes; Megatron, Starscream and Grindor.

The Battle: This meadow assault, in which Optimus lays waste to countless Decepticons like it ain't no thang, causes heavy deforestation to the wooded area, with 'bots yanking up trees and beating each other senseless. A highlight sees Optimus prying apart Grindor's head with his energon hooks.

The Victor: Megatron and his acolytes reign supreme, as Optimus suffers a plague of damage - ended by a single blast to the chest that takes him out.

11. Universal Soldier (1992)

The Robots: A couple of semi-android universal soldiers. The GR44, Private Luc Devereaux (Jean Claude Van Damme) and the GR13, Sgt. Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) are a pair of elite bionic terrorists, forged from the reanimated remains of two warriors who died in combat.

The Battle: Scott and Devereaux come to blows in the films final moments, as Devereaux tries to hide on his familys rural farm. Scott aint having none of it. Ramming himself full of muscle enhancing drugs, he mercilessly beats Devereaux... that is, until the GR-44 evens the playing field and doses himself. Kinda like steroids for cyborgs.

The Victor: Devereaux impales Scott on a combine harvester, then repeatedly mows him into pieces.

10. Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon (2011)

The Robots: A gaggle of Autobots; Sentinel Prime, Dino, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Iron Hide, et. al. vs a bunch of dread Decepticons; Crankcase, Crowbar, Hatchet.

The Battle: Tearing up the highway, there's little concern for human casualties on either side as the sparring robots ruin miles and miles of road for commuters. Who to be honest were probably excited to be watching Bumblebee and Dino blow Hatchet away.

The Victor: The duplicitous Sentinel Prime, who kills Iron Hide, revealing he's a double-agent for the Decepticons.

9. Bill N' Teds Bogus Journey (1991)

The Robots: The Good Robot Us's - a pair of clunkily-built robotic versions of Bill (Alex Winters) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) - and their evil doppelgngers, created by Chuck De Nomolos, which are more akin to the Terminator (robots covered with leathery skin).

The Battle: As the evil metal dickweeds are about to perform at the Battle of the Bands, the real Bill and Ted appear onstage manned with massive remotes and introduce the good robots, who storm towards their nemeses...

The Victor: The good Bill and Ted robots punch the heads off the androids and sucker punch them in the gut, causing them both to explode.

8. Robocop (1987)

The Robots: Robocop, the cyborg reboot of Detroit police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) and the ED-209, a newer, bulky enforcement droid with guns for arms. Fancy.

The Battle: OCP president Dick Jones sics the ED-209 on Robocop, who, along with his partner Lewis manages to escape the tangle. Heading back to OCP headquarters, he's confronted by the towering hulk of a 'bot once more as he fights his way to get to Jones. The ED-209 blasts away at Murphy and chucks him through about a dozen glass doors.

The Victor: Robocop wins this one without resorting to guns: he pushes the behemoth ED-209 down a flight of stairs.

7. Robot Jox (1990)

The Robots: A pair of gigantic robots piloted by regular dudes. The villainous Confederation robot jock Alexander (Paul Koslo) and the heroic Market robot jockey Achilles (Gary Graham).

The Battle: Contracted to battle Alexander once more, Achilles begrudgingly takes to the ring. Their battle is legendary for its brutal ending: as Achilles attempts to deflect a projectile missile fired by Alexander aimed at the spectators, he takes the full impact... and accidentally lands on 300 folks sat in the bleachers.

The Victor: According to the judges, the match was inconclusive.

Gem Seddon

Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.