3rd: Metropolis
This is an absolute masterpiece by director Fritz Lang about man’s slavery to machines. Workers file onto an elevator in a haunting manner overseen by their boss who is angered when his son Fleder passes through the gate to observe the operation. Fleder is transfixed on Maria who is a Christ-like figure instructing peace.
The boss turns to a mad scientist who constructs a robot in Maria’s image. She will lead the people to destruction by destroying the machines. By doing this the operation floods putting workers out of homes. Meanwhile the mad scientist kidnaps Maria thus placing Fleder in a position of heroism.
Magnificent Production
Extraordinary vision of mechanics and magnificent production that put Lang ahead of his time. The machinery is detailed and visualized paving the road to an onslaught of clones that mostly never measure up. Alfred Abel plays the boss who symbolizes man’s lack of understanding as well as the portal to improvement.
Rudolf Klein-Rogge plays the scientist who symbolizes corruption and defeat. Brigitte Helm as Maria symbolizes peace and the hope for a brighter future. Heinrich George as the foreman represents the common citizen or worker who is deemed an explanation when catastrophe hits. Gustay Frohlich as Fleder represents the willingness to improve.
If you look close enough in the offices of the boss u can see that they are trying to simulate something that resembles computer screens even before the television screen was invented, a thing which we find brilliant and ahead of it’s time.
2nd: Bicentennial Man
This is one of our favorite A.I. movies. It’s a movie about breaking down the barrier of man and machine, organic and electric. In our opinion people seem to ignore this movie because they usually expect in a robot film much more futuristic and action-oriented scenes. But Bicentennial Man tries to be a more peaceful kind of film, the action taking place in a “not too distant future”. This suits the movie rather well, because the themes and goals are more thoughtful and sympathetic in nature.
The Plot
In the not too distant future, Richard Martin (Sam Neill) buys a robot for his home. His wife (Wendy Crewson) isn’t so sure. His daughter Grace tells the younger sister Amanda that it’s an android. Amanda can’t quite say the word Android and instead says Andrew. From then on, the robot is named Andrew (Robin Williams). Grace commands Andrew to jump out of the window and Richard tells the children to treat Andrew as a person from then on.
Richard notices signs of individual creativity in Andrew and brings it back to the company. Dennis Mansky (Stephen Root) wants to disassembles Andrew but Richard refuses. The Martins go on a lifelong journey to nurture Andrew’s individuality as he/it becomes more human. Adult Amanda (Embeth Davidtz) pushes to treat Andrew as a person and even granting him his freedom. Andrew discovers inventor Rupert Burns (Oliver Platt) whose father was the original designer.
This is a great movie to watch if you’re a fan of Asimovian robotics or if you’re looking for a warm-hearted Sci-Fi movie in general.
1st: I, Robot
Don’t let the title fool you…this film was surely not made by robots. I, Robot stars Will Smith as Del Spooner, a Chicago homicide detective in a 2035 world where robots are a part of everyday life from shipping to cooking. An apparent suicide has taken place at U.S. Robotics; the victim being founder Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell). But Spooner has suspicions; could one of the very robots made under his mind be the cause of such death?
His investigation alongside robot expert Dr. Susan Calvin (Moynahan) leads them to a robot with human-like qualities that attempts to flee the crime scene and presents action of a nature that goes against the Three Laws of Robotics. However, further examination may reveal the true reason for the crime and the future of robots and mankind across Earth.
Cinematography
Both the look and craft of this movie are greatly polished, slowly but surely immersing us into this world of robotics as well as the compelling chain of events taking place. If the characters don’t happen to compel, then everything else will. Alex Proyas does a splendid job with the action sequences, all involving robots, especially a smashing truth-unveiler in a freeway tunnel, where the scenery is figuratively and literally eaten up by both cop and bot involved.
In fact, Proyas is such a saving grace to some elements that he happens to actively improve some of Vintar & Goldsman’s script in the field of character depth. People seem to bash Goldsman for his work on the faulty Schumacher Batman films, but it’s a clearly a misstep when you see what’s done here. The character of Spooner has proved Will Smith to be an action stud, but sadly more of a comedic edge than a dramatic edge. When the drama is asked of him, it comes off nicely, but it’s more likely you’ll “haha” at him than “aww”.
Bridget Moynahan must’ve been on the bottom of the list of possibilities, because her presence here is all but dire. Although she’s consistently alongside Smith, they share no chemistry and her attempt to portray a more focused but serious woman, probably as a comedic opposite for Smith, fails. She injects no more human into the picture than Smith does. Speaking of “human”, there is one hell of a human robot here, which is surprising for a machine.
Presumed robot murderer Sonny, portrayed in voice and motion picture by Alan Tudyk, curiously causes us to generate a small sympathy towards him, considering he’s a “unique” robot. As Sonny’s broad range of feelings emerge, we begin to question his guilt even more: is he manipulative or just purely innocent?
Overall, Tudyk adds a surprising glimmer of humanity to who is ironically the most robotic character in the film. Neither Sonny, the robots, nor their world could be achieved without some talented visual effects artists. In the whole context of the movie, the above-average visuals are as immersive as the people who wrote it up.
Movie’s Vision
Robots are becoming more and more common in our world today, but is it possible for world domination to be achieved like this? No. Can robots pose a threat to society? Not likely. Can they impact our society? Very likely. The movie isn’t likely to change minds on how we think about robots, but as a science fiction film, it shares ideas while preparing us for the very worst, and I stress “very”.
The movie’s vision is purely fictional, and we’ll all probably be dead before any robot invasions take place, making the movie’s realism a little far-far-fetched. It may not totally succeed as a thought-provoking sci-fi, but it also markets as an action thriller…it hits the jackpot on that part. Despite a rather hollow cast, their action adrenaline combined with A-rate thrills make for a movie that’s either too smart or too dumb to entertain.