Adam's Top 5: Robot Movies

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Iron Giant (1999)
This is one of those movies that were universally heralded, but nobody went to the theater to watch. First seen as a failure, but later deemed successful after it recouped its costs in the rental and video market. Before Brad Bird directed Ratatouille and the Incredibles, he directed this wonderful movie. 9-year old Hogarth finds and befriends a giant alien robot (Vin Diesel) that, upon entry to Earth, loses its memory and the fact that it was sent to destroy Earth. This movie has a great story that touches upon many adult themes that will make it enjoyable for adults and the animation is great, so the kids will like it as well.

Robocop (1987)

This movie is about a veteran cop that dies in the line of duty only to be resurrected as an android for the prototype of the Robocop program. I was eight years old when this movie came out, but because I had neither cable television nor a VCR, it wasn’t until I was a bit older that I saw this movie for the first time at my cousin’s house. My uncle was the kind of guy that had stacks and stacks of movies that were either recorded from TV or bootleg copies bought from a flea market. They were always action movies (almost all Kung Fu) and usually had little to no production value. I remember after watching this movie, I would walk around taking slow, heavy steps and pretend to whirl around a fake gun and place it in my thigh. 

Short Circuit (1986)

Number 5 is a robot built for the Cold War by the scientist Newton Graham Crosby, played by Steve Guttenberg who starred in roughly 28% of all movies made in the 80s.  But when it is struck by lightning, he become sentient. The strike leaves him confused and he wanders around until he comes to the house of Stephanie Speck (Ally Sheedy). Speck is a free-spirited woman that loves animals and treats Number 5 as if he was one of them. While at her house, he gets as much input as he can get, flipping through television channels and reading encyclopedias he gains an appreciation for life and dubs himself Johnny 5. He also rids himself of all weapons. I remember quoting this movie a lot as a kid. I would randomly yell "JOHNNY 5 IS ALIVE" and was particularly fond of reciting the mantra of the gang from the sequel. Los Locos Kick Your Ass. Los Locos Kick Your Face. Los Locos Kick Your Balls Into Outer Space!

Terminator 2 (1991)

While this was a sequel to a movie whose place on this list could be easily argued for, I believe that this is a better Robot Movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as a T-800 sent back from the future by John Connor to protect himself and his mother, Sarah (Linda Hamilton). At the time of it's completion, this was the most expensive movie ever made, costing nearly $100 million. Much of the costs came from the T-1000 character, a liquid metal robot played by Robert Patrick. The shapeshifting of the T-1000 was something that most movie viewers had never seen anything like before. When the two Terminators fought, it nothing short of amazing. As seen by the movie's four technical academy award wins.

Transformers (2007)

When this movie was announced, I was one of the people that scoffed at a movie based off of a child's toy. Then I saw it. Throughout his career, Michael Bay has been burned by critics as his movies make money hand over fist. A Transformers movie was the perfect vehicle for his penchant for explosions, MTV-style quick edits and over the top acting. Regardless of what you think about the quality of filmmaking for the initial Transformers movie, it was highly entertaining. This was a movie that actually lived up to those generic things that people write about actions movies. Things like pulse-pounding adrenaline rush. When you finish watching this movie, you feel like getting out of your seat and going on a run while unnecessarily jumping over as many things that you can.

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Josh Nichol's Picks.

5. Toys

4. Wall-E

3. I-Robot

2. Batteries Not Included

1. Short Circuit

Josh used to be an unofficial roommate of Adam. Josh worked at Hollywood Video until Adam recruited him to work for at Blockbuster Video for him. He was a terrible employee for three years before he became a FedEx driver, where he watches movies on a portable laptop when he is sitting at stoplights. Josh has a fondness for movies made in the 80s and movies made for teenage girls. His collection of over 1,000 movies is kept in both alphabetical and chronological order.