Transformers II storms into multiplexes next week. Unlike my colleagues, I'm less looking forward to Megan Fox and Shia LeBeouf than to the sequel's steel giants. Which of course got me to thinking of what makes a good robot movie performance. Is it the mechanics? The voice work? The disjunction between the two? Of course I'm fond of Bumblebee in Transformers, but my favorite movie robot -- the False Maria in Fritz Lang's and Thea von Harbou's silent film Metropolis -- didn't have an audible voice.
Great movie robots? Certainly Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still, R2D2 and C3P0 in the Star Wars saga, WALL.E and Eve in Wall.E, the Iron Giant, Number 5 in Short Circuit -- and here's where it gets slippery. If androids count, then certainly the replicants in Blade Runner and the 'bots in Sleeper and fembots in Austin Powers. I thought of RoboCop, but technically he's part human and therefore really Cyborg-Cop.
Can you put your finger on the components of a memorable robot performance? Your favorite 'bot?
Your list is pretty complete, but you need to add Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. Not only was he a formative influence in the sci-fi film industry, but his grandson went on to a solid career on TV's Lost in Space.— Bob Ross- Thanks, Bob, for reminding of Robby. It occurs to me re-reading my list that the design of the 'bots (for instance Eve's sleek, egg shape), may be the determining factor in their appeal.— carrierickey
- If you're including androids, both Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide and Data from the Star Trek movies get my vote. (BTW, nice twist on the Dick title, Carrie; is that yours or the work of a headline writer?)— P-Frank
- How about Sonny from "I, Robot"? And for kicks and giggles, Gypsy and Crow from Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Bender from Futurama— chazzbo
- HAL from "2001; A Space Odyssey" gets my vote.— ralcarbo
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