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Automata
Watched this yesterday (Early US dvd release).
Interesting little movie, though not the most original idea. Set in a future earth ravaged by solar flares, domestic robots are commonplace though are imprinted with two basic laws, namely that they cannot harm humans and cannot repair themselves.
There is a nice little twist in that robots are so common they are treated as the underclass in society, and are reduced to begging on the streets for credits/money, in an attempt to replace broken parts, limbs etc.
Antonio Banderas plays an insurance investigator for the corporation who built the robots, whose job it is to investigate claims of broken or malfunctioning robots.
It becomes apparent that some robots are seemingly able to violate the above laws, and Banderas character strives to find out what is happening.
It's a fairly bleak movie, low-budget, but the future environment is well-realised, and the robots (built practically rather than CGI) are very well done.
And of course it does owe a huge debt to Asimov's I Robot, plus some Blade Runner references thrown in - Dylan McDermott as a Deckard-style cop whose job it is to hunt down rogue robots, a childhood memory of a turtle, robots with a self-preservation instinct etc.
So it's a character driven piece rather than a sci fi action movie, but it's never less than watchable. Some interesting casting choices too, Melanie Griffith as a woman who deals in pleasure robots, Tim McInnery as a corporate heavy, and a very briefly glimpsed Geraldine Somerville (Cracker).
Interesting little movie, though not the most original idea. Set in a future earth ravaged by solar flares, domestic robots are commonplace though are imprinted with two basic laws, namely that they cannot harm humans and cannot repair themselves.
There is a nice little twist in that robots are so common they are treated as the underclass in society, and are reduced to begging on the streets for credits/money, in an attempt to replace broken parts, limbs etc.
Antonio Banderas plays an insurance investigator for the corporation who built the robots, whose job it is to investigate claims of broken or malfunctioning robots.
It becomes apparent that some robots are seemingly able to violate the above laws, and Banderas character strives to find out what is happening.
It's a fairly bleak movie, low-budget, but the future environment is well-realised, and the robots (built practically rather than CGI) are very well done.
And of course it does owe a huge debt to Asimov's I Robot, plus some Blade Runner references thrown in - Dylan McDermott as a Deckard-style cop whose job it is to hunt down rogue robots, a childhood memory of a turtle, robots with a self-preservation instinct etc.
So it's a character driven piece rather than a sci fi action movie, but it's never less than watchable. Some interesting casting choices too, Melanie Griffith as a woman who deals in pleasure robots, Tim McInnery as a corporate heavy, and a very briefly glimpsed Geraldine Somerville (Cracker).
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Comments
A good film with a interesting story, well worth a look.