5 Best Movies About Robots

For as long as there has been film there have been films set in the future or in outer space. And as long as there has been science fiction in movies there have been robots. They've been everything from wise cracking side-kick to clunky villains to microscopic plot points. Every now and then they're given a chance to truly shine and take center stage. Now there are plenty of great science fiction films that feature robots in some capacity, such as the "Alien" and "Star Wars." However this list is for movies that truly focus on robots and machines rather than just tossing them in for futuristic atmosphere. For this list the machines will have their day.

"Ghost in the Shell" (1995)
In the year 2029 technology has advanced to the point that most people have their brains directly wired into a global information network, along with many other physical body enhancements. The story centers on Major Motoko Kusanagi, a full body cyborg who is a member of the secret and elite Security Section 9 in Tokyo. She and her team are on the trail of a criminal known as the Puppet Master who is actually able to hack into people's very brains. As Kusanagi and her team get closer to their quarry they find themselves questioning what it is that separates cyborgs like themselves (who were once human) from machines. Is it possible for a machine to have a soul (the film calls it a "ghost") and does a human who's consciousness has been uploaded to a machine still be said to have their own soul?

This movie stands as one of the masterpieces of mature targeted anime, and was cited as one of the major influences for "The Matrix." The art and animation is stunning, the action is hard hitting and inventive, the music is extremely affecting and the depth of the ideas is astounding. If there's a fault to the movie it's that at times it's a bit too heady for it's own good. The sorts of things that would usually be left as subtext (i.e. the nature of what makes something human, the idea of a soul/ghost, etc) are talked about openly and in rather direct philosophical terms, sometimes for fairly extended scenes. These more talky and direct scenes might turn off some viewers but others will find the openness of the ideas interesting. Even for those who aren't big on these scenes if they stick with the movie it's only a matter of time before the next spectacular action scene.

"Metropolis" (1927)
In the future the majestic city of Metropolis is segregated into two classes. A class of thinkers and inventors create grand plans to further the city, while the rest of society labors night and day to bring those plans to fruition. One of the wealthy upper class is Freder (Gustave Frohlich,) who one day follows the beautiful Maria (Brigitte Helm) into the lower levels of the city and is appalled by what he sees. He envisions the massive machines as demons, devouring the laborers as though they are sacrifices. Freder becomes determined to assist those he views as oppressed. However when his father (Alfred Abel) learns of his son's sympathies he fears an uprising. The father makes the mistake of enlisting the help of a mad scientist who has his own agenda in mind and has created a machine in the form of a man to carry out his scheme.

The mother of all robot movies is this silent classic by the brilliant German director Fritz Lang. The image of the feminine robot seen on most posters of the film is still iconic and recognized even by those who don't know where it came from. Adjusting for inflation this is one of the most expensive films every made still to this day. The story is full of surprisingly complex twists and turns and is rife with metaphors and real world parallels. For many years the original German cut of the film was believed to be lost, with only a truncated version surviving. Then in 2008 a print was discovered containing thirty minutes of previously lost footage and subsequent releases have restored the film to nearly it's full run time. Any sci-fi fan owes it to themselves to take the time to fully enjoy the original science fiction epic.

"The Iron Giant" (1999)
In the 1950s America was deep into the space race, and losing to Russian thanks to the launch of Sputnik. Set in this uncertain time, a young boy named Hogarth (voiced by Eli Marienthal) living in Maine makes an extraordinary discovery. Investigating an object that fell from the sky, Hogarth finds an enormous robot (voiced by Vin Diesel.) Despite his initial fears Hogarth soon befriends the giant and with the help of a local artists (voiced by Harry Connick Jr) he's able to keep the giant hidden from his mother (Jennifer Aniston.) However a paranoid government agent (voiced by Christopher McDonald) is lured ever closer by local sitings of a huge machine, and he believes it to be a Russian weapon that should be destroyed at all costs.

This uplifting and enchanting story (based off the Ted Hughes book of the same name) does a fantastic job of capturing the joy of discovery that Hogarth has and infecting the audience with the same feeling. The movie also makes excellent use of it's cold war setting. Sadly the film was poorly marketed by Warner Bros and it barely got any notice at the time of it's release. Thankfully the subsequent work of director Brad Bird (such as "The Incredibles") helped bring some deserving attention to this gem of a film. It bears a certain resemblance to "E.T." with the way in which the child bonds with a fantastic visitor, but the film uses the 1950s setting to create an identity all its own.

"The Terminator" (1984)
Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) isn't anybody special: she's a waitress with a frisky roommate and a lousy boyfriend. There's nothing of note about Sarah Connor, not yet anyways. However in her future she will give birth to a son who will lead humanity in a war against oppressive machines. In an effort to prevent this uprising the machines of the future have sent one of their own, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger,) back in time to kill Sarah before she can even conceive. Sarah is not alone since the resistance sent back their own soldier, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn,) to protect her. But even together how can they possibly fight something that will never sleep, never feel pity and never stop hunting them?

While most of the movies on the list have taken a more philosophical and often sympathetic view towards robots and machines, this one instead opts for a pure unfeeling killing machine. As this very list demonstrates, many films that put a focus on robots show how they are similar to humans despite appearances. This is precisely the opposite: the Terminator appears human but has absolutely no feeling, no pity, no mercy and never wavers from its murderous purpose. Arnold Schwarzenegger not only had the perfect physique for the part but he gave a performance that perfectly captured the coldness of the machine and the sense that it could not be stopped. When it comes to villainous machinery it just doesn't get any better than this.

"Blade Runner" (1982)
In the year 2019 technology has advanced to the point that nearly any living organic thing can be created artificially, and this includes humans. So called replicants are used as slave labor on off-world colonies but are not permitted on Earth. When replicants break from their designated duties it is the job of a blade runner to hunt them down and "retire" them. Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a blade runner assigned to track down four replicants who've returned to Earth. The replicants, lead by combat model Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer,) seem to have begun to develop their own emotional responses and are seeking answers and a way around their built in four year lifespan. As Deckard digs into the doings of the the manufacturer, the Tyrell Corporation, he finds things that make him question not only his mission but himself.

Director Ridley Scott's masterful vision of the future has become the definitive sci-fi noir. The film allows the audience to empathize with the replicants but at the same time it never shies away from the fact that they are vicious and dangerous. Across the board the performances are wonderful and layered and the visual look of the film is still one of the most fully realized worlds ever put on film. To be fair it's worth pointing out that the replicants aren't robots in the classical sense. They aren't metal and in fact they bleed and appear to be more or less biological humans by any standard measure. However they are definitively artificial and engineered. Also the opening crawl of the movie says they are the result of "advanced robot evolution," meaning even if they are basically organic at the time when the film is set their origins are firmly rooted in robotics, so they still count. The famously ambiguous ending (depending on which version of the film you see) add just one more layer of depth that had helped this film remain so loved after almost 30 years.

Honorable Mention:
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - Steven Spielberg's version of Stanley Kubrick's unfinished project, a wonderfully inventive technological take on Pinnochio where a robotic child wishes to be real so he can be loved. Sadly the prejudice aspects are slightly overplayed and the ending feels forced and manipulative, but still worth checking out.

"Westworld" (1973) - Welcome to an amusement park with robotic attractions, which go berserk and begin to kill the customers. A fun B-movie concept that was well executed at the time. Unfortunately, like many older sci-fi films, it hasn't aged particularly well.