Hollywood's Ten Most Trusted Sci-Fi Robots & Androids

Can Robots Be Trusted? So asks this month's cover story of Popular Mechanics. Robots have been around for years, in our industrial factories, and as toys for kiddies - big and small alike. As robots advance technically, and are cheaper to make, we'll see more everywhere. While that's mostly good for society, there's a worry mechanical servants may not always do exactly as they're told. Where's the trust in metal man?

A classic Hollywood sci-fi staple are killer robots and amok androids. We only have to look at The Terminator films from James Cameron (Avatar) to see how popular bestial bots can be. Thankfully, many robots and androids serve us well in pop culture. From Lt. Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation to the cuddly R2D2 and the cordial C3PO of Star Wars fame, the mechanical men of Hollywood impress and endear themselves to us as being pretty dependable.

Gort - The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

Gort! Klaatu barada nikto! Remember these words. You'll need them if you meet Gort when he's in a bad mood.

Gort is an ultimate in robotic trust - that is trust put into him because trust is so lacking in biological organisms. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) may wear the fancy spacesuit and speak in a lilting British intergalactic dialect, however Gort has the true power. By the time the title scene arrives, we realize how much technological power Klaatu's race wields. As the closing shows, his race has placed all of their trust in guardians like Gort, because no amount of aggression will be tolerated - from anybody. Could the human race resort to such a simplistic peace keeping tactic as well?

Robby The Robot - Forbidden Planet (1956)

"If you do not speak English, I am at your disposal with 187 other languages along with various dialects and sub-tongues." Here's only a small taste of Robby's remarkable robot abilities.

If there's one robot humans can trust, it's this sci-fi classic movie star. Cookie (Earl Holliman) trusts Robby to run off 60 gallons of smooth bootlegged booze. Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) created Robby and trusts the servo servant with his own life and his daughter's. When a prime directive is given to Robby to destroy a violent, rampaging force, it's this trust which compels Robby to hesitate - to become helplessly locked in an electronic ethical dilemma. If the rumored remake does justice to this science fiction masterpiece, they won't update Robby in the least - his look, sound and movement remains flawless after five decades of movie magic.

Robot B9 - Lost In Space (1965)

"Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!" Even if you never watched one episode of the campy, though still quite enjoyable, sci-fi TV show, you know the phrase. Robot B9 would holler it out in almost every space romp. The only other phrase more connected with the show may have been Dr. Smith's lament "Oh the pain, the pain!"

In a real sense, B9 is Robby The Robot's cousin or younger brother - since they were both designed by the same man - Robert Kinoshita. Inside the suit, actor Bob May played the robot physically, while Dick Tufeld voiced him. Though the robot could be programmed, and more than a few times was, to cause mischief against the Robinson clan, the mechanical bodyguard more than defended his human family. Yes, trust was well placed in Robot B9. Sadly, the same could never be said about treacherous Dr. Smith.

C3PO & R2D2 - Star Wars (1977)

"How rude!" It's not an often used quote attributed to the golden space butler, but it's my favorite, and highlights why we trust C3PO (Anthony Daniels) and his buddy R2D2.

In The Empire Strikes Back, the golden bot boy almost collides with another model of his own kind. The droid eyes our hero for a second and chatters off 'Echuta!' - and C3PO responds how many of us would after getting insulted. He does a lot of insulting himself, by most of all berating his little fireplug pal R2D2 (Kenny Baker), whose cuddly factor is probably unmatched in all of robot history. Sadly, in real life actor Anthony Daniels has no love for Kenny Baker, to the point of near hatred between the two. So it seems while we have trust in these two droids, there's little trust between the real actors.

Johnny 5 - Short Circuit (1986)

Johnny 5 is alive! He's a military robot and now he's also alive. Is he a Frankenstein monster? No, he's just a quirky robot.

Short Circuit is said to be under a remake, a re-imagination or whatever they call a redo. Let's just hope the basic look and feel of this remarkable cinematic robot remains as accessible and cool as it was in the original. From his expressive eyes and eyelids, to the smoothly moving fingers, Johnny Five moved and grooved to a beat all his own, and we loved him for it. His voice provided by actor Tim Blaney made J5 one of the most friendly, funny and trustworthy robotic companions ever.

Bishop - Aliens (1986)

Alien featured Ash (Ian Holm), an android that couldn't be trusted. When director James Cameron tackled a sequel, he gave us Bishop (Lance Henriksen), whom Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) had to learn to trust.

Henriksen's portrayal of the quick reflexed android is a real highpoint of the action sci-fi thrill ride and when it's time for Bishop to come through he does - more than once. The Bishop and Ripley dynamic gives us a great connection to the original film and underscores the whole complexity of how humans may soon have to put their faith, trust and even lives into incredibly evolved machines - which hopefully will be more like Bishop than Ash.

Data - Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

"I am superior, sir, in many ways. But I would gladly give it up to be human." Data (Brent Spiner) says this to Commander Riker in the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's the core of Data's (Brent Spiner) persona - and why we trust him so much.

Created by scientist Dr. Noonien Soong (Spiner playing his 'father'), Data is a fantastic culmination of technology which gets so close to representing the full human condition, that he even longs for children. It's a wish he grants himself in the episode "The Offspring", by crafting a female android named Lal. When the experiment ends in tragedy, Data must explore more avenues of what it means to be a human being. Perhaps it's that most of all which allows us to place so much trust in an artificial lifeform like Data. This Android has no wish to destroy us, conquer our race or subjugate us - he simply wishes to become as we are - flawed, feeling humans.

Walle-E - WALL-E (2008)

Waall Eeee!" This lovable Pixar Disney creation is a garbage compactor on wheels, but that's part of why we love him and trust him.

Walle-E may just be the most trustworthy robot of all time. His love of another robot - the smooth, brightly blinking EVE - may distract him from his mission sometimes, but he keeps on chugging along trying to clean up a future Earth, where mankind has literally trashed his home. Like R2D2 before him, Wall-E gives us a robot with purpose, practicality, but one that always makes us feel as if we'd want him around our home and helping our loved ones. Now that's robot trust you can take to the data bank.

Sonny - I, Robot (2004)

Though loosely based upon legendary science fiction author Issac Asimov's robot stories in the collection of the same name, this Will Smith blockbuster film boasts a much different plot.

The movie focuses on Sonny - an advanced robot - achieved through digital FX and a performance by actor Alan Tudyk. He's prime suspect for murder, after his robotics scientist (James Cromwell) creator falls out a window. Sonny is an NS-5 Unit - a robot more advanced and independent than older models. Though it's a film in name only and diverges from Asimov's original source material, the action elements, Smith's thoughtful character, and the technological and sociological questions raised, make for a satisfying sci-fi flick. The whole notion of real trust - a connection meaning life or death - with robot Sonny is put to the test. As the end credits roll, we're left with an unsettling real prospect of our own world coming to a place where high technology can be manipulated to a dangerous, even deadly end.

http://showbizshithole.blogspot.com/2005/05/holy-shit-r2d2-hates-c3p0.html

www.imdb.com