Short Circuit is one of those films I rented as a kid back in the precious 80s when we got so many good family movies that just wouldn't see the light of day in these awful times. A Short Circuit made in 2007 would be mind-numbingly PC with bullet-time effects and a CGI Johnny voiced by a hip-hop 'artist'. It's a grim time for this genre indeed. But back in 1986 I had nothing to complain about as most of the family movies from that decade are fondly remembered as classics.
I loved this movie as a kid and it's been a long, long time since I watched it from start to finish. Plus the VHS I rented back then was in horrid pan and scan with half the picture chopped-off. Which is a real shame since John Badham shot it brilliantly-framed Panavision. So I've never really seen the FULL movie until now. How does it hold-up 21 years later? Well, I guess you could say Johnny Five is kinda dated but not so much as all the rest of the 'ground-breaking' technology at the Nova factory. Number Five is a robot made for Military Stealth purposes and armed with a laser beam. But designer Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg) and his partner Ben Jabituya (a non-Indian and very funny Fisher Stevens) originally designed him as a marital aid, apparently. They are unhappy with the way Nova has marketed the robot but after a demonstration to the Military, Five is struck by lightning and assumes consciousness. Needing input and desperate to learn more about his surroundings, he escapes the factory and journey's across Oregon, soaking up knowledge and the idiosyncrasies of modern human culture. As a reflection of today's 'zany' society, Five is full of spirit, personality and random pop-culture references.
The Military are kinda annoyed at a potential lethal weapon (not the Mel Gibson kind) running loose about America, so it's their new mission to find him and destroy him. Five, who has been taken in by animal-lover (not in THAT way) Stephanie Speck (a gorgeous Ally Sheedy) does everything he can to stay out of harm's way. But they are persistent and won't let him live because they don't believe he is truly alive.
It's not totally original since some of it feels inspired by the works of Issac Asamov and I doubt a film like this would have been green-lighted had E.T. not been so successful. But it is very enjoyable and funny and Johnny Five is a great character despite being nothing more than a puppet. Short Circuit is definitely a film for any kid born in the 80s. The video-game obsessed kids of today might to be so interested but its charming simplicity and good-natured story will never really date despite the old-fashioned 'cutting-edge' technology featured in the film.
I loved this movie as a kid and it's been a long, long time since I watched it from start to finish. Plus the VHS I rented back then was in horrid pan and scan with half the picture chopped-off. Which is a real shame since John Badham shot it brilliantly-framed Panavision. So I've never really seen the FULL movie until now. How does it hold-up 21 years later? Well, I guess you could say Johnny Five is kinda dated but not so much as all the rest of the 'ground-breaking' technology at the Nova factory. Number Five is a robot made for Military Stealth purposes and armed with a laser beam. But designer Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg) and his partner Ben Jabituya (a non-Indian and very funny Fisher Stevens) originally designed him as a marital aid, apparently. They are unhappy with the way Nova has marketed the robot but after a demonstration to the Military, Five is struck by lightning and assumes consciousness. Needing input and desperate to learn more about his surroundings, he escapes the factory and journey's across Oregon, soaking up knowledge and the idiosyncrasies of modern human culture. As a reflection of today's 'zany' society, Five is full of spirit, personality and random pop-culture references.
The Military are kinda annoyed at a potential lethal weapon (not the Mel Gibson kind) running loose about America, so it's their new mission to find him and destroy him. Five, who has been taken in by animal-lover (not in THAT way) Stephanie Speck (a gorgeous Ally Sheedy) does everything he can to stay out of harm's way. But they are persistent and won't let him live because they don't believe he is truly alive.
It's not totally original since some of it feels inspired by the works of Issac Asamov and I doubt a film like this would have been green-lighted had E.T. not been so successful. But it is very enjoyable and funny and Johnny Five is a great character despite being nothing more than a puppet. Short Circuit is definitely a film for any kid born in the 80s. The video-game obsessed kids of today might to be so interested but its charming simplicity and good-natured story will never really date despite the old-fashioned 'cutting-edge' technology featured in the film.