I, Robot - 7/16/04

[Beast]

As a fan of the previous 'Outer Limits' adaption of Issac Asimov's "I, Robot" I was a little worried when the plan was announced to use the tale for to make a big budget sci-fi epic starring Will Smith. But, the first trailer seems to indicate that the film may actually turn out to be quite entertaining. The director previously helmed "The Crow" and "Dark City".

It looks like it's a lot different then the original story or the Outer Limits episode though. With the emphasis being on a lot of action. But I'll give it a shot. It definatly looks like it could be worth wasting a few hours of my life for. Here's the synopsis and links to the new trailer. Just right click and save one of the sizes. The movie opens 7/16/2004.

Set in a future Earth (2035 A.D.) where robots are common assistants and workers for their human owners, this is the story of "robotophobic" Chicago Police Detective Del Spooner's (Smith) investigation into the murder of Dr. Miles Hogenmiller, who works at U.S. Robotics (run by Greenwood), in which a robot, Sonny (Tudyk), appears to be implicated, even though that would mean the robot had violated the Laws of Robotics, which is apparently impossible.

It seems impossible because.. if robots can break those laws, there's nothing to stop them from taking over the world, as humans have grown to become completely dependent upon their robots. Or maybe... they already have? Aiding Spooner in his investigation is a psychologist, Dr. Susan Calvin (Moynahan), who specializes in the psyches of robots...

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MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[JediTricks]

Sounds a little too much like the premise for the pilot episode of the series "Total Recall 2070" - which itself was a lot closer to a sequel to Blade Runner than to Total Recall, and I've heard was more similar to Philip K. Dick's writings than either of those motion pictures.

[rbaumhauer]

Man, for a minute I thought somebody had actually gotten around to filming Ellison's unbelievable adaptation. Not surprised to find it isn't the case, but I guess this also means that no-one every will, either One of the great un-made sci-fi screenplays.........

[plasticfetish]

From the trailer I'd say it looks to be a fun film.

When I saw a standup ad for this film a while ago I though, "Hey, they're making a movie of 'I, Robot' staring Will Smith... I read that book ages ago and really liked it. This'll be interesting." Then I thought about it and realized that I could barely remember any of the book at all. So... blank slate with this one. Unless I decide to dig up a copy of the book and read it again, I'm looking at it like an all new idea.

I'll take this one too, we haven't had a good film like this for a while. Not since Minority Report I think, and that wasn't bad, but it was pretty forgettable in the end.

I do dig the robots.

[Mandalorian Candidat]

Sounds a little too much like the premise for the pilot episode of the series "Total Recall 2070" - which itself was a lot closer to a sequel to Blade Runner than to Total Recall, and I've heard was more similar to Philip K. Dick's writings than either of those motion pictures.

Actually, I believe Asimov's story predates TR and BR so I would say those are the imitations.

Anyways...Will Smith...cop...shoot em up...ho hum. This is ID4 without Jeff Goldblum. When they show him making a lame-A joke about coffee and sugar then a clip saying "Oh hell no!" you know it's going to be a hack screenplay.

I read the book long ago when I was really into Asimov and Bradbury and remember that it was really good (although like pf I can't remember much) but this trailer makes it seem like some jacked up AI-gets-his-revenge movie.

I have nothing against Will Smith, I just think the whole act is very, very old. I wish this had been cast differently.

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

Ah, i was hoping maybe this was something Sealab related as two of their greatest episodes were "I, Robot" and "I, Robot..really"; I shall leave this thread sad and unfulfilled.

[plo koon 200]

Great! The book is good but the should have gone with the Harlan Ellison script. This could be a good sci-fi flick.

[scruffziller]

Anyone who saw Hellboy probably saw the trailer. At first glance it seems like the prequels to the Matrix. I think someone said something to the effect that the brothers that made The Matrix got their ideas from the series of books that I, Robot is based off of. Has anyone read the book series?

[Beast]

So, it's been a few days.....anyone actually see this other than me? I'm suprised to have seen no discussion at all of it on the boards. Especially since in my opinion it was a pretty good flick. Better than I had assumed it would be, anyway. While I'm not a huge fan of Will Smith, or a fan of many of his movies I liked this one. The special effects were of course, excellent. And the story and acting were quite impressive. Thankfully the movie didn't feature a lot of 'Smithisms', which really get on my nerves after a while. The plot twists and misdirection at every turn were enough to keep it exciting the whole time. And since I didn't follow the movie that closely, I was actually suprised by many of the plot twists. It's just a great movie that keeps you guessing.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Turbowars]

Like you JJB, I really don't care for Will, but he did do a better job in this film. Overall the film was OK. I was entertained and walked out saying to my wife, It was better than I thought it would be. Loved the freeway tunnel chase and the robots were done very well. Was it just me or did the robot transports remind anyone of anything? EP1 maybe? Anyways there was a little Terminator thing going on with the robots taking over and all that crap. I guess it's hard to be completely original these days. I grade my movies on if I will buy the DVD and no, I will not.