Movies promoting robotics, electronics, programming etc.

I'm quite of a fan of movies/series based on high-tech, robots, skills and knowledge of electronics, engineering, a.i., etc. Sure I'm not the only one here :slight_smile:

While I was judging if I love sci-fi movies because I love technology, or I love technology because of the movies, I recalled one movie that probably had huge impact on me while I was still 7-8 y.o.

Deadly Friend (1986)

Teenager is an expert in robotics, programming and neurology, skills quite handy when you are building a cyborg.

I would like to know if you also have a favorite movie/series/scene that affected your interests or gave you motivation in learning things that we do here.

Halt and catch fire :wink:

My first cinematic exposure to robots was Gort from the 50s version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. which for some reason my parents encouraged me to watch whn I was a very young child. The computers and robots from Colossus - The Forbin Project, Forbidden Planet, (the first) Lost in Space, 2001, and Star Trek were also formative.

I still imagine the computer saying "WORKING..." when the beachball spins.

Silent Running
Real Steal
Interstellar
I, Robot
Blade Runner
Blade Runner 2049
Bicentennial Man

2001 was the first Sci-Fi movie, in a theater, I saw as a boy.
Still got the sound track LP.
Over the following years 6 or 7 times in theaters, really hooked from then on.

Tom... :o

Dark Star.

"Let there be light"

TolpuddleSartre:
Dark Star.

"Let there be light"

That is the one I was trying to remember, John Carpenter production.
Super low budget.

Before "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" blowing up planets for hyperspace bypass.

Tom.. :slight_smile:

TomGeorge:
That is the one I was trying to remember, John Carpenter production.
Super low budget.

But utterly brilliant

Yeah, I should have listed Dark Star - it started as Carpenter's college project collaborating with with Dan O'Bannon (Heavy Metal, Star Wars, Alien, etc.). I've seen it a bunch of times, and my brother lives in Benson, Arizona.

Dark Star credits on You Tube

Dark Star is very good. The scenes with the big inflated beach ball creature are pure slapstick and I enjoyed the conversations where they tried to get the intelligent bomb to return to the bomb bay.

Forbidden Planet is another good film. The special effects are basic but effective with the invisible monster crashing into the force field and creating foot prints. The security screens slamming into place over the windows of the building was an extremely simple effect but it really worked. I found the whole story line with the Krell innovative. Quite a hard film to beat.

Enemy Mine is another old but good film. A human and an enemy alien learn to overcome differences. As I recall the special effects were very ropy though I found the alien itself well done. I think the film can be seen on several levels.

There was another firm with that had a human surviving alone on Mars doing things like living in caves and heating rocks to release oxygen. It was a predecessor to the recent The Martian starring Matt Damon, the name of the original film escapes me though (maybe I am confusing things with Enemy Mine).

Among the newer films Alien has to be mentioned and I though Predator was great for depiction of the predators themselves. Terminator was a lot of fun.

ardly:
...
There was another firm with that had a human surviving alone on Mars doing things like living in caves and heating rocks to release oxygen. It was a predecessor to the recent The Martian starring Matt Damon, the name of the original film escapes me though (maybe I am confusing things with Enemy Mine).
...

Robinson Caruso on Mars?

Hi,
I've been thinking, I do a lot of that now and nothing springs to mind that I'm looking for, but finally this did.

Ex Machina

Before the latest incarnation of Westworld.

Tom...

ChrisTenone:
Robinson Caruso on Mars?

That sounds like it, though I think it is spelt Crusoe. Did you remember seeing it or are you a Google guru? I was certain it was set on Mars but I could not remember anything about the title so I did not bother to search.

TomGeorge:
Hi,
I've been thinking, I do a lot of that now and nothing springs to mind that I'm looking for, but finally this did.

Ex Machina

Before the latest incarnation of Westworld.

Tom...

Ex Machina was good.

Although I enjoy films I think books have had the most impact on me. Robert Heinlein's tale about Ganymede being terraformed comes to mind. Gollancz used to publish Sci-Fi in books with plain yellow covers which I would borrow from the library. I would always scan the shelves for yellow covers in the hope of finding one I had not read.

ardly:
That sounds like it, though I think it is spelt Crusoe. Did you remember seeing it or are you a Google guru? I was certain it was set on Mars but I could not remember anything about the title so I did not bother to search.

Ex Machina was good.

Although I enjoy films I think books have had the most impact on me. Robert Heinlein's tale about Ganymede being terraformed comes to mind. Gollancz used to publish Sci-Fi in books with plain yellow covers which I would borrow from the library. I would always scan the shelves for yellow covers in the hope of finding one I had not read.

You are correct on the spelling, I saw the movie years ago. It was a pretty bleak movie, even though they tacked on a happy ending.

Qdeathstar:
Halt and catch fire :wink:

Finally got the chance to watch all seasons with my daughter and she absolutely loved it. Thanks for advice.

My favorites, no particular order

Short Circuit
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Lost In Space (Netflix series)
The Stepford Wives (1975, the original)
Westworld (1973)
Demon Seed (1977)

There is an interactive Netflix film titled Black Mirror: Bandersnatch that I would highly recommend