80 Years Of Robots In Hollywood Options

[noorie]

The Eyes of the State
Metropolis (1927)

ROBOT:Maria

QUOTE: "There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator."
—Maria, the leader of the underground world of the workers, calling out to her followers.


Alfred Abel and Rudolf Klein-Rogge in Metropolis.

Fritz Lang's silent masterpiece set many of the ground rules for the sci-fi epics to come, not just in the way it depicted a dystopic future, but also the way it dealt with mad scientists and of course, their creations.

Depicting a world in which the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are literally divided by the Earth's surface — the elitists living above ground and the workers living in the dark, dank caverns beneath the surface — Maria is a robot used by those in power to pry their way into the workers' world. A silver machine created in a secret lab, Maria takes on the face and characteristics of the female leader of that underground world, the one who the workers trust and rally around. By controlling the robot, the surface-dwellers manage to control the underground populace, turning Maria's words of uprising into words of reassurance: Get back to work, and be happy.

One of the very first big-screen depictions of a robot in this, the first great sci-fi film, is that of a mole and an imposter; of an enemy that can't be defeated, much less identified. For so many of the movie robots to come, Maria was the defining transition from the robots of sci-fi literature to the artificial intelligence of the sci-fi movie.

[noorie]

The Odd Couple
Star Wars (1977)

ROBOTS: C-3PO and R2-D2
QUOTE: "It wasn't my fault, sir, please don't deactivate me. I told R2-D2 not to go, but he's faulty, malfunctioning. Kept babbling on about his mission."
—C-3PO to Luke Skywalker after R2-D2 escapes to search for Obi-Wan Kenobi and deliver Princess Leia's message.


C-3PO (L) and R2-D2 from Star Wars.

While many robot tales aim to instill robo-phobia, the first installment of Star Wars treated audiences to a softer and completely humorous side of their mechanical personalities with the quaint and quirky relationship of the 'droid' characters R2-D2 and C-3PO. At first glance, they are an unusual pair — the robot equivalent of Bert and Ernie. With a spindly gold body and the gait of a toddler, Threepio plays the anxious prude complete with prissy, butler-esque speech, while Artoo, a squat, blue and silver barrel, is the robot's robot, a courageous fixer who talks in a digital symphony of chirps and whistles.

It's chatterbox vs. music box, and this dynamic provides comfort and comic relief throughout the Star Wars films — their constant bickering reminiscent of our own delightfully dysfunctional relationships. When a badly damaged Artoo is rescued in the film, Threepio pleads with Han Solo: "You must repair him, sir! If any of my circuits or gears will help, I'll gladly donate them." Threepio is willing to give up his virtual kidneys for Artoo — now that's love.