I, Robot

[Shinnen]

Just came back from watching I, Robot... definitely a good movie... somehow i've always underestimated Will Smith performances but he's okay in this one. The lead actress in this film... I've no idea who she is... didn't really pay attention to the credits cos the stupid late comers blocked my view moving to and fro. But she's pretty Anyway... no spoilers here... other than some pretty cool effects.

CheerZ

Shinnen



She's the most amazing girl in the whole world. She's the only girl who makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time. When I'm not with her, I'm not living. I'm not existing until I can hold her in my arms again.

[Sheridan]

Oh yes the 'Susan Calvin' character who looks pretty good when you consider that in the stories she's 80 $%^$ years old, I really hate it when movie makers take an idea, think it would make a great movie, and then completely rewrite the premise. As Asimov made clear the whole point of his robot stories was as an antidote to all the lurid tales where robots turn on their masters. That loud whirring nois is Isaac Asimov turning in his grave.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[WebWarlock]

I prefered the "Outer Limits" version a few years ago with Leonard Nimoy.



Given that, I like Will Smith a lot and I always look forward to seeing him in new movies. Ok, MIB2, Wild Wild West and Independence Day sucked so bad, but they were all fun little flicks.



IR would make a good rental night deal.



Warlock

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Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

Me: I think I'll have a mid-life crisis and bring home a little red convertible Vette.

My wife: Fine, as long as you don't bring home some little red-head.

[Triscuit7]

Selling books is sometimes very interesting. Most of the folks buying the book (currently a paperback bestseller) in my store have stated they're not seeing the movie, because it ruins a story that they love very much and many of those don't like the "movie" cover. The few who are buying BECAUSE they saw the movie, I've warned that it's nothing like the movie just to prepare them.



I'll may see it when it makes it to tv several years from now, since I do like Will Smith.



Ciao, Melissa

******************



Do something totally irrational and let the enemy think himself to death. (Pyanfar Chanur)

[darkmagicwillow]

I'd fall into the first category, Triscuit. There's no way I'm seeing the movie after seeing the preview.

--

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit." -- "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost."

[Sheridan]

What really burns me up is if the wanted to do an Asimov story with a detective, a robot, and a murder, why not just make the 'Caves of Steel'? Though they would probably have insisted on Daneel Olivaw being 'female'....

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[justin]

Maybe this should go in the "Well I liked it" thread since I seem to be in the minority here.



Like a lot of films the trailors don't do this one justice. They make it look like the makers are ignoring all of Asimov's ideas when actually they're not, they're just incorporating his later ideas.





In 1985 Asimov came up with the idea of a zeroth law which states



Zeroth law: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm



Which means that a robot can harm idividual humans in order to protect humanity as a whole. This is what the film is about. VIKI, USR's main computer system develops the zeroth law due to random mutations in it's code. It trys to enslave humans basically in order to save us from ourselves.



DR Levinson got Sunny to kill him since it was the only way he could get people to investigate USR and to find out what VIKI was doing. Sunny was able to due to having a second processor (in it's chest) which wasn't programmed with the three laws.



Actually that's the only bit I had a problem with. The fact that the one good NS-5 is the one with a heart, seemed a bit too Wizard of Oz

"VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! - The Parrot Sketch

[Wright805]

Personally, I like the look of this film and I intend to go and see it. I'm not a big fan of Will Smith, but he seems good here. The premise of the movie also sounds very interesting.

[dreamcatcher]

I just got back from watchin this-have to say I quite like it! Noticed the end credits only said 'suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov'-I thought it was a good film based on a good idea siggested by the book-not an attempt to remake it. And yeah, Calvin was quite hot

[justin]

Quote:

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Oh yes the 'Susan Calvin' character who looks pretty good when you consider that in the stories she's 80 $%^$ years old

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But don't the stories in I, Robot take place over a period of several decades? In which case wouldn't she be younger in the earlier stories?



Anyway for those people who are worried that seeing this film will somehow ruin your enjoyment of the book, I'd reiterate the advice that Dark Magic Willow gave me about the remake of Dawn of the Dead, that you should watch it as though it was a seperate entity that just happens to have the same name. After all, as dreamcatcher says, it's just billed as being suggested by the book, not being based on it.

"VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! - The Parrot Sketch

[Sheridan]

Quote:

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But don't the stories in I, Robot take place over a period of several decades? In which case wouldn't she be younger in the earlier stories?

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Well even in the earliest stoires she's substantially older than the character in the film, becomes positively ancient as the stories progress, and the last ones are set after her death. Unfortunately this isn't so much a separate entity as a complete reversal of the underlying philosophy of the stories. Asimov often related that he wrote the Three Laws and the stories precisely because he was tired of endless pulp tales where robots turned on their masters.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[justin]

Then how do you explain "Little Lost Robot"?





ETA: What I meant by that was you seemed to be implying that Asimov saw all stories about killer robots as being wrong, but that's repudiated by the story Little Lost Robot (which is from I, Robot) which involves a group of robots being driven insane and becoming homicidal due to a revision to the first law.



Anyway I'm not sure how you can say that the film is a total reversal of Asimov's ideas when it was Asimov himself who came up with the idea of it being permissible for robots to harm individual humans in order to defend humanity.



As I said earlier the problem is the trailer. This gives the impression that the films about a homicidal robot going on a killing spree while it's really about robots trying to deal with the problem of, how do you protect humans when they're so intent on wiping themselves out?

"VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! - The Parrot Sketch

Edited by: justin at: 8/11/04 11:17 am

[Sheridan]

What I found amusing, and somewhat representative of the movie, is that they have released a new edition of 'I Robot' in paperback with a big picture of Will Smith in the film on the cover. Inside? The original Asimov robot stories.



Edited to add:

By the way you can argue about humans being harmed by robots in the original stories what you can't really justify is that in the film society trusts and accepts robots, it's a constant thread in the stories that the opposite is true, the world at large regards them with fear and distrust, even in stories as late as 'Bicentennial Man'.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 8/13/04 3:15 am

[Stroke of Luck]

Wow, what an amazing movie! Will was fabulous. and that "feeling" robot was so cute, even as a machine...wow i wanna see that movie again and errr has anyone seen Will´s ass under the shower OMG wasnt that sexy??? (i am bi-sexual)



Cu

SoL/Natti

"I wish that you were here or that I were there, or that we were together anywhere!"

[veiled isis moon]

I thought the movie was really good. I had my reservations about it to begin with but then i actually sat down and watched the film and thought it was wicked! That robot was so adorable and i was well impressed with the pretty main cast members! And yeah, Will's ass did look good!