I, Robot *WARNING: SPOILERS in some replies*

[tallyouth]

LOL!!! where is here for you : ???

[Boo]

All the way down south in Grenada..isle of spice ;D ;D ;D

[ProdMaster]

Ok I just got one of the NS-5s seen in the movie I.ROBOT it comes with 1 terabyte of memory and is energy efficient

Here is the complete specs & features
-3 Laws Safe
-Central Core 247
-Positronic Brain
-Operating System Teresa 2.1.2
-24/7/365 Safever coverage
-Universal Rentention Network

-Operating System -Teresa 2.1.2,new and unique to the NS-5,has been in development for the last five years.
Future OS updates will be available for wireless download 24/7. All NS-5 owners shall receive free OS updates for the lifetime of their personal domestic assistant.

[Greatis]

I guess microsoft made the OS in the Robot that commited murder ;D

[Gillion]

I guess microsoft made the OS in the Robot that commited murder ;D

actually the robot got SP2 uploaded and all hell borke loose.

[Xenocrates]

Warning: Long Post

Based on the popular book series by Isaac Asimov (which has since been made into many a Japanese Animé outing) I, Robot, a film by Alex Proyas (Dark City, 1998) seeks to capture much of the now well known idiosyncracies of an artificial intelligence vs. human intelligence story. This concept is by no means novel - which is part of the problem with this movie. The movie has a number of irksome problems which severely hamper it's effectiveness.

2001, A Space Odyssey (1968) directed by the late great Stanley Kubrick (based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke) had a similar plotline, but wasn't AI-centric. The HAL-9000 computer aboard the spacecraft endangered the life of its crew. Then, the idea was indeed very novel, and made for one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made.

Ghost in the Shell (1996) directed by japanimé great, Mamoru Oshii, expanded on this concept in greater depth and detail, taking the concept several levels higher than the original by Isaac Asimov. This japanimé outing is considered one of the greatest japanese animation movies ever made, and is in fact loosely referenced several times in the movie, I, Robot.

The Matrix (1999) directed by Andy & Larry Wachowski took the concept in Ghost in the Shell, and put AI at the very top of the food chain. The movie was more about consciousness than it was about Artificial Intelligence, although the superiority and frailty of AI is excellently contrasted in its sequel, The Matrix: Reloaded.

Where does that leave I, Robot?

The biggest problem this movie had to overcome was the fact that the book on which it was originally based, was the inspiration for 2001, A Space Odyssey, Ghost in the Shell and The Matrix trilogy. Isaac Asimov was the first person to conceive that robots could possibly become so intelligent that their intelligence rivals humans. In fact, the word "Robot" was coined by a Russian playwright in the late 19^th century. The word literally means "servant". So now that we know this story has been done to death, I, Robot has a very serious problem to overcome - and it fails miserably. I shall elaborate.

[Xenocrates]

The Good

The special effects were quite good, with specific reference to the environmental immersion. I frequently caught myself sitting forward in my seat because it was as if I wanted to soak up as much of the wonderful environmental novelties presented here as possible. The backdrops were simply astounding, nothing short of eye candy on steroids. The set director should be commended. For the first time since Minority Report (2002), I was totally wowed by the subtle, but realistic contrast of the highly polished modernistic future, with the still underdeveloped suburban innercity.That's not even to mention the motion capture on the robots. The 2035 Audi and the parking sequence was by far the single most impressive sci-fi environment shot I have ever seen. Well done.

The Bad

Will Smith. Will Smith in this movie is like oil in water. He just doesn't fit. This is a case of very bad casting. Now I have no problems with a black actor being placed in a lead role as this, however, his character would have been more believable if someone like Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom or if you insist on a black actor for the role, Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut or Isaac Washington be placed here. I believe that in this type of role, a Denzel Washington would be faaar more fitting (again, that is, if you insist on a black actor).

In his sorrounding environment, Will Smith stands out like a sore thumb. It's not that he's black, it's the kind of personality he embodies in the movie. It's hard for me to maintain my suspension of belief when an actor as he tries to portray a conflicted character concerned with issues of a metaphysical domain. Most black actors today are typecast in roles that are more aloof to such concepts. So I had a very hard time believing in Will Smith. The casting director should be shot.

[Xenocrates]

The Ugly

The plot. If anyone has ever studied aritifical intelligence, this movie will irk you to tears. Ok. My long list of problems starts with the plot. I won't spoil the plot for you here, but I can tell you one thing:

The director wimped out on the deep plot of the original story for another cops 'n robbers outing.

Everything about the plot is cliché. In fact, I found myself predicting what would happen next throughout the entire picture. So as you may imagine, I was almost bored to tears - even during the action sequences. For those of you who have read the Isaac Asimov books (Greatis, are you with me on this one?) the part that sticks out most is that the Robots go through absolutely no sense of self discovery. Our protagonist droid, Sonny, just wakes up one day and starts asking all sorts of philosophical questions. We are not treated to how or why he came to be asking these questions in the first place.

There are three laws that govern the robots' AI:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These laws are only referenced on the surface, and the obvious paradox which would drive the philosophical thinking of Sonny is not at all developed. In fact, the director deliberately copped out the original plotline, by explaining away Sonny's sudden AI development with a "second brain that overrides the first which would stick to the laws". This does not in any way shape or form make actual use of the 3 laws, nor does give valid reference to the "Ghost in the shell" concept, which was not developed either.

The Ghost in the Shell concept (brilliantly expanded on in Oshii's 1996 Japanimé extravaganza) states that there is an S-Curve in in the development of all Aritifical Intelligence. AI programming will continue to improve, eventually becoming so advanced and so complex, that the programming on the top level overcompensates for flaws in the programming at the bottom level. This creates orphanized blocks of code in the system which were made redundant by the over complexity of the program at each level. At this point, the system would be so complex, that third and fourth generation programmers would no longer be able to troubleshoot the system developed by the first and second generations. These redudant blocks of code are referred to as "Ghosts", and are what in theory give, a machine a personality. This would eventually cause the artificial intelligence to defy it's own core programming.

This is what would have made Sonny the intelligent robot that he was. But the plotline of the movie barely touched on that concept, instead sacrificing the core concept of the story to make yet another sci-fi action movie. For this, I was severely disappointed.

[Xenocrates]

The director spent a great deal of time incorportaing slow motion action sequences, which were so excessive, that by the umpteenth action sequence (and believe me, there are lots of them), it became tiresome and uninteresting. It was obvious by the overly balladic camera movements in the final scene, that the director was more concerned with wowing audiences with action sequence after action sequence - none of which were particularly mind blowing. So far, nobody has outdone The Matrix sequels. So there.

So would I recommend this movie to audiences? Only under the following conditions:

1. You're a huuuge Will Smith fan and you just can't get enough of Will Smith.

2. You're a sucker for eye-candy or action movies, regardless of the plot.

3. You got confused or lost when watching Ghost in the Shell or The Matrix or 2001: A Space Odyssey.

4. For some inexplicable reason, you just love robots.

5. Finally, if you've NEVER read the books.

If you fall into any or all of these categories, you will love I, Robot. HOWEVER, if you:

1. Have read and fully understand the books
2. Love a good balance of story and action
3. Thought that Matrix: Revolutions was a cop-out

...then avoid this picture like the plague. Wait for it on cable.

Rating: **½ out of 5.

[Zard]

saw I Robot last friday and I think it is a great movie and much better that punk boy Parker and sketel Mary Jane.

The movie evolves wonderfully and the last 30 minutes of the movie is some of the best action I have seen is a scifi (futuristic) movie. The story however when you think about it has a few issues but not enough to spoil the overall experience.

Matrix 3 though long gone was a disapointment for the scifi genre (if I wanted to see goku (Neo) and Vegeta (agent Smith) i could have digged up my old Dragon Ball Z collection)

I Robot is a great movie that delivers well with all the hype, as many big budget movies are flopping left right and centre


Zard 8)

P.S. "SONNY" A DI REAL BIG MAN