They can be clanking or lithe, as big as a planet or as small as a puppy.
Heres our list of cinema’s 50 finest robots and AI computers…
Who doesnt love robots?
Our metal friends have long been a source of inspiration, wonder and fear for filmmakers and audiences.
Either way, theyre fascinating, and pretty damn cool.50.
Nope, I dont know why it was specifically 17.
But what I do know is that the two RoboGeishas have to fuse together so that defeat this behemoth.
Alfie Barbarella
Heres Barbarellas computer from her ship Alpha 7.
Which he then promptly crashes into, maybe because he was a bit distracted…
However, Alfie redeems himself by getting to fly through the core of the planet.
I salute you Alfie, good job.
Bubo Clash of the Titans
What did the remake ofClash Of The Titansmiss the most?
Thats right, Bubo.
Not bad for a comedy sidekick.
And proof that robotic versions of living things are better.
Thats why the dog had to die.
He was a dirty dog.
Also that boy Elroy.
The Golden Army Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
I enjoyed the firstHellboyimmensely, but I loved the sequel.
By sending them up in a half-finished shuttle with no oxygen or radio.
Hes still allowed in Mission Control though.
No wonder the space program has effectively been shut down.
Hes also made of space titanium, which as everyone knows is the best kind of titanium.
And for that, MechaGodzilla fully deserves his place amongst the elite.40.
Here are just two of them.
He gets an entire prologue sequence entirely dedicated to showing just how badass he is.
Secondly, hes voiced by Orson Welles, in the legendary mans last ever film role!
If that doesnt elevate Unicron to greatness, I dont what does…
39.
MCP Tron
Otherwise known as the Master Control Program.
Yep, thats right; Maximilian is so damn evil he ends up in hell!
I hope hes back in the sequel.
Yep, theyd come a long way since the first film…
It was 1985, and theres a servant robot.
We dont even have that technology almost 30 years later, and who knows when well have it.
But the audience just has to accept this and move on.
The Machines The Matrix Trilogy
So consideringTheMatrixis heavily indebted toTron, why do they get a higher placing?
Well its because theyre just a lot more effective.
Which horrifically makes complete logical sense but also makes them great bad guys.
The Machines know all.
Alpha 60 Alphaville
Probably the only French New Wave artificial intelligence on this or any list like it.
For those who havent seenAlphaville, it heavily influenced a certain George Lucas and his early effortTHX-1138.
Well, at least when theyre in a comedy film and voiced by Joan Rivers…
27.
Not bad for a security program.
The franchise is only bloody well named after him!
Anyway, the mecha chosen is Jude Laws Gigolo Joe, which is arguably one his finest roles.
His eventual recapture also exposes the main weakness in robots who go bad electromagnetic recapture.
Pretty much undefeatable, Skynet always finds a way to exist and just keeps on coming.
Instead it just keeps on sending Terminators after everyone.
Its our fears of A.Is murderous potential perfectly realised.
If alien life was like this, Im all for contact.
Which is what any A.I.
worth his salt should do.
Read more on the film, here.
The Tin Man The Wizard Of Oz
Is he a robot?
Well, at least with my admittedly loose definitions anyway…
They just want to be more like us, and never can be.
Plus he has a pretty wicked axe for slaying flying monkeys.20.
Which means from all you know hes going to turn bad and wreck things.
One of the joys ofMoon(and there are many) is the bait and switch involving Gerty.
Like so much of the film, it turns traditional sci-fi conventions on its head.
Youre pre-conditioned for it, and it distracts you from the real twist ofMoon.
Johnny 5 Short Circuit
Johnny 5 is alive!
Robby the Robot Forbidden Planet
The classic robot.
He was rewarded for these efforts with a place in the Robot Hall of Fame in 2004.
Using the seven seasons of back story, Data was able to shine in theNext Generationmovies.
However, he ultimately combined both his android abilities and compassion for his friends to defeat her.
Ash Alien
One of the best surprises inAlienwas the moment where Ash is revealed to be an android.
Then he stays alive after decapitation.
But Ian Holms performance as Ash is one of the highlights of the franchise.
Ash turning on the crew is a nightmare scenario about being replaced by robots come true.
Easily the most intelligent artificial life-form on this list, Marvin is also the most morose and depressed.
Not this one, in fact I think its the best looking android of recent times.
Its tough to carry a film on your own, but Wall-E more than delivers.
ED209 Robocop
Some machines are made great.
Other machines have greatness thrust upon them.
And some have their greatness defined in one amazing scene.
You have 20 seconds to comply.
Agent Smith The Matrix Trilogy
Mr. Anderson.
Where Neo is individual, Smith becomes many.
As it always does with these pesky programmes/robots/computers…
10.
Which was a bit shoehorned in.
He also looked the business underneath, with the endoskeleton being one of my all-time favourite designs in cinema.
The metal skull is chilling, and the red eyes haunting.
Edward Scissorhands Edward Scissorhands
Yep, hes a robot!
We always expect them to turn on us, probably because weve created them in our own image!
Optimus Prime Transformers
Ah Optimus Prime, most noble of all robots.
Optimus Prime youre my hero.
R2D2 Star Wars
So why does R2D2 come several places higher than his camp counterpart?
Because when it comes down to it, hes a shitload cooler than C3PO.
Not bad for a sidekick.
Yep, those bleeps are better than 90 per cent of the other stuff in there…
3.
Finished?Wasnt it the best thing ever?
By making his successor one of the coolest baddies of all time, thats how.
It infiltrates before it strikes, and its liquid metal form is even more unstoppable than the T-800.
HAL 9000 2001: A Space Odyssey
Well it had to be didnt it?
You think of artificial intelligence, you think of HAL.
Even if youve never seen2001, you know exactly what HAL is, and probably many of his lines.
Not bad for an inanimate object.
HAL is the personification of rational thought, with its motivations for killing based on self-preservation.
The moment when you realise HAL can lip-read is a jaw-dropping reveal that changes everything.
However the true genius and terror behind the character is the fact he never changes.
HAL is implacable, his red eye never blinking, and all-seeing.
