I, Robot | | Cast : | Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood | | Director : | Alex Proyas | | Studio : | Fox Home Entertainme | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | July 16, 2004 | | DVD Released Date : | December 14, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | "One day, they'll have dreams..." | Content
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In 1940, Issac Asimov wrote I, Robot. I, Robot was a series of short stories about the Three Laws of Robotics. The movie version of "I, Robot" does a good job of updating the stories. Del Spooner is a detective that hates robots, and he is called to solve a mystery surrounding U.S.R. I would like to think that Asimov would like this movie. However, look at what happend to Robert A. Heinlein on "Destintion Moon" |
| Rating | | | Date | August 06, 2005 | | Summary | Not really Asimov, but I think Asimov would have approved. | Content
| In "I, Robot", Will Smith does a convincing job as seemingly the last common-sense man on a future earth that is enamored with robotic helpers. Like any of us who grew up reading science fiction comics and stories by guys like Asimov, Smith realizes the danger of relying too much on machines. Of course, in his world, this comes across as almost a bigotry against robots, and that gets him into trouble - until he is proven right!
Despite the title, this movie is not based on any Asimov story, though it draws themes and even major plot elements from many of Asimov's works (the murder mystery seems partially inspired by an Elijah Bailey/R. Daneel Olivaw story by Asimov). It does ring true, however, to the spirit of the Robot novels. I somehow think Asimov would have approved.
RECOMMENDED |
| Rating | | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | bears very little resemblance to the book by Asimov, but as an action flick it's okay | Content
| I hate to be a book snob when reviewing a movie, but when the title of the movie is "I, Robot" and is said to be "inspired by" the classic science fiction collection by Isaac Asimov, one would have a reasonable assumption that the movie would bear some similarity and passing understanding of the source material. Then, when the director of the movie is Alex Proyas, the director of the excellent "Dark City", there is a level of intelligence that is expected from the film version of "I, Robot".
I don't know what happened.
This is such a disappointment. Without spoiling a single plot detail I can reveal almost exactly how much this movie resembles the book: The Three Laws of Robotics, a couple of character names (most notably Susan Calvin), the title, and that there are, in fact, robots. That just about covers any similarity the astute viewer may find with the book. This is unfortunate because any one of a number of the "I, Robot" stories could have been used as a launching pad for an intelligent science fiction movie. Or, even the later Elijah Bailey Robot novels would have worked. But this? There is the barest framework of a plot, the barest scrapings of Asimov's ideas, and wrapped tightly around this is a silly action movie.
The problem is only half about the movie itself. By calling itself "I, Robot" there is a level of expectation of what sort of movie this will be and what it will be about. Imagine, perhaps if Peter Jackson made Lord of the Rings with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Gandalf and Gandalf ran around hitting the Orcs with moves you might only see in "Conan the Destroyer". That's a moderately fair comparison in making "I, Robot" into nothing more than a flashy action movie and how exactly Alex Proyas did this is completely beyond my understanding.
My guess is that the studio took a lot of control away from Proyas' vision. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. But let's think about "I, Robot" as something other than an offshoot of Asimov's work. How does it work as a mindless action movie? On these terms "I, Robot" isn't that bad. It's nothing special and we've seen it dozens of times. Will Smith does fine as a the wise cracking detective investigating a murder of a human where the only possibly suspect is a robot except a robot couldn't do it because of the three laws. Smith is actually quite a bit more serious in this role than one might expect. He cracks wise often enough, but overall is toned down and has a seething anger towards robots just under the surface. It works. The action probably works better on a larger screen than a smaller television, but for a simple action movie I suppose "I, Robot" can pass muster.
Forget that this movie is science fiction because it really isn't. Forget that this movie is inspired by Asimov's classic work because it really isn't. Forget that this should have been and could have been an excellent, intelligent and still entertaining movie, because it isn't. If you're looking for just a decent action movie with very few claims to be anything else besides some lip service paid to the plot...here you go.
-Joe Sherry |
| Rating | | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | A smart but unmemorable action sci fi mystery | Content
| Will Smith reprises his one-dimensional macho John Wayne role from "Independence Day" in this science fiction thriller. This movie begins by hinting it will be more than man vs. machine, perhaps with some of the intellect hinted in "AI", but it ends up being a pretty typical (but high class) action mystery with a typical ending.
Briefly stated, the plot revolves around a society 30 years in the future where robots are everywhere and are serving mankind as maids, helpers, cooks, etc. Will Smith is a cop that doesn't trust robots for a couple reasons. In typical Hollywood style, his distrust begins as waywardness and ends as prescience when robot-induced mayhem is quelled in the denouement.
This movie gets points for not being as predicatable as it suggests in the opening minutes, not to mention its outstanding production values, good musical score and extremely generous computer-generated scenes of robots, the 2035 city of Chicago and other impressive scenes that surely will generate a lot of visceral affect on wide screen television.
Yet, in the final analysis, this is pretty typical stuff for both Smith and Hollywood -- a movie about a cop that seems to know something's wrong when no one else (including Ph.D. scientists, Smith's boss and other geniuses) can see the troubling developments. The action and smart pacing of this flick makes it memorable, but not so memorable that you remember everything about it the next morning. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | GREAT!!!! | Content
| I thought I, Robot was great because there is cool action,good comedy,and the robots look so perfect!!!
A++++ |
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