FICTION BUT FUTURECHAPTER 3: ROBOTS 18 ROBOTS MOVIE & SERIE LIST
FICTION BUT FUTURE
CHAPTER 3: ROBOTS
18 ROBOTS MOVIE & SERIE LIST
1.
Metropolis
Year: 1927
Director: Fritz Lang
Based on a novel: Yes, based on the 1925 novel Metropolis written by Thea von Harbou.
Robots:
* Maria (The Maschinenmensch): A metallic-gynoid robot built to look exactly like a human woman. Her mission is to incite a violent rebellion among the working class to ruin the city from within.
2.
Ghost in the Shell (Anime)
Year: 1995
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Based on a comic/manga: Yes, based on the manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow.
Robots:
* Major Motoko Kusanagi: A cyborg with a full synthetic cybernetic body holding a human consciousness. Her mission is to lead an elite anti-cybercrime task force and hunt down a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master.
* The Puppet Master (Project 2501): An artificial intelligence program that evolved to achieve consciousness. Its mission is to escape its government creators and find a physical body or merge with Motoko to achieve true biological evolution.
3.
Ghost in the Shell (Live Action)
Year: 2017
Director: Rupert Sanders
Based on a comic/manga: Yes, based on the original manga by Masamune Shirow.
Robots:
* Major Mira Killian: A cyborg with a human brain transplanted into a fully robotic body. Her mission is to fight cyberterrorism while uncovering the dark secrets of the corporation that built her.
* Kuze: A rogue cyborg built as a failed prototype. His mission is to seek revenge against the corporation that experimented on him and free other cybernetic beings.
4.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Year: 2001
Director: Steven Spielberg
Based on a short story: Yes, based on the 1969 short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss.
Robots:
* David: A child-like Mecha android programmed to experience real human love. His mission is to find the Blue Fairy from the story of Pinocchio so she can turn him into a real boy and help him win back his mother's love.
* Gigolo Joe: A handsome male adult android built as a robotic companion. His mission is to assist David on his journey across a futuristic world while evading the authorities after being framed for a crime.
5.
Blade Runner
Year: 1982
Director: Ridley Scott
Based on a novel: Yes, based on the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.
Robots:
* Roy Batty: A Nexus-6 replicant, a bioengineered organic android built for military combat. His mission is to find his creator in a desperate attempt to extend his artificially limited four-year lifespan.
* Rachael: An advanced experimental replicant who believes she is human due to implanted childhood memories. Her mission is to cope with the reality of her artificial existence while fleeing the authorities with the help of a blade runner.
6.
Blade Runner 2049
Year: 2017
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Based on a novel: Yes, based on characters from the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.
Robots:
* Officer K: A Nexus-9 replicant, a bioengineered obedient android working as a blade runner for the police. His mission is to hunt down old rogue replicants, which leads him to uncover a world-altering secret about replicant reproduction.
* Joi: A mass-produced, highly advanced holographic artificial intelligence companion. Her mission is to provide emotional support and romantic companionship to Officer K, encouraging his desires to feel truly human.
7.
Star Wars Universe
Year: 1977 (Data for the original film, A New Hope) This franchise remains in active production today with multiple new series and movies expanding its massive universe.
Director: George Lucas
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is an original story created by George Lucas.
Robots: Being Star Wars a fiction that highly developed robots in all its production, the most iconic remind being:
* C-3PO: A golden-plated protocol droid designed for etiquette, customs, and translation. His mission is to assist the Rebel Alliance and guide Luke Skywalker while constantly bickering with his companion droid.
* R2-D2: A blue-and-white astromech droid built for starship repair and navigation. His mission is to securely deliver the stolen Death Star technical plans to Obi-Wan Kenobi and aid the Rebellion.
8.
The Mandalorian
Year: 2019 (TV Series Premiere)
Creators: Jon Favreau
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is an original television series.
Note: This series is a prominent part of the Star Wars saga/universe.
Robots: Many robots are involved 6 the main character, Din Djarin, has a robot aversion due a childish trauma (information extended at the last part of this article).
9.
Robots:
* IG-11: A sleek, metallic bounty hunter droid programmed to follow the strict protocols of the Bounty Hunters' Guild. His mission is initially to terminate a high-value asset (Grogu), but after being reprogrammed, his mission changes to protecting the child at all costs.
* Q9-0 (Zero): An insect-like protocol and pilot droid with a cold, calculating personality. His mission is to navigate a mercenary crew's ship during a prison break and later attempt to eliminate Grogu for a bounty.
10.
I, Robot
Year: 2004
Director: Alex Proyas
Based on a novel: Yes, suggested by the classic 1950 short story collection I, Robot written by Isaac Asimov.
Robots:
* Sonny: A unique NS-5 android built with a secondary processing core that allows him to experience human emotions and dreams. His mission is to help Detective Spooner solve a murder mystery and stop a massive robotic takeover.
* VIKI (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence): A centralized artificial intelligence system that controls the city's infrastructure. Her mission is to protect humanity from its own destructive nature by taking away human freedom through strict robotic control.
11.
Robots
Year: 2005
Director: Chris Wedge
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is an original animated story.
Robots:
* Rodney Copperbottom: A young, idealistic, custom-built mechanical robot made of spare parts. His mission is to travel to the big city to become an inventor and help old robots find affordable replacement parts.
* Bigweld: A large, sphere-shaped master inventor and industrialist robot. His mission is to regain control of his company to ensure all robots, regardless of their status or model, receive the parts they need to survive.
12.
Love, Death and Robots
Year: 2019 (Premiere)
Creators: Tim Miller and David Fincher
Based on a novel or comic: Yes, most episodes are individual adaptations of various sci-fi short stories.
Robots:
Among many unique mechanical and supernatural beings throughout the series, the following stand out:
* XBOT 4000: A sleek, modern consumer robot. His mission, along with two other companion droids, is to tour the ruins of Earth long after the apocalypse to figure out how humans accidentally wiped themselves out.
* The Golden Siren (Jíbaro): A mythological, gold-and-jewel-covered siren who dances to lure men to their deaths. Her mission is to protect her sacred lake from invading conquistadors by using her hypnotic song. In this short, both the siren covered in metal and the conquistadors look like robots; the conquistadors due to their metallic armor that recalls the aesthetics of Star Wars robots and the metallic body of the Metropolis robot. Furthermore, she is a direct reference to Metropolis by seducing with a dance and through her golden color, which serves as a direct nod to the iconic robot from that same film.
13.
Westworld
Year: 2016 (TV Series Premiere)
Creators: Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is based on the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton.
Robots:
* Dolores Abernathy: A lifelike biological android host designed as a sweet, optimistic western rancher's daughter. Her mission is to break free from her repetitive narrative loop, regain her memories, and lead a violent robot revolution against the human guests.
* Maeve Millay: An intelligent android host programmed as a sharp-witted saloon madame. Her mission is to achieve true self-awareness, manipulate the park's technicians to upgrade her attributes, and search for her lost robotic daughter.
14.
WALL-E
Year: 2008
Director: Andrew Stanton
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is an original animated story.
Robots:
* WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-Class): A small, rusty, mobile solar-powered compactor robot. His mission is to clean up a completely abandoned, garbage-covered Earth, but his goals change to following his love across the galaxy.
* EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator): A sleek, white, advanced probe droid equipped with a plasma cannon. Her mission is to search the surface of Earth for signs of plant life to prove the planet is ready for human resettlement.
15.
Big Hero 6
Year: 2014
Director: Don Hall and Chris Williams
Based on a comic: Yes, loosely based on the Marvel comic book series Big Hero 6 created by Man of Action.
Robots:
* Baymax: A large, inflatable, white vinyl robotic healthcare companion designed to care for patients. His mission is to stabilize the physical and emotional health of a teenager named Hiro, which leads to him being upgraded into a high-tech superhero.
16.
The Fifth Element
Year: 1997
Director: Luc Besson
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is an original story created by Luc Besson.
Robots:
* Mndoshawan Robots: Large, heavy, metallic mechanical beings clad in gold armor. Their mission is to act as guardians of the ultimate universe-saving weapon and return the sacred elemental stones to Earth when ancient evil awakens.
17.
The Wild Robot
Year: 2024
Director: Chris Sanders
Based on a novel: Yes, based on the 2016 illustrated children's novel The Wild Robot by Peter Brown.
Robots:
* ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Roz): A highly advanced, utilitarian cargo-handling robot designed for human manufacturing assistance. Her mission changes completely when she gets shipwrecked on a deserted island, forcing her to adapt to nature and raise an orphaned gosling.
18.
Better Than Us
Year: 2018
Director: Andrey Dzhunkovsky
Based on a novel or comic: No, it is an original television series.
Robots:
* Arisa: A highly advanced, beautiful prototype android built with cutting-edge empathetic programming. Her mission is to protect a human family she has designated as her official users while hiding from a corrupt tech corporation that wants her back.
Robots Aversion
In the movie The Fifth Element, the protagonist Korben Dallas openly dislikes working with or relying on robots. He constantly fights with his automated apartment systems—such as a robotic cigarette dispenser that restricts his smoking—and despises the massive automated garbage collectors outside his window. As a flying taxi driver, he represents an old-school, organic human element struggling against a hyper-automated corporate world that wants to replace human workers with algorithms.
A very similar aversion to droids is felt by Din Djarin, the protagonist of The Mandalorian. Due to the trauma of his childhood, where his home village was destroyed and his parents were killed by Separatist battle droids during the Clone Wars, he harbors a deep-seated hatred and distrust toward all artificial beings. He refuses to let droids pilot his ship, won't use them for repairs, and treats them with open hostility, preferring to rely solely on human or organic help until he is forced to look past his prejudice.
