The Screensavers spent this week on robots, and tonight had a segment on “robots in history.” They each named their top three favorites, but here are mine:
1) Maria from Metropolis:
I’ve never watched all of Metropolis, but the robot (Maria) is etched into my mind (along with the guy who rotated the big clock hands for a living–it looked like a really critical job, right?).
2) Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet:
Billed by my Florida college campus theater as the movie with “the girl with the legs,” Forbidden Planet was awesome, with a young Leslie Nielsen as the straight-roled hero. Robbie rocked, and if you see a small resemblance to this guy, you’re right–“Robot” from Lost in Space was patterned after Robbie (yes, his name in Lost In Space was “Robot”–no joke).
3) Gort, from The Day the Earth Stood Still:
“Michael Rennie was ill the Day the Earth Stood Still”–three points if you know that lyric reference. A classic scifi movie from the fifties with a simple moral. Few people know that this movie was made from a science fiction story where the human Klaatu is the servant and robot Gort is the kindly master. Worth a viewing if you can see it, although Forbidden Planet is the most easily watchable of my three pics listed here.
So, what are your three top robots from history? I have a feeling that the guys from work will all pick Twicki from Buck Rogers (heh-heh).