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| Cyberman |
| Posted: Aug 5 2004, 10:39 PM |
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Advanced Member
Group: Members
Posts: 2035
Member No.: 3477
Joined: 3-April 03
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First off, Iīve posted this in two other fora already as well. But since neither of them is about video editing(one even is in german), I donīt think anyone from here has been there too. Iīve never seen someone familar, I mean.
Anyway - this is Off-Topic, so why not, right?
Are you a fan of Isaac Asimov? Like his books? Then DONT watch the movie.
If you arenīt a fan - go ahead, have fun, itīs a nice movie.
I realize that itīs not possible to reproduce a book 1:1 to movie. Actually, I donīt understand the reason, but I have learned to accept that fact (reluctantly).
Still, when I see a movie with the same title as a book, I expect it to resemble at least partially(that is, more than 1 percent) the book.
Which is NOT the case here.
Even if itīs just "suggested by Isaac Asimov", itīs a shame - a slap in the face to any fan.
Constantly Iīve been reminded of his books, but as soon as that feeling came, it went away. Just a "whiff" if you understand. As soon as you start reacting, itīs already gone.
That is NOT a good feeling, I tell you. Especially as it keeps returning - far too often to be mere coincidence, but not enough to be deliberately done.
Almost all the time I had to tell myself "Itīs got NOTHING to do with Isaac Asimov" - simply because Iīd otherwise analysed the movie to death, trying to figure out what book theyīre referencing(not only "I, Robot"), and where the differences are.
While the references to "I, Robot" were shallow, there are some more that were even less, though clearly recognizable - to a fan.
I, Robot
Robot Dreams
The caves of steel
The Robots of Dawn
Caliban(by Roger MacBride Allen)
Probably even more, but these are those I instantly saw. Mind, I didnīt actually SEARCH for similarities.
From "I, Robot" they clearly took the names, as well as the underlying idea of robots with 3 laws.
Thatīs about all. They surely didnīt use the characteristics of the human - or robots.
Detective Spooner feels like a mix of Elijah Baley and Julius Enderby(Caves of Steel). He doesnīt like Robots, but got a chief that has him accept them. Probably to escape that, he tries to live in the past - by using anachronisms, like a manual controlled CD Player, or wearing boots of this time. Heīs got a motorcycle too - gas fuelled, of course, with no computer on-board.
Still, heīs got enough sense not to completely escaping into the past, probably knowing that thereīve been just as much problems, just of a different kind.
Susan Calvin. Sheīs got the same name. End of similarities.
Youīd expect her to be a Robopsychologist too - but no, sheīs working to make robots looks more "human".
Alfred Lanning. Heīs not seen much, so there wasnīt much they could ruin. Seems to be a good choice, though.
Roberston. Well, thereīs not been too much about him in the books, but I guess heīs a good pick too.
Attention - now some more serious spoilers are ahead:
The Robot accused of murder.
A new model, an NS5(reference: I, Robot - Nestor modells with modified 1st law).
Sonny, heīs called, though Caliban would be more appropiate. Like him, heīs experimental, got no 3 laws. Unlike the book by MacBride Allen, itīs not so he can develop new ones, but to play an important role during the movie. Missing the 3 laws, he is able to do things other robots canīt do. Though they obviously can, if being remote-controlled...
Heīs dreaming sometimes - of a place where his brethren, the other robots, can live in peace, not enslaved (by logic) anymore. (Reference: Robot Dreams)
The 3 laws.
Iīm not going to repeat them here, you probably know them. The wording of the movie is accurate enough(the wording isnīt cast in stone, after all, though the positronic analogue is cast in platinum-iridium ;-)
As we all know, theyīre burnt in to the robotic brains - you canīt remove them, you canīt modify them(any more than slightly).
In the movie, however, theyīre nothing more than an add-on - itīs been mentioned at the beginning that a blank robot has nothing more than "the operating system with the 3 laws".
Knowing that, whoīs going to be surprised that itīs possible to deactivate the 3 laws by simply hitting a button?(metaphorical speaking)
In that context, the Zeroeth law has been referenced(slightly). To protect humans, mankind has to be protected.
The big Brain of U.S. Robotics(yes, thatīs the name of the company - wonder if they paid much) comes to that conclusion and acts accordingly.
(A reference to R. Giskard Reventlov/Robots of Dawn?)
So, summing it up, Iīve come to the following conclusions:
Taken as movie, with no reference to Asimov or his ideas - nice. A good movie, worth the time spent if you expect nothing more than an Action movie.
Taken as film version of a book, with reference to Asimov and his books, a ribaldry without example. A slap in the face of every fan.
Had they simply inserted a short "You know Asimov? We included his laws into our robots." into the movie, and changed the names, itīd have been a nice movie.
As it is/was, I constantly had to keep myself from comparing to the books, because the references were so obviously - wrong.
Thanks for reading. I had to get that out of my system.
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Matroska/MKV ? |
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| fccHandler |
| Posted: Aug 6 2004, 04:34 AM |
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Administrator n00b
Group: Moderators
Posts: 3961
Member No.: 280
Joined: 13-September 02
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I haven't sat down and watched the actual movie, but I saw quite a lot of it from upstairs in the booth. (I'm a projectionist occasionally.) It looked like a much better movie than what I had expected from the lame trailer.
I read Asimov's "I, Robot" a long time ago, but I guess it's fortunate that I don't remember it as well as you. 
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May the FOURCC be with you... |
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