Short Circuit |
  • USA • 1986 • 98m •    • Directed by: John Badham. • Starring: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton, G.W. Bailey, Brian McNamara, Tim Blaney, Marvin J. McIntyre, John Garber, Penny Santon, Vernon Weddle, Barbara Tarbuck, Tom Lawrence. • Music by: David Shire.      Number 5, one of a group of experimental military robots, undergoes a sudden transformation after being struck by lightning. He develops self-awareness, consciousness, and a fear of the reprogramming that awaits him back at the factory. With the help of a young woman, Number 5 tries to evade capture and convince his creator that he has truly become alive.
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Short Circuit tells the story of a robotics laboratory, NOVA Robotoics, who've just made these new military robots used for combat in the field. The movie opens with a demonstration of the robots, hosted by Dr. Howard Marner (Austin Pendleton), to a number of Goveneror officials to show it's capabilities and possibly approving of the project to go forward. The robots were built by two scientists. One scientist is an eccentric Indian, Ben Jabituya (Fisher Stevens), who often gets American lingo mixed up. For example, instead of saying "Bingo," he would say "Bimbo." The other scientist is Dr. Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), who doesn't like the idea of the robots being used for combat and would rather make robots for other uses.
Meanwhile, after the demonstration being cut short, due to an upcoming lightning storm, the robots are being packed away. However, one of the robots, Number 5 (voiced by Tim Blaney), gets struck by lightning while still being connected to a generator. This causes the robot to start going out of whack, but in actuality the lightning bolt has given him a soul. He soon ends up leaving the NOVA facilities. It is noticed that he's gone missing and the military involved with NOVA, led by Captain Skroeder (G.W. Bailey), go to find him.
Number 5 somehow ends up on top of a catering truck driven by a young animal lover named Stephanie Speck (Ally Sheedy). When Stephanie discovers Number 5 later that night, she takes him into her house, filled with many animals, and shows him the different things around our world, including giving him hundreds of books to read to feed his craving for "input" and watching television, where he imitates everything he sees. However, NOVA finds out where Number 5 is and tries to get him back. This results in Number 5 running from the military along with Stephanie, while trying to prove to everyone around him that he is, in fact, alive.
Short Circuit is a good fun movie, but has many of it's flaws. First of all, the acting is just so-so. Ally Sheedy is one of my favorite actress and she's cute in this movie, but here her character is too nice and naive. She, at first, thought Number 5 was an alien, as opposed to a robot. It's obvious that he's a robot that it makes her character look dumb. Steve Guttenberg is an all around decent actor, but he just doesn't add anything to this film. He's kind of a one dimensional character. I didn't think he was the right choice for the role. The character of Ben is one that many consider a racist stereotype, since the part is played by a white actor instead of an Indian. I think that's incorrect. Many thought that Mickey Rooney playing an Asian in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) was racist, but it's now considered a good performance, so how is this any different? Fisher Stevens plays a funny character, who is a great comic relief for everything else happening in the film. I actually think he's more interesting than Guttenberg's character. However, what made this movie good was Number 5. His character was so charming and funny. I think what makes this movie work is his personality. The voice work by Tim Blaney is terrific. He makes the character likable and wanting for the audience for the character to prove that he's alive.
To add to the flaws though, the script, while having a good and interesting story, had it's stupid moments and some bad dialog. I think the biggest problem with the story is that it's an E.T. clone. The only difference is that it's a robot, instead of an alien and there's a young woman, instead of a little boy, keeping it from the military. It follows almost the same formula with a predictable ending. However, Short Circuit is more of a comedy than E.T. Also, without giving much away, when Guttenberg's character is trying to find out if Number 5 is alive, his ultimate test for proof, to me, doesn't prove anything and seems like a bit of a let down in the end result. With every negative comes a positive though.
The biggest compliment I could give this movie is the special effects. The special effects are terrific, especially the robot effects. The robot effects are a combination of rod puppetry and radio controlled puppets. Eric Allard, who designed the effects, does an excellent job of bringing this character to life. It's too bad that these days, Number 5 would be done through CGI, as opposed to puppetry. To me, it's a much more effective tool than CGI. You feel as though Number 5 is alive because of the effects and his character. I don't think it would've came across as well if it were to be done with CGI. CGI just doesn't have that startling realism that puppetry has, in my opinion.
All in all, Short Circuit isn't a bad film, but certainly not a great one either. Despite it being a predictable E.T. clone, it's a good fun movie for just about any age. I just wish that the film took a little more serious approach in it's story. What does it mean to be alive? Can a machine be alive? The film doesn't fully answer these questions to me and mostly goes for the laughs, which are funny, but sometimes not so funny. Although, director John Badham gives us a fun filled sci-fi comedy.
Review by Chris_Esper from the Internet Movie Database.
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