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By Don Kaye
Special to MSN Movies
"Terminator Salvation" is the fourth entry in the now-massive
franchise launched 25 years ago with a low-budget B-movie starring the then
barely known Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new flick promises to show us
sights we've long heard about and never seen before, namely, the future war
between the human race and the robotic army controlled by supercomputer Skynet
(never mind that the war was effectively erased in "Terminator 2" -- that's another story). The movie also shows
us a whole array of killer robots, and (from what we've gleaned) the beginnings
of the program that puts synthetic flesh over a metallic skeleton, creating
android warriors almost indistinguishable from humans.
In fact, one of the movie's major characters, Marcus (played by Sam Worthington), is reportedly just such a creation, and
some time is given to the idea of whether he can be trusted by human rebel
leader John Connor (Christian Bale). Does Marcus have any humanity left in him
or is he purely mechanical in nature? Does he have his own will and can he make
his own decisions? Most importantly, will he help or hurt human beings? Where
exactly does his allegiance lie?
Legendary sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov once came up with a set of three laws
stating that robots could never intentionally harm humans, but that rule has
been broken in movies alone more times than the California
no-driving-on-the-phone law. It doesn't help when they look just like us; it's
one thing when an 8-foot-tall electric can opener is coming at you, but it's
quite another when your wife turns out to be a fembot or that biker who just
walked into the bar is actually a weapon of mass destruction. Here's a look at
some of the better-known and more humanlike androids in sci-fi (good and bad),
along with a few helpful hints on how to spot the difference.
"A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (2001)
The androids (aka "mechas") in this Steven Spielberg-by-way-of-Stanley Kubrick film (which, while flawed, is often quite
moving) have been given the unique ability to emulate human emotions such as
love. David (Haley Joel Osment) just wants to bond with his human
"mother," while Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) exists to please women in other ways. Naturally,
such benevolent creations are abused and despised by what's left of the human
race, which pretty much tells you why we're history by the end of the film and
the robots are still around.
Giveaway: David never blinks.
"Alien" (1979) / "Aliens" (1986) / "Alien: Resurrection" (1997)
The androids in the "Alien" series have always been among the genre's most
enigmatic. Ash (Ian Holm) from "Alien" is a nerdy little science officer who
ends up being a formidable killing machine. His mission: keep the alien alive
even at the expense of the crew. Meanwhile, Bishop (Lance Henriksen) from "Aliens" turns out to be a true hero,
courageously rescuing Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) even as an alien turns him into scrap. (Story Continues On Next Page...) |
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