The movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The robot: HAL 9000, Stanley Kubrick’s iconic red-eyed supercomputer, runs the ship. He’ll outplay you at chess, read your lips and—as vividly voiced by Douglas Rain—evince more personality than a meat puppet like Keir Dullea.

The major malfunction: Famously, he goes a little nuts. But if killing off the crew is your big plan, HAL, why not simply drain the ship of oxygen? Think this one through, brainiac.

Read review

The 10 dumbest robots in movies

Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction powers into theaters, but given some of these clunky counterparts, Bay’s ’bots aren’t so stupid

Advertising
Sci-fi begins with robots, appearing as early as Fritz Lang’s visionary Metropolis (1927) and its sashaying metal vixen. For the most part, movie robots are pretty intelligent: steering ships, translating alien dialects and making actors like Mark Hamill look decent. Still, some of them should be sent back to the lab for reprogramming or at least an oil change. Don’t be fooled by the blinking lights, complicated knobs and killer breakdance moves: Some robots make better scrap parts.

Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising