Robots in Film – A Complete Pictorial History

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Calling All Robots!
Robots in Film – A Complete Pictorial History

*If you want to see my top 10, click here: Top 10 Robots in film and TV

1900 to 1960’s

1960’s to 1980’s:

1980’s to present:

The BIG list of film and TV robots:

(more or less in alphabetical order)

Ash from Alien

Astro Boy (anime – Japan)

The Astro-Creeps (unnamed robot w/Bela Lugosi 1940)

Alfie – Barbarella

Bishop from Aliens

BOX in Logan’s Run

Blade Runner – Roy & Rachel

B9 – Lost in Space – Robot B-9

Cylon from Battlestar Galactica

Chani – in The Devil Girl from Mars

The Colossus of New York

CP3O from some obscure sci-fi film 😉

Data from Star Trek: Next Generation

DV8 – from Crash & Burn

Destroyer from Thor

Ed209 and Robocop from RoboCop I & II

Fembots in Austin Powers and Dr. Goldfoot films &
TV shows The 6 Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman

Gog – from Gog

GORT from The Day the Earth Stood Still

Goliath in Virus

Giant Alien Robot in Monsters vs. Aliens

Giant Robo (Japan)

Gigantor (1969 animated – Japan)

The Gunslinger- Westworld

The Golden Army – Hellboy 2

Huey, Dewey, and Louie – Silent Running

The Iron Giant

 Johnny 5 – Short Circuit

John the Robot in the films:

• Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
• Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968),

Johnny Sokko and Flying Robot (Japan – 1968)

Jet-Jaguar from Godzilla vs. Megalon

Kronos

Mark13 in Hardware

Mogera from the Toho film, The Mysterians

Mecha-Kong

Mechagodzilla

Maria Futura – Metropolis

Maximilian – The Black Hole

Marvin – The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Moon Trap – alien robotics

Proteus IV in Demon Seed (1977)

Pacific Rim (2013) various including Gypsy

RoMan from Robot Monster

Robot Boxers in Real Steel

R2D2 from some 70’s flick

Robbie the robot from The Forbidden Planet

Rosey – The Jetsons

Robot in Heavy Metal (1981)

Robot Teachers in Class of 1999 (1990)

Rapist Robots in Flesh Gordon (1974)

Seven of Nine, from Star Trek: Voyager

Sonny from I-Robot

Screamers assorted killer robots

The Sentinels – The Matrix films
Saturn 3 – Robot

Star Crash – assorted Robots

The Shape of Things to Come – various robots

Surrogates – replacement robots

Twiki from Buck Rogers

Target Earth – Invader robots

Tripods from War of the Worlds (2004)

Terminator Robots:

• T-800
  T-1000
  Terminatrix – TX
  Harvesters
  Skynet ‘Tank’ Robot
  T-600

Transformers various including Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee

Tobar the Great

Ultraman (Japan)

Wall-E – Wall-E

War Robot – Judge Dread (1995)

Zathbot  – Zathura (2005)

Of course there are a slew of robots in TV and Films such as Dr. Who and the Star Wars saga but I think I’ve mentioned the most memorable and widely known.

If I have missed anybody important, let me know. I will add it to my list!

Island of the Fish Men (1979) – movie review

Island of the Fish Men (1979)
(aka: Screamers – 1981)
Directed by Sergio Martino

A ship transporting prisoners gets lost in storm and fog near the Caribbean Islands. They are thrown upon the rocks of an uncharted island and shipwrecked. The survivors, Claude, a naval officer and doctor, and several prisoners wash up on shore of this strange island. Men start disappearing in the salty marshes as they search for fresh water. They are stopped by a woman, Amanda, (Barbara Bach) on horseback who first tells them they must leave the island. Then they’re invited back to an estate, the only shelter on the island. They are greeted by the owner of the private island, Edmond Rackman (Richard Johnson) and a voodoo priestess who commands a tribe of natives to do Edmond’s dirty work. When a suspicious Claude (Claudio Cassinelli) investigates he is attacked by strange looking fishmen with Piranha-like heads and scaled skin but he is saved by Amanda. He finds out that the island is near a submerged lost city. Edmond uses these Fishmen to dive for the sunken treasures, gold and jewels, of the lost city. A scientist working with Edmond, Professor Marvin (Amanda’s Father), tells Claude the fishmen are the last survivors of Atlantis and he gets them to dive in exchange for drugs. Yes, he has them addicted to a milky drug that keeps them diving for gold. Only later do we find out that Marvin is actually turning the natives into these creatures, a point that echoes the Island of Doctor Moreau. Natives revolt, fishmen go on a feeding frenzy, a volcano erupts, Claude and Amanda fall in love and attempt to escape the sinking island.

There is tons of stuff going on in this film but somehow it works. Tightly shot to build tension in the beginning of the film, it opens to grand shots of island jungle, native ceremony, and underwater shots of swimming fishmen and the massive lost city. The Fishmen themselves look a bit silly by today’s standards but work well for this creature-feature style flick. The US released version Screamers is edited with added scenes and a new beginning, hardly necessary for the film, so I would recommend getting/watching the “Fishmen” version (Mya Entertainment). Enjoyable as a fun Saturday afternoon monster flick with some high island adventure thrown in, not to be taken too seriously. I hear there was even a sequel.