Short Circuit
May 9, 1986 in theaters
After a lightning bolt zaps a robot named Number 5, the lovable machine starts to think he's human and escapes the lab. Hot on his trail is his designer, Newton, who hopes to get to Number 5 before the military does. In the meantime, a spunky animal lover mistakes the robot for an alien and takes him in, teaching her new guest about life on Earth.
Cast
Director
TRAILER
QUOTE
"No disassemble!"
DID YOU KNOW?
The Number 5 robot was a fully functional practical prop that required a team of operators and electronics engineers on set at all times to manage its movements.
THE VERDICT
Synthesized from published reviews
A film that should be exhausting -- a military robot achieves sentience via a lightning strike and goes on the run -- but works entirely because of the warmth John Badham brings to the material and Steve Guttenberg's easy likability as the engineer trying to protect him. Number 5's personality is so well-rendered that the question of whether he's alive feels genuinely pressing. The film launched a short-lived but beloved franchise and remains one of the better robot-friendship movies Hollywood ever made.
GALLERY
VIDEOS
