Short Circuit (1 & 2)
SHORT CIRCUIT (PG)
D: John Badham
Tristar/PSO (David Foster & Lawrence
Turman)
US 1986
98 mins
Science Fiction/Comedy
W: S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock
DP: Nick McLean
Ed: Frank Morriss
Mus: David Shire
Steve Guttenberg (Newton Crosby), Ally Sheedy (Stephanie
Speck), Fisher Stevens (Ben Jabituya), Austin Pendleton (Dr. Howard Marner), G.W. Bailey (Capt. Skroeder), Tim Blaney (voice of Number Five)
Short Circuit is definitely a movie which gets away with
the ridiculousness of its plot and execution simply for being released in the right decade. The 1980's saw a huge rise in films focusing on robotics and techology, and this one brought about
one of the more iconic screen robots of the decade.
A military robot, built for warface, gets struck by
lightning during a demonstration of its capabilitys and develops a conscience and personality of its own. It escapes the military base and embarks on a quest for "input", finding its way to
the home of Stephanie Speck, who reluctantly develops a friendship with "Number Five".
It's pretty much a variation on E.T. (qv) which works
quite well for the most part, but has too many predictable moments and a little too much cheese, especially the twee song which plays over the end credits. Kids at the time enjoyed it, but it
hasn't dated as well as Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic.
6/10
SHORT CIRCUIT 2 (PG)
D: Kenneth Johnson
Columbia Tristar (David Foster, Gary Foster & Lawrence
Turman)
US 1988
110 mins
Comedy/Science Fiction
W: S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock
DP: John McPherson
Ed: Conrad Buff
Mus: Charles Fox
Tim Blaney (voice of Johnny Five), Fisher Stevens (Ben
Jahveri), Michael McKean (Fred Ritter), Cynthia Gibb (Sandy Banatoni), Jack Weston (Oscar Baldwin)
A sequel in name only, dropping Steve Guttenberg and Ally
Sheedy from the cast in favour of promoting a supporting character with a fake, stereotypical Indian accent into the lead (although the character has a completely different surname in this
movie, for an unknown reason). That being said, the robot with human sensibilities is the real star, helping his buddy in defeating a mob of jewel thieves in the big city.
Not a patch on the original, with some amusing moments,
though its attempts as a culture clash/fish out of water tale don't work so well. It does have some pleasant moments, especially within a subplot in which Johnny Five plays matchmaker, but
the heist motives at the centre of the plot are rather silly.
Like the first movie, it's far more likely to be enjoyed
by children than by adults.
5/10
