Short Circuit (1986)

Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy star in this often forgotten but somewhat iconic comedy-adventure with a robot in 'Short Circuit'. This 80s flick, directed by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, Stakeout, Nick of Time) is funny, with a dash of heroics and that usual 80s trend of discovering new wondrous things- this times through the eyes of Johnny Five, who quickly realises that "disassemble" means death, kaput etc, and he simply wants to be alive. Fisher Stevens adds to the comedy as Guttenberg's co-worker, and G.W. Bailey (Guttenberg's rival from Police Academy) plays another bumbling incompetent glorified security guard for laughs too. Slightly dated, but still fun watching Johnny Five needing input, but with the advent of the internet, the technology does seem less futuristic in this film. Badham even recreates a scene from 'Saturday Night Fever' for laughs, and endears the audience to this robotic hero.I remember enjoying this film as a kid, and still enjoyed watching it again. Certainly a film in the same vein of 'Innerspace', 'Explorers', 'Flight of the Navigator' etc. If you haven't seen this film, it's still possible you may enjoy it, and I think it's still a decent family movie.***½

In simplistic terms, kid movies are cute; they can make people of all ages laugh (occasionally cry even) and they evoke a feeling of happiness deep inside that can stir up the inner-kid voice in any individuals' heart. In 1986, "Short Circuit" was released. It is the tale of a robot strictly made for military purposes who happens to get struck by lightning and afterwards develops human-like characteristics. As he becomes self-aware, the robot (named Number Five) escapes the NOVA laboratory compound, now on the run from the scientists he fears will capture and "kill" him. "Short Circuit" certainly captured my heart and it should be recommended to everyone looking for an enjoyable movie filled with many opportunities for a good laugh. Alas, besides being a "cutesy" movie, "Short Circuit" doesn't contain much depth or intricacy after that; the three main supporting characters are simple, with only a single defining characteristic to their personalities and the plot follows a very basic structural outline.Stephanie, Newton, and Skroeder are the three main supporting characters that were mentioned above; more or less, they are flat, 2-D characters. Stephanie is an animal pacifist; her only role is to show Number Five some compassion and protect him from harm. Newton is a scientist, so his character role is to track down Number Five, study him, and make sense of these human-characteristics. And finally, Skroeder is the ultimate brawn behind the capture mission so his only role is to annihilate Number Five. Each character represents a single idea and solely keeps to that lone idea throughout the entire film; thus there are no other significant characteristic differences between the characters. Likewise, the plot is quite similar: it is not overly complex by any means and really only follows an easy, skeletal outline. There's an initial event that takes place in the beginning and that event is followed by a cat-chase-mouse action sequence which lasts nearly the entire movie. It's very similar to the television cartoon, "Tom and Jerry." The cartoon is based upon a cat, Tom, chasing a mouse, Jerry; likewise, Skroeder and Newton chase after Stephanie and Number Five. Then, at the very end of the movie, there is (of course) a happily ever after resolution causing the film to leave a warm and pleasant feeling in the watchers' heart. "Short Circuit" is a simple story of the "good guys vs. the bad guys," with the moral of the story being: all life is important and it's erroneous to kill. If you happen to be searching for a movie with an overly deep plot and complex characters, you'll want to look elsewhere. "Short Circuit" is a humorous, lovable, simplistic kids' movie. Should anything more than that be expected of it?

Another movie from my kid past, a story about a military robot named Number 5 developing self-awareness and consciousness after being struck by lightening. With the company who built him, Nova, out to get him because they think he has malfunctioned, technician Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg) and animal lover Stephanie Speck (Ally Sheedy) are on a mission to save Number 5 from being reprogrammed.After watching this movie in its entirety as an adult, I, unfortunately, was not impressed with the film. The movie takes a very long time to gain any steam, if any, and there is really no plot, just Number 5 befriending Stephanie while Nova is out to get him - no twists or turns and no unpredictable moments. I could live with movies with simple or no basic plot lines if there are any redeeming qualities like humor, comic relief, likable characters and action. This movie, to me, doesn't deliver on any of those. The so-called comedy is unfunny, the action is dull and the characters were extremely annoying.Ally Sheedy's Stephanie Speck character was loud, obnoxious, overbearing and developed no chemistry with lead Steve Guttenberg; Fisher Stevens' Ben Jabituya character was very lame with his dumb, stereotypical Indian accent and unfunny jokes; Austin Pendleton's Howard Marner character was overly-excited; and G.W. Bailey's Skroeder character was over-asserted as the supposed villain. Only Steve Guttenberg, Brian McNamara and Number 5, which I thought was pretty cool, had any likable qualities.Overall, though, this movie is dull and boring with pretty awful acting. Watch at your own risk.Grade F

Easy to confuse the first with the second if you haven't seen either in a while, the second is the more fun of the two and the one set in New York. The first is the totally boring one, half set in the military base with Steve Guttenberg and half set in Ally Sheedy's house.J-5 is accidentally carted off from the base and winds up at Sheedy's home searching for "input!", wherein he learns the meaning of "disassemble!" (death) and tries to hide from the military who are trying to destroy him for being a malfunctioning war weapon. Lots of to-ing and fro-ing, very repetitive and disappointingly dull.