Androids, Robots, and AI Movies

Rutger Hauer

Blade Runner (1982)



Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Terminator (1984)



Sean Young

Blade Runner (1982)



John Malkovich

Blade Runner (1982)



Robert Patrick

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Man... this time the sky really is the limit. Robots, androids, AI, replicants, synthetics, cyborgs—half-human, half-machine, killing machines, or just weird little guys—artificial beings have always been this recurring thread running through the sci-fi genre (aside from those occasional detours into other genres, of course)... whether it’s their relentless drive to take someone out, their struggle to extend their own lifespan, or just trying to find where they fit in the world, their motives have always hooked filmmakers and audiences everywhere. Some people might say—and hey, maybe they're right, maybe not—that playing a lethal cyborg from the future was the role of a lifetime for Arnold Schwarzenegger (or maybe it was just tailored perfectly to his specific acting range), but... is that actually true? Looking back, a decent number of actors have tried their hand at similar roles, and the results have ranged from absolute cult classics to, well, just plain ridiculous. This slightly expanded cross-section of actors who left a mark on the genre as one of the groups mentioned above is, as always, an invitation for you to pick the best of the best—doesn't matter if it's a powerhouse actor or just a great product of special effects wizards—and it doubles as a few recommendations for you to check out.

A few clarifications... actually, there aren't any, because this time the sky truly is the limit. Every character from film history is in here (shoutout to the exceptions I left out, though I'll mention them at the end in titles that didn't quite make the cut to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this crew in the poll—not necessarily because they weren't good, just wasn't quite there)... along with the movie where they first showed up. I decided against naming every single character individually since only some of them actually have that level of recognition, while others are mostly just background noise.

As always... enjoy yourselves

I have a feeling this list is going to be a lot longer than I thought.

Arnold Schwarzenegger 🙏🙏 , Lance Henriksen and WALL-E 😁

Kristanna Loken

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines



Ian Holm

Alien (1979)



Lance Henriksen

Aliens (1986)



Winona Ryder

Alien: Resurrection (1997)



Daryl Hannah

Blade Runner (1982)

Since this whole section could honestly just be rebranded as "The Legacy of Alien and Blade Runner," I really ought to bring up two other actors who had pretty similar roles in that second film—but because of some tiny, super minor constraints, I ended up leaving them out... plus, their footprint in Hollywood isn't exactly massive anyway.

Brion James

Joanna Cassidy

They both played replicants... they had some intense scenes too, so they definitely deserve a nod given what we're talking about here.

Sam Worthington

Terminator Salvation (2009)



HAL 9000

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

2010 (1984)



Haley Joel Osment

A.I. Artificial Intelligence



Jude Law

A.I. Artificial Intelligence



Robby the Robot

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Even though two flicks from this list aren't exactly masterpieces (Terminator Salvation and 2010), they still managed to pull off a few decent things... Like, Marcus definitely deserves a nod since he was—honestly, in my book—the only interesting part of that whole mess. And 2010, even if it's a bit weak and gets overlooked too much, actually gives you some answers as to why HAL 9000 went totally haywire in the first place... so yeah, I'd still mention 2010 as a recommendation.

Brigitte Helm

Metropolis (1927)



Peter Weller

RoboCop (1987)



Short Circuit (1986)



R2-D2

C-3PO

Star Wars (1977)



Bruce Willis

Surrogates (2009)

It’s kind of a bummer that Sylvester Stallone played a genetically engineered being in Judge Dredd instead of someone closer to this crew... it would've been pretty cool to see those action legends finally cross paths in the sci-fi realm. And speaking of RoboCop, I probably shouldn't skip over ED - 209 since he was the main hero's biggest headache—I mean, there were a few glitches here and there, but hey, at least the machine guns didn't jam, right? Just figured I'd throw him in the mix too.

Dammit, this feels a bit muddled to me. The concept itself is brilliant—kudos where it's due—but I’m struggling to grasp the objective. Are we supposed to be selecting actors who excel at portraying machines, or are we looking for robots that simply function as robots? Wouldn't it be much more straightforward to ask, "Which of these characters leaves the most lasting impression?" or something to that effect? I mean, how am I actually expected to draw a meaningful comparison between Arnold's role in The Terminator and R2-D2, who is, quite literally, just a robot? 😁

Optimus Prime

Transformers (2007)



WALL-E



Robin Williams

Bicentennial Man (1999)



Brent Spiner

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)



Yul Brynner

Westworld (1973)

The End. Oh, a few little things—someone really should have pulled these out into the light earlier—but basically, Gary Sinise and the movie Impostor didn't make the cut because just mentioning them would be a massive spoiler... and we can't have that. Also, Pam Grier almost made the list with her B-movie Class of 1999, but let's just leave the movie itself as a recommendation instead. Now, WALL-E actually managed to slip in here as a rare exception... normally I don't mix animation with live-action, but this little trash-collector is just too damn charming to leave out when playing with the big boys. And, if anyone’s wondering where the rest of the Transformers characters went... they aren't here, vanished, refused to join the list—apparently they felt Michael Bay worked them way too hard and they're opting out of the commercialism and the poll alike (there'd simply be too many of them to list all at once). Anyway, as always, feel free to jump in, folks, and fill in whatever I missed.

Gary Lewis37 said:Man, I don't know, this feels a bit mixed up to me. The concept is killer, seriously, but I’m struggling to see the angle—are we picking actors who happen to play robots, or just actual robots that function as machines? Wouldn't it be way easier to just ask, "Which of these characters is the most iconic?" or something like that? I mean, how am I supposed to compare Arnold's role in The Terminator with R2-D2, which is basically just... a robot... 😁

Doesn't matter which character... doesn't matter at all. There's an option for multiple titles, so just pick your favorite character as an actor or even just an invention as a prop... shoot. 😉

He was vouching for Patrick, sure—honestly, I’d take him over Arnold any day of the week.

Alright, this is getting complicated. I want to narrow this down to just one or two names, but I always seem to get carried away by the options. 😁

For starters, I’m certain my vote goes to Brent Spiner, because his portrayal of an android is, in my estimation, absolutely flawless. That yearning within a synthetic being for human emotion, that innate curiosity... you can feel it consistently from one episode to the next, without any dip in quality. I have always found that character deeply impressive.

Now, what else is there? It feels inherently unfair to leave both HAL 9000 and Rachael behind...

I am merely thinking out loud. 😁

Man, I totally blanked on Lt. Datu 😵😵

The only way I can say I didn't spend a single second overthinking this poll:

HAL 9000
😍That cold, emotionless voice.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkv6V...eature=related

P.S. I actually have him as my desktop wallpaper. Call me a total geek if you want.🤦

WALL-E! 😍



🙂

p.s. which robot is actually obsessed with watching movies, anyway? Only WALL-E 😁

I have decided to cast two votes: one for the machine itself and another for the actor portraying the "machine." My choices are Data and HAL 9000. 🙂

My apologies to Sean Young and Robert Patrick; it was a difficult decision to make. 😢

Robert Patrick from Terminator 2, Kristanna Loken in Terminator 3, Lance Henriksen in Aliens, R2-D2 from Star Wars, Optimus Prime from Transformers, Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man, and of course, the legendary Brent Spiner from Star Trek.

Michael Ortiz68 said:I've actually got it sitting right there on my desktop. Total geek move on my part... 🤦

🤦 Same here.

Michael Ortiz68 Asks:
P.S. I actually have it sitting right here on my desktop. God, what a total geek I am. 🤦

briskhound2 Asks:
🤦 Me too.

You guys aren't being fair; now I want in on this too. 😁 This one feels like it just sits better on my desktop:



Well, bye then.WALL-E. Bad Robot 😬



p.s.

To start things off, we pull up a recording of HAL 9000's voice in Photosounder to turn that audio into a visual, playing it back at its normal speed just to get our bearings. Once that’s settled, I’ll give the Time resolution adjustment a little nudge downward and run the image-sound back at about a third of its original speed, making sure to keep the pitch exactly where it is.

Then you just keep cranking that Time resolution adjustment even further until the playback rate for the audio and video hits about 200 times slower than the original, and suddenly this incredibly strange, eerie soundscape starts to emerge from what was once just a man's voice, now stretched out into something unrecognizable.

MP3: Check out this clip from http://photosounder.com/misc/hal_9000_200x.mp3 where they've messed with the time resolution adjustment on some audio, making it run about 200 times slower than what you'd actually hear. It’s pretty wild to listen to.

😲

🙂

Christian Taylor3 said:That’s not fair, now I want one too. 😁 This one looks like the best fit for my desktop:

I actually have that one in the game. All the others I found are just kind of pointless, if you ask me (as the Teens would say). 😁

Harrison Ford playing Rick Deckard in Blade Runner.