The Questor Tapes

In his heyday, no one made televised science fiction like Gene Roddenberry, and this is one of the finest examples. Created as a pilot for a proposed TV series (which, unsurprisingly, was never produced), this is one of the best instances of science fiction meeting philosophy that has ever occurred anywhere (big screen included). The performances are astonishingly good considering the cast of mostly TV actors (in particular, Robert Foxworth gives the performance of his career as the android). The movie does steer itself away from its own track once in awhile (some of the details in the subplot about Helena Trimble hardly seem relevant to the film and were probably created in case the series was approved), but overall, the pacing is excellent. Some dated technology and an ear-piercingly poor musical score knock this down a notch or two, but its premise and resolution are wonderfully humanistic. Not a special-effects movie, then, but sci-fi that cares more for its characters than its visual appeal. Now could we please just have this on video?

IMHO this is one of the best sci-fi TV movies ever. For once they gave Roddenberry some money and it shows up on the screen, particularly in the stirring climax which still works today. The plot is witty and features a few nice surprises. The performances are uniformly solid. In particular, Robert Foxworthy brings surprising warmth and depth to what was obviously the prototype to the DATA character from STTNG; it is probably the best acting job Foxworthy ever did, which is doubly impressive since he is supposed to be playing an emotionless android. In fact, he slips in plenty of emotion, but the insertions are subtle and well-handled. Mike Farrell (right before his own far more lengthy and lucrative insertion in MASH) is also at the top of his game as the humanistic scientist and guide for Questor. John Vernon, fresh off all those venomous villain roles from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, is reliably intimidating as the aggressive (but ultimately conscientious) antagonist.

Why does QUESTOR still resonate thirty years later? Frankly, because all of the questions about what makes man unique are only more relevant today with the advent of cloning and super microchips which make today's computers even more intelligent and capable than the fiction Roddenberry envisioned back in '73. Most of the things forecast in QUESTOR have come to pass from the creation of the internet to the polarization of the class system and symbiosis of the world economy. Man will always question his place / role in the universe and QUESTOR gets to that issue of self-awareness and "what is my purpose" as productively and entertainingly as any other sci-fi offering I can think of. It's also thought-provoking and while it momentarily lurches toward preaching at the end, somehow it all comes out just right.

So why didn't it make it to series? My hunch is that since ABC had already added THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN on their fall schedule the feeling was that QUESTOR was too similar (or "too cerebral," which was the reason the original Star Trek pilot didn't fly.) The truth is, it probably would have been difficult to maintain the quality of the pilot given the limited format. However, it would have been an interesting try and I think it would have probably been more insightful than THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. 9/10

This is a great pilot for a TV series that never got made.

Five countries pool resources to build beyond the state-of-the-art android (Project Questor.) The main inventor Dr. Vaslovik (Lew Ayres) is missing. In Dr. Vaslovik's absence, they attempt to decipher the programming tapes to be sure there is nothing insidious and destroyed part of them in the process. Now the android, Questor (Robert Foxworth) has to seek Vaslovik and find out why he was made.

Unable to do this on his own due to partially destroyed memory and his initial problems with understanding humans he forcibly recruits one of his assemblers, Jerry Robinson (Mike Farrell). Soon Questor gets so good at manipulating people that even we get suspicious of his true purpose.

It is not hard to recognize the teleplay writer as Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek fame. Many of the actors are recognizable from other programs of the time. Lady Helena Trimble is played by Dana Wynter of "Lady Godiva Rides Again (Bikini Baby)" fame.

Be sure to read the book by D. C. Fontana. The book works well as a stand-alone story; However, if you saw the pilot the images will still be there as you read.

The last time I saw Questor was probably twenty + years ago, but at that time I think it still held up well. It's amazing how many robots and androids came out in the years following the "Questor Tapes" with little Questor mannerisms, not the least of which was Data.

I have no doubt that if the series had been picked up we would have seen an "evil" Questor (Lore or KARR), lots of android type searching for meaning, maybe even a tie in to the Gary Seven "pilot" episode on Trek. Questor would have fit into the Trek universe really well, don't know why Gene never did a tie in on Next Gen. Heck, they could have done a tie in on Enterprise.

Oh well... I received a letter from Majel a few years ago indicating she was still interested in doing a Questor series, but that was the last I ever heard. Sadness.

-Dana Curtis Kincaid

Even for the 70's this was a pretty ridiculous movie. Regardless of the love for Roddenberry's creations and his correct vision of the future, when we would have to face autoanihilation or grow up, I can't really recommend it.

That doesn't mean that is it not adorable, in the way little children are when you are looking at celluloid films of themselves from 40 years ago: "look dad, how cute you were when you were 5!" (and everybody laughs at his embarrassment)

From the beginning you know something is strange when the best minds humanity can provide can barely assemble the android parts provided by mysterious professor Vaslovik. Later, when it effortlessly escapes from his human creators, you get to wonder what is its purpose? Itself it doesn't know, since part of his programming was accidentally erased (since then we learned to back up everything in the cloud, so there is hope), the only thing it knows for sure is that it has to find his creator before it explodes in a nuclear explosion.

A nice story, and well played, in that '70s way. The fact that all technological, social and even bureaucratic development at the time look from the stone age is testament to the speed of our evolution, but also blocks any real enjoyment out of a clearly outdated film.

Worth watching just to see where Commander Data came from.