Short Circuit

I don't understand it. All the written reviews for Short Circuit I and II, on this message board are superlative. On the other hand, the ratings are pretty low.

Speaking for myself, I first saw the movie series when I was 12 years old. I thought at that time, that they were the greatest movies I had seen but that's just me. I recently saw the series again and still enjoyed them to the hilt. My ratings : 9/10.

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?

I'm sorry, I can't see why this film has been given such a low rating. This film is wonderfully life-affirming through the character of robot Jonny 5 (the scene where he realises what it means to be alive through crushing a grass hopper is beautifully portrayed), Ally Sheedy brings a bucket load of positive energy to the character of the naive but loving Stephanie, and to top it all there is a subtle but powerful comment on American militarism. There is a real emphasis on quality screen writing here which only comes through on a small ratio of films. The characters could easily have become 2 dimensional stereotypes, but instead given some interesting dialogue and motives (science, military etc). Yes it is cheesy, and I think many people label it as a cheap and tacky 80's movie, but having watched it again recently I think history may well judge it a minor classic.

Short Circuit is an off-the-wall comedy about a series of robots made of the military. They sort of resemble Conky from the old Pee Wee's Play House series. One of the robots, 'Number Five', escapes and finds sanctuary in the home of Stephanie Speck (Allly Sheedy), a nice lady with a soft spot for runaways.

Speck becomes good friends with 'Number Five' who begins to take on a lot of human characteristics, transcending the static life of a robot or the hostile life of a military weapon, which is what the robots were designed for.

Speck learns that Number Five's owners are looking for him, but she knows that the military would only destroy Number Five or terminate the emotional drive that he has developed. Number Five's designer, Newton Crosby (Guttenberg) and his silly assistant Ben Jabituya (Stevens), have yet to appreciate what Number Five has achieved, as a shell of wires and controls able to take on human qualities, but, soon, they too will join Speck in the quest to save 'Number Five.'

Some of it is kind of reminscint of other 80s sci-fi movies like 'Batteries Not Included' and 'E.T.'

There's two issues at work in this movie. The first, and obvious one being about the development of human emotion and would it be possible for anything to gain an understanding and appreciation for it? And the second being the ethics of military useage. Plus, it's your standard 80s love and friendship story. Because of the story and the sharp wit comedy and sarcasm, it's makes for good comedy. I haven't seen the sequel in a long time, but I do remember enjoying it almost as much as the first. I think that's because 'Number Five' is such a funny, loveable robot.

If you like the theme of this movie, I recommend seeing the hilarious comedy, 'Making Mr. Right,' which is about a robot designed for space exploration rather than military use. But, the robot begins to take on human emotions while the owner becomes increasingly more like a robot. (It's from Susan Siedleman, the director of 'Desperately Seeking Susan.')

I saw this movie at the pictures This Movie was a Classic back in 1986 I still remember this movie well "NUMBER 5 IS ALIVE" I would have been 7 years old when I watch this movie the reason I am guess it has such a low rating. is cause there have been so many movies in this Genre, Over lets say the last 8 years, Including Short circuit ripoff Wall-E http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/ Anyway it doesn't have the awesome graphics Wall-E has cause 3d computer graphics didn't really exist in 1986 Wall-E might even have a slightly better story line But you must remember Short Circuit was the original and did not have 100s of robot friend movies to copy of like wall-e at the time it was made to copy ideas off and revise from, Wall-e received 9 out of 10 Short circuit received 6 out of 10 I feel Short Circuit have been very hard done by for being a old movie. Anyway thats my piece its up to you to make the right choice when you vote.