Automatic

THE STORY: All of us, that like futuristic tales with robots in it, owe a lot to Isaac Asimov. Mr. Asimov had little to do with this story, but I feel the need to add that sentence. Asimov is the one that in his tales, created the Three Laws of Robotics. He also wrote some damn good sci-fi stories. If you've never read "I, Robot" I urge you to get a copy. You'll thank me. Trust me.

Goddard Marks is the CEO of ROBGEN. They build androids, called Automatics, as domestic servants. Unfortunately, competitors have begun to eat away at the market, producing cheaper versions of Automatics, and Ray Hammer, a banker, threatens to foreclose on ROGBEN. Marks has a new version of Automatic that he plans on releasing  in 24 hours to save his company. Simple, yes?

No.

The Problem: A sleazy exec, named Barker tries to rape his beautiful secretary, Nora, while they both work late. The automatic designated J269, interrupts. Since his first priority is to "Protect and Serve" J269 defends Nora and accidentally kills Barker. Marks has to kill Nora and the Automatic to avoid bad publicity. For this he calls in some mercenaries, led by Major West.

The Solution: J269 is more than a match for the mercs. Yeah, he gets hurt and at one point Nora has to effect some repairs to him. But still J269 kicks a lot of ass. While trying to get out of the building, J269 and Nora beat up a lot of guys and arrive, finally in a big chamber filled with the new Automatics...that are exact replicas of Nora. Keep in mind, that when West's girlfriend and associate, Epsilon almost shoots J269, Nora kills her...and it wasn't an accident. Nora shoved a big knife right into her spine, on purpose....and with malice.

The Conundrum: Marks and the mercenaries are there in the chamber. Marks attempts to rip open Nora's head, like he did earlier in the film, and remove a certain device...so I guess Nora herself is an Automatic! Only she didn't know it! J269 thrashes West and kills Marks. He and Nora then escape.

That's this movie in a nutshell. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty good! The action sequences were exciting and the overall story was great. Its just the end that confused me....its never said for certain that Nora is an android...but I don't think there's a lot of question to that point. Goddard Marks is played by the actor John Glover...I haven't seen him in any movies that I remember, since I'm in Germany, but I have seen him on the TV show, Brimstone...playing, and get this...The Devil! When he first appeared on screen my wife even said "Its the Devil!" All of the Automatics were played by Olivier Gruner. The banker, Ray Hammer was acted by Dennis Lipscomb. I recognize him from the sympathetic white army officer in A Soldiers Story (A great movie, if you haven't seen it, rent it!) Finally, Nora's friend Julia was acted by Penny Johnson, and Trek fans know her as Captain Kassidy Yates, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Best Lines: "Humanity is wasted on humans."-Nora is grateful for J269's efforts to save her.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:

1.) Whoa! What year is this? They have a lot of technology, and it seems futuristic...hell, they have robots...the Automatics...but I don't know exactly when in the future this is. Which may be a good thing! At least they didn't tie themselves down with certain dates!

2.) Hmmmm....Nora is really concerned about the Automatics feelings. Especially when she and J269 find an Automatic in the lab that has been experimented on. This is a question that always plagues me when watching this type of movie. No matter how ya slice it, they're still machines. Any feelings they may express are just programming! If your computer flashed you a message now, saying "I'm tired, please turn me off." How seriously would you take it? (hmmmm...to be honest that would really freak me out!) Discounting Lt. Commander Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, why would anyone give a robot the ability to act that human...knowing how we'd react to them? Which brings up, Asimov, again...in his stories, robots aren't allowed on earth and don't look like humans...to save us from our own paranoia and skewed feelings.

3.) Much like the ridiculous scene in the horrible movie Star Trek The final Frontier, when Spock catches a falling Kirk, I wonder how Nora's arm didn't come out of the socket when J269 catches her falling in an elevator shaft. Ok, so she's really an android. Still I had to wonder.

4.) Does West just fly around in his helicopter with his men waiting for a call? It seems that way when Marks first contacts him.

NUDITY AND SEX: None

HUH?: Doesn't Marks think that killing Hammer is going to be a problem? How is he going to convince the police that he had nothing to do with Hammer's murder?

Speaking of the authorities, I find it a bit hard to believe that the authorities just can't go into ROBGEN without permission. You'd think something like building human looking, super strong androids would be regulated by the government. So it only makes sense that the authorities would go in when there's obvious trouble. (and there was at the beginning...J269 shoots down a helicopter in full view of TV cameras and a full crowd outside.)

THE TALLY: Despite a few pitfalls commonly found in these movies, this movie is actually good. Its not a sci-fi classic, but I think sci-fi fans will enjoy it.