15 Best Ever Robot Sci-Fi Movies
Mechanical beings are a sci-fi staple but these robot movies should not be missed.
The term "robot", adapted from a Czech word meaning "slave labour", was first coined in the 1920s and with the help of authors such as Isaac Asimov throughout the 50s and 60s, the idea of the robot has deeply embedded itself in popular culture and science fiction.
As the march of technology transforms the science fiction of the past into our daily reality, our fascination with mechanical beings has gone from strength to strength, particularly in the medium of cinema.
Over the decades since their inception, robots have been portrayed in movies as our dutiful employees, our closest friends, our worst enemies, our brutal conquerers and have even assimilated themselves into our very beings.
There's a practically endless list of movies featuring robotic characters, stories and themes but these are the very best, the ones that should not be missed.
15. Wall-E
In a far future, where Earth is one giant landfill and humans have become grotesquely overweight, listless caricatures floating around in technically advanced space ships, Wall-E is a lonely trash-collecting robot.
One day Wall-E receives a visit from another being, a probe called Eve, and we watch as their relationship blossoms. The ensuing love story is expertly told through movements, gestures and expressions, bolstered by the frankly beautiful computer animation.
The plot is underlined by sharp criticisms of consumerist and disposable culture, highlighting the real risks of human waste on the environment, but most of all it's a heartwarming film with a beautifully realised world and characters.
The fact that Wall-E is clearly inspired by Johnny 5 from Short Circuit (unfortunately Short Circuit doesn't hold up these days, so doesn't make this list) is a genius nostalgia move.