Category: Robots
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The Perfect Woman
A screwball comedy highlighting the confused gender politics of 1949, this very British doorswinger farce sees Bertie and Jeeves taking out a female robot for a night on the town. If you can get over the dated premise and tone, it’s quite an enjoyable and well-made comedy. 5/10
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Undersea Kingdom
Inspired by Flash Gordon and The Phantom Empire, the young Republic Studios launched their own sci-fi serial in 1936, and the result was an action-packed, but rather brainless concoction. Occasional good design and an energetic Crash Corrigan can’t save this badly scripted Atlantis-themed hodgepodge. 3/10
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Loss of Sensation
A 1935 communist propaganda film with quite a few enjoyable quirks. Capitalists and communists fight over an army of robots that is controlled by saxophone. Based on a story by “The Jules Verne of Ukraine” and directed with a certain expressionist and avantgarde flair, the film is not without its…
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The Phantom Empire
Not even the worst serial acting in the history of bad serial acting is able to completely sink this brilliantly delirious sci-fi western musical comedy starring western and country legend Gene Autry. The film combines wild west adventure, lost Atlantis-type fantasy, Flash Gordon tropes and country singing in one of…
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Master of the World
A mad scientist, an army of killer robots, a grieving widow and a dashing hero. There are the ingredients for the German 1934 film Der Herr der Welt film by action hero Harry Piel. Perhaps his darkest movie, and one of the few where he doesn’t appear on screen. A…
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Metropolis
The plot may be meandering and the political message naive, but the thematic and visual influence of Austrian director Fritz Lang’s exciting 1927 masterpiece Metropolis is rivalled by few in science fiction and in film in general. A great, entertaining, sprawling epic in a future tower of Babylon. (10/10)
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L’uomo meccanico
NO RATING: PARTIALLY LOST FILM Partially lost Italian silent sci-fi action comedy from 1921, notable for being the first feature film to revolve around a robot. Comedy superstar André Deed writes, acts and directs this fast-paced and well-made cheapo. The Mechanical Man (L’uomo meccanico). 1921, Italy. Written and directed by…
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The Master Mystery
(4/10) In a nutshell: This 1919 serial starring Harry Houdini is fast-paced, action-packed and well filmed, and features the first robot in a lengthy American feature. A thin, repetitive script and mediocre acting pulls the serial down. The Master Mystery. 1919, USA. Directed by Burton L. King & Harry Grossman.…
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The Tales of Hoffmann
(6/10) The first German sci-fi film, this 1916 romantic tragedy is based on Jacques Offenbach’s opera and the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann. It is the first feature film involving a robot. While offering some early hints of German Expressionism, The Tales of Hoffmann is rather dully filmed. The adaptation takes…
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The Automatic Motorist
(4/10) In 1911 British film pioneer Walter R. Booth updated his five years old film The ‘?’ Motorist with better effects, more outer space madness and a robot. Technically brilliant, the six minute short still feels anachronistic in an age where feature films were making their entrance. The Automatic Motorist.…
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Gugusse and the Automaton
No rating, film lost. The world’s first film featuring a robot was a short one-reeler made by Georges Méliès in 1897. It is considered a lost film, and there probably isn’t a single person alive who has seen it. We’ll try our best to recreate it in our minds nonetheless.…
Scifist. 