Reviews & Ratings for
Android More at IMDbPro »

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13 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly good fun!, 15 April 2001

Author: JazB

This may be low budget... but so was Dark Star!

I have to say that I strangely enjoyed this low budget attempt at a sci-fi movie. Despite its constraints it had plenty of great ideas and one thing I like: A weird atmosphere!

If you don't mind low budgetness and like weird movies (like me) then I strongly suggest this... It could easily be a cult movie!

9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Sci-Fi cult classic, 29 August 1999
Author: bri-42 from Toronto, Canada

One of my favourites! The film has a haunting quirkiness about it. Klaus Kinski is the perfect mad scientist. The MAX404 android really projects his confusion about and desire to understand his emotions. Loved the soundtrack. This movie is not for those who only like those big Hollywood "sci-fi" films. It will appeal to those who enjoy REAL sci-fi though.

11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
underrated cross-genre effort, 1 August 2001

Author: bobc-5 from Annandale, VA

Take a predictable android sci-fi plot, a coming of age story, some cops & robbers, and a pinch of "Bride of Frankenstein". Put it all in a low-budget ensemble film and stir vigorously. What you end up with is interesting, engaging, and unique in spite of its obvious flaws.

Android Max and his scientist master are living in a remote space station when they are joined by a trio of fugitives - a beauty, a beast, and a brain. The brain figures that they've stumbled onto something valuable seeing as how androids have been outlawed on Earth ever since the uprising. It turns out that at a certain age, the androids become disrespectful, insubordinate, and obsessed with sex. In other words, they turn into adolescents, so we can all sympathize with what Max is going through when he sees a female for the very first time. Meanwhile, the scientist is working on a new and improved replacement for Max, a model which just happens to also be a gorgeous blond woman.

The plot lines are cliche and full of holes, the ending is a bit of a cheat, and the special effects are weak. The film works, however, because it pays close attention to the things which matter, mainly Max and his own isolated world. Although many have criticized the cheap sets, they maintain a coherent mood and atmosphere which is entirely successful in creating a fictional space in which the story can take place. Max himself is one of the most intelligently scripted and well acted android characters to ever appear on screen. You'll be disappointed if you're looking for action or deep meanings, but if you allow yourself to take an interest in Max you may find yourself thinking about him long after the film has ended.

9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Great 80s Sci-Fi!, 28 April 2003
Author: xezlec from Austin, TX, USA

I love eighties films, and I love science fiction. This film is a good example of both, but I have to say it was a bit 'darker' than it felt like it should have been.

The music is classic analog synthesized fun, and the setting is very cool-looking, typical of any early eighties sci-fi movie but with a certain complexity and detail that makes it seem solid and believable.

The acting is absolutely phenomenal. I generally complain a lot about bad, hard-to-believe acting in movies but in this case I have no complaints; there was nothing to distract me from the story. I half-believed that Max was played by a real android (he is credited as "Himself". lol)! The acting was overall believable and appropriately restrained.

The story could have used some work... it was a bit slow-moving and somewhat uninteresting, and the resolution wasn't entirely satisfying due to certain characters who were insufficiently developed. Also I felt that there should have been some slight comic relief, and I think the drama of the situations was not emphasized enough. But, to the story's credit, it did have a couple of nice twists and I think I like the ending.

Overall I think it was worth seeing: much better than most of the junk that comes on at 2 AM!

8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
a vastly underrated classic, 2 January 2006

Author: webmaster-625 from United Kingdom

Craggy old Klaus Kinski lives with his awkward assistant Max on a space station, developing a female android. Max spends his time playing old arcade games and researching the human condition - (I heard somewhere that the external shots of the space station were done by creating a model station from a display case which used to house watches or jewelry!) Into this scenario comes band of escaped convicts on a space ship badly damaged during their escape ...

There is humour in this film but it is of a very dark shade. The LACK of special effects ADDS to the "reality" of the film.

A couple of really unexpected plot twists along the way - I rate it a "9" which is the highest I have ever given a film on the IMDb

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly interesting yet cheaply made..., 22 December 2009

Author: dwpollar from Evansville, Indiana USA

1st watched 12/20/2009 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Aaron Lipstadt): Surprisingly interesting yet cheaply made early 80's sci-fi film. This is far from being a perfect film and I still can't believe I ended up liking it, but it appealed to me by the time the movie ended. The story is about an android project in the near future being done in space and being terminated due to a funds issue and the failure of a similar project on Earth that turned into a disaster. The scientist played by Klaus Kinski receives the news but is overheard by his creation Max 404(which the movie never reveals who acts this part--which is definitely strange). Some wanted space criminals then arrive on the scene and Max lets them board the ship and then plans to escape with them back to Earth to avoid his termination. Things don't work out the way he expects them to and I won't give away the ending but it's definitely surprising. Max's replacement is suppose to be a female Android named Claudia, since the scientist really doesn't want the project ending either -- he just wants a different android to play with. The androids in this movie have obvious human feelings that get in the way very often which makes the movie interesting and sways their decisions consistently. There is some titillation added to the movie which doesn't really fit, especially in a PG-rated movie(how it got this rating I'll never know) and it's obviously a low-budget film and for these reasons this is definitely one of my few guilty pleasures. By the end of the movie, I was hoping for a sequel -- which hasn't happened and probably wont but that's how it affected me. So, despite the many reasons I shouldn't like this movie, I did --- I guess you never know, huh?

6 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Original Sci-Fi - superb., 18 April 1999

Author: Will (wills-place@iname.com) from Southport England

It is rare to get a movie which has the insight into the human condition and handles it from a totally new perspective.

Max, the android, longs to understand human relationships.

Klaus Kinski is excellent and the twists in the plot are unforseen. There is an underlying darkness throughout the film which in only understood at the end when the secrets of the tale are revealed.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A is for Android, 25 June 2009
Author: DrPhilmreview from United States

I think most of the budget of this New World sci-fi film probably went toward Klaus Kinski. It's amazing how many low-budget specials this guy has made. Nevertheless, "Android" does have some charms to it. Don Keith Oper does double duty as screenwriter and Max, the android of the title and helps make this somewhat interesting. Neither of the ladies in this film really had much of a career after it and watching them one can see why. They don't really bring much to the party. The director does a decent job considering the budget limitations and went on to a successful career doing TV shows and occasional TV movies. But can you guess which of these performers actually appeared in "Saving Private Ryan"? Yes, tough guy Mendes, Crodton Hardester.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Unpredictable., 3 April 2008

Author: fedor8 from Serbia

"Android" is somewhere between a cheesy film and a proper movie. The look isn't exactly on the level of "Star Wars", but those early 80s space films are both visually and plot-wise superior to any (semi-)cheesy 90s or 00s sci-fi movies. The interiors of the space station are quite good, the special effects are okay. There are certainly moments of nonsense, such as the female fugitive not being sure what an android is. If most late-20th-century people knew what an android is, then what are the odds that a relatively young woman from the year 2028 - imprisoned for corporate espionage - would not know this? Still, in spite of some logic holes, the acting isn't bad, the dialogue is okay. The movie's biggest assets are the somewhat unique atmosphere, and the unpredictability of the plot - which early on might appear to be easy to predict. Short and not dull.

4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Much more than human..., 13 January 2005

Author: cookieman108 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Androids… automatons that are created from biological materials and resemble humans…from Fritz Land's 1927 classic Metropolis to Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece Blade Runner, the notion of artificial life becoming more human than human has long been an interesting and somewhat neglected aspect of science fiction genre within film (personally, I think the main interest in this type of technology is put forth by men wanting to create their ideal woman and perform whatever sick, twisted desires lie within their perverted, depraved souls…I mean a woman who will do whatever you want, whenever you want and not complain about you leaving the toilet seat up? Free will is certainly a wonderful thing, but it shouldn't get in the way of having a good time).

Android (1983), directed by Aaron Lipstadt, whose primary work afterwards has been on TV shows like Miami Vice, The Equalizer, and Quantum Leap to name a few, stars the talented, but entirely creepy and obtusely intense Klaus Kinksi (Crawlspace) along with Brie Howard (Tapeheads), Norbert Weisser (Midnight Express), Crofton Hardester (The Devastators), and Don Keith Opper (Critters) as Max 404. Not only did Don have a starring role in the film, but he also wrote it… The film mainly takes place on a fairly deserted deep space research station, once bustling with life, but now home only to Dr. Daniel (Kinski) and his android companion/man servant Max 404. Dr. Daniel has been feverishly working on a new prototype droid, one much more advanced than Max (all this work is done in secret out in space as due to a past incident on Earth involving rebellious androids and the killing of many humans, androids have been outlawed…at least that's the gist of what I got). Anyway, life is pretty quite on the station, and Max is growing bored. That soon changes as three escaped convicts, hijacking a prison shuttle ship, seek refuge on board the station due to a damaged engine. Dr, Daniel sees this as a prime opportunity as he's been needing a compatible female (no, no…not what you're thinking…) to use in some weird way to juice up his newest android, one with female characteristics..some sort of biological jumpstart…and one of the three escaped prisoners just happens to fit the bill. Max, who just recently learned of some disturbing news regarding his own future, decides to try and see if, once the they get the engine to the damaged shuttle craft fixed, the escapees will allow him to tag along to Earth, but they have other plans, and given that they are convicted criminals, you can imagine they involve something less than of an altruistic nature. There's a certain pathos to Max, one of a being forced into existence, now trying to find his place in a society that sees him as less than what he is...

I have to say, this film pleasantly surprised me, as it was better than I thought. I really enjoyed the acting throughout, especially that of Opper. He presents a wonderfully naïve character, one with limited human contact, very awkward, but eager to learn and please. His efforts to develop human characteristics come out in interesting and quirky ways, much like that of a child trying to emulate what he observes through interaction with his elders. Oppers naturally buck teeth seemed in opposition to that of a created being, as such apparent physical aspects wouldn't seem to be something one would incorporate into a constructed being, but then that's just my own opinion. Opper does a great job making the audience believe he is what he's supposed to be, an awkward, clumsy, sometimes shy artificial man. Kinski's role seemed less than I thought it would be, as his character seemed secondary to the rest, especially since he seems to be used a lot in the promotion of the film. He is the biggest name in the production, so obviously the makers of the film wanted to capitalize on that, even though his part was somewhat small. I will say he seemed awfully creepy (some would say eccentric, but to me, I would call it creepy perverted), especially when working with his new female construct ("She vill be Ad perfect voman!") and his voyeuristic tendencies, but then just about any film I've seen him in, he seems to exude a sort of European creep/sleaze factor, one akin to a Jess Franco film…maybe it's those bug eyes and his lack of blinking. At first his character seemed to pursue his work with purely scientific goals in mind, but then that changed later on, becoming a bit freaky. The sets are decent, for the time, and look like sets and props used in the television show Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century (1979), starring Gil Gerald. The film had an early 80's feel, the sets, the music, etc., with a late 70's sensibility, the sexual aspects, the brief nudity, etc. I liked the little bits of humor, along with a smattering of originality, as it seemed to 'humanize' the film, stretching it beyond just a standard science fiction type thriller to something more. Does it work? For the most part…it's an odd, multi-faceted story, simple, yet complex within the characters and their motivations. And in the middle of it all is Max, with the pure and simple desire to exist and become much more than human.

Cookieman108

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