Short Circuit 2 (1988)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Kenneth Johnson

Writers:

Brent Maddock (writer)
S.S. Wilson (writer)

Release Date:

6 July 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Some say he's nuts. Some say he's bolts. But can Number Five make it in the big, bad city? Keep your wires crossed.

Plot:

Robot Johnny Five comes to the city and gets manipulated by criminals who want him for their own purposes.

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Street Vendor | Street Gang | Reverse Footage | Model Airplane

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Tim Blaney	...	Johnny Five (voice)
Fisher Stevens	...	Ben Jahrvi
Michael McKean	...	Fred Ritter
Cynthia Gibb	...	Sandy Banatoni
Jack Weston	...	Oscar Baldwin
Dee McCafferty	...	Saunders
David Hemblen	...	Jones
Don Lake	...	Manic Mike
Damon D'Oliveira	...	Bones
Tito Núñez	...	Zorro (as Tito Nuñez)
Jason Kuriloff	...	Lil Man
Robert LaSardo	...	Spooky
Lili Francks	...	Officer Mendez
Wayne Best	...	Officer O'Malley
Gerard Parkes	...	Priest (as Gerry Parkes)

Also Known As:

Short Circuit 2: More Input (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Eaton Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

David Foster Productions

Trivia:

The character of Stephanie Speck from the first movie, played by Ally Sheedy, has a short audio role but on a cassette tape, and she makes a quick reference to Newton Crosby. Another heavy reference is made about Ben Jahrvi and Newton's working relationship and background during Fred Ritter's attempted sale of Johnny 5 to a corporation.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The movie is supposed to be set in a metropolitan American city, but the plates on the cars shown in the film are Ontario plates.

Quotes:

Johnny Five: [assembling Mini-#5] It's me! Isn't that SPECIAL?

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Muppet Babies: ...At the Movies (#7.14)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

Tutti Frutti

Even better than the original, a magical film

Number Five is back! This time he goes to New York City to help his co-creator Ben Jahrvi (Fisher Stevens) making toys-tiny robots that look just like Five. And he has named himself "Johnny Five"! Can you imagine what will happen when Johnny realizes that he's in a big city (No one has told that to him...he was put in a box to be transferred from Montana to where Ben is located...because they know how curious and crazy for input he is) and then goes out exploring just about everywhere?

Johnny talks a lot more like a human than he used to, but people still treat him like a ridiculous-looking machine, they don't know he is alive, and they are not willing to believe it. As Johnny Five helps Ben and his partner Fred Ritter (Michael McKean), we can see Johnny is very intelligent, cheerful, full of life and loves to help. And then, Oscar Baldwin (Jack Weston), a man who's about to steal some really valuable jewelry, notices Johnny's being naive, enthusiastic about helping people and his abilities. He and two other thieves proceed to cheat and use Johnny Five. But Johnny will go chasing them soon after he's aware of what has happened. The movie is dramatic, breath-taking, dynamic and heart-warming.

Interestingly, the endings of the original and of the sequel are quite opposite in some way, but they are both happy ones. Tim Blaney, as the voice of Johnny Five, successfully brought the character to life. Michael McKean as Fred, a smart, a little bit greedy salesman, who basically is not a bad guy. He played so beautifully that he made Fred become a very charming guy!

I want to thank the creators, the entire cast and the crew for this extraordinary work. Also, the soundtrack is great. Johnny Five is so charismatic, When you watch this film you will fall in love with this remarkable life form immediately!