Robots (1988) (V)

User Rating:

9.9/10   

Directors:

Doug Smith
Kim Takal

Writers:

Isaac Asimov (novels)
Peter Olatka (writer)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Full Motion Video | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Valarie Pettiford	...	Newscaster
Stephen Rowe	...	Elijah Baley
Richard Levine	...	R. Sammy
Larry Block	...	Julius Enderby
Brent Barrett	...	R. Daneel Olivaw
John Henry Cox	...	Han Fastolfe / R. Han
Eric Tull	...	R. Giskard / R. Borgraf
George Merritt	...	Amadiro, Kelden
Darrie Lawrence	...	Sophia Quintana
Debra Jo Rupp	...	R. Jane
Eleni Kelakos	...	Vasilia Fastolfe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alvin Alexis	...	Police Officer
Stephanie Butler	...	Police Officer
Óscar Castillo	...	Police Officer
Linda Froehlich	...	Police Officer
Linda Murrell	...	Police Officer

Runtime:

45 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Eastman Kodak Company

Not bad at all for a video party game

I found this video tape at a flea market sale, and bought it because I was always an Isaac Asimov fan. I figured it would be a bit of disposable fluff, a collector's item, but it was much better than I expected.

It's produced in the form of a party game, where the players pause the tape at critical junctures in the plot and make choices based on a predetermined "outcome" chosen by random draw at the start of the game. Essentially, it's a video version of a "Clue" game, but based on Asimov's Elijah Bailey "plainclothesman" detective character from his series of "I, Robot" stories.

The story is based on Asimov's first Bailey novel, "Caves of Steel", and surprisingly adheres to the plot line of the book faithfully -- except that where Asimov created ambiguity in the motives and opportunities of the suspect characters to be guilty of the crime of murder (like any good detective novel should) but leads to only one perpetrator in the end, the game allows any of the prime suspects to be the guilty one, depending on the draw at the start of the play.

The acting is surprisingly good, the production values are high considering the budget was probably pretty limited (it even looks like it was shot on film, not video), and it's a hell of a lot more faithful to Asimov's vision than the recent "I, Robot" blockbuster starring Will Smith (which bore little resemblance to anything Asimov ever wrote.) The Bailey novels were always not only good science fiction, but good detective stories as well. Like the previous reviewer here, I wish that the "I, Robot" film had been more like this video game than what it turned out to be.

I'd say keep an eye out for Debra Jo Rupp, who starred as Kitty Foreman in the series "That 70s Show", but you won't recognize her under the clunky robot costume she's wearing (although if you know her voice, you can tell it's her.)