I like the blue/blue+white colour scheme. It’s easy on the eyes and makes a refreshing change from the oldchool red logo, and shows that this represents a new era in the franchise. Even though there are too many blue and orange movies out there right now and the trailer is filled with them.
The CGI is not particularly impressive but it’s still in early development so I’ll withhold judgement for now.
The advanced tech being used for tourist transportation is pretty cool. I can’t wait till everything goes to hell and this stuff malfunctions.
Are those trained raptors at the end?
This hybrid dinosaur sounds quite cool. People are speculating that this means the series is going off the rails into new territory but I reckon it’ll still be dinosaury enough for most fans, and I doubt it’ll be a human/dino hybrid that some of the early scripts hinted at.
Finally, more dinosaurs on the big screen again. Why aren’t there more movies like this?
Maybe you’re an android right now and you don’t know it. After all, creating realistic recreations of ourselves is something that human beings have been fascinated with since the dawn of our species. One day soon, we will undoubtedly achieve truly lifelike robots indistinguishable from regular humans. Until then, all we have is speculative stories.
This list is for my top 10 favourite androids in film and TV. I’m keeping the criteria specifically to androids that have an almost total human appearance. Future lists of top 10 Robots and A.I programs are incoming.
Maria (Brigitte Helm) – Metropolis.
One of the first artificial humans on screen is the evil Maria from Fritz Langs Metropolis. Made way back in 1927, this silent film was light years ahead of its time in both special effects terms and sci-fi themes. Definitely worth a watch if you can get hold of it.
Andrew Martin (Robin Williams) – Bicentennial Man.
I always liked this film ever since I saw it as a kid, and it was one of my first introductions to robot-android themes that have fascinated me ever since. In the wake of Robin Williams’ death, a lot of people are revisiting his filmography, but this film is still underrated and features one of his least over the top, more subtle performances as an android that wants to become human. It’s also noteworthy for being a sci-fi film with no action or violence, which probably didn’t do it any favours at the box office but definitely helps it stand out against less poignant, more crowd pleasing techno thrillers of the late 90s and early 2000s.
David (Haley Joel Osment) – A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
An often underrated and unfairly dismissed Spielberg-Kubrick collaboration that doesn’t really get the respect it deserves, this early 2000s Sci-Fi film features the only child actor on this list as a little boy android who fulfils the role of a surrogate child for wealthy parents who wish to have a son. Haley Joel Osment is brilliant, and totally convincing as a programmed robot with a humanoid appearance, and gives the best performance in the film. At first, he is quite creepy, but definitely earns the audience’s sympathy when he is cast out into the big bad world and must fend for himself.
Ash (Ian Holm) – Alien.
One of my favourite actors, Ian Holm gets perhaps the best “surprise, he was a robot all along!” moment in cinema, in a movie that already had audiences on the edge of their seats. The alien may be the star of the show, but Ash is a great villain and helps add to the films already deep gender themes. The more you watch, the creepier the character becomes. The fact that you know the reveal is coming only adds more subtlety to a great performance.
The Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) – Westworld.
A somewhat underrated cult classic, Westworld was a prototype film for all sorts of science fiction tropes that didn’t yet exist. One of the films many pioneering concepts was its android villain, known as the gunslinger: a creepy, emotionless cowboy with a deadpan stare and slow, plodding walk. Made just over a decade before Arnold’s defining role as the Terminator, Yul Brynner is one of the most convincingly eerie and emotionless androids ever captured on film. A really good performance with minimal emoting in a film that was ahead of its time.
David (Michael Fassbender) – Prometheus.
By far and away the best android in recent memory, Michael Fassbender is on top of his game as the android aboard the titular ship Prometheus. Once again, Ridley Scott’s film may be all about alien life on the surface, but the really compelling alien life is the life which we created ourselves. Pretty much stole the show and one of the best things about a film that disappointed many fans.
The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – The Terminator.
No list of androids would be complete without Arnold’s breakout role. Arnold plays the titular killer android with a brilliant robotic stoicism and unrelenting force as he pursues Sarah Connor with the single-mindedness of a programmed executioner. This is the trope codifier.
Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) – Blade Runner.
Definitely one of the deepest portrayals of an artificial human on the list, Roy Batty is phenomenally acted by Rutger Hauer and remains one of the best sci-fi characters in all of film. Roy never asked to be created, but now that he has essentially gone past his use by date, it’s “time to die” and he is condemned to be “retired”. Having gone AWOL, he and the other replicants spend the film searching for their creators in an attempt to prolong their lives. Despite being a villain, his only motivation is basically to survive.
Data (Brent Spiner) – Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent films.
Easily the most likeable android on the list, we get to know Data very well by the end of the 7 seasons and 4 films he appears in. Sometimes he is a bit wacky and is used for comic effect, but quite a few episodes give him great depth and nuance. I’d put him on my starship crew any day. Always played wonderfully by Brent Spiner.
And now for a potentially controversial choice for my favourite android in film and TV…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) – Blade Runner.
Deal with it.
Runners Up:
Bishop (Lance Henriksen) – Aliens.
Another android from the Alien franchise. Bishop doesn’t have much personality but is well portrayed by Lance Henriksen – and who could forget that wicked knife trick?
Chitti (Rajnikanth) – Enthiran.
This batshit crazy Indian film has to be seen to be believed. Claimed by many to be India’s most expensive film at the time of release, this move features hilarious over the top action scenes as well as romance and typical sci-fi themes of what it means to be human. Rajnikanth gives two radically different performances as Dr. Vaseekaran and his android creation Chitti. Tensions rise when they both fall for the same girl. Crazy over the top action and a great performance make this arguably the funniest android on the list.
Pris, Rachel, Leon, Zhora (Daryl Hannah, Mary Sean Young, Brion James, Joanna Cassidy) – Blade Runner.
Of course I had to include the other replicants from Blade Runner. Whilst Roy Batty may be at the heart and soul of the film, the others all leave lasting impressions.
Gigolo Joe – A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
It would feel wrong not to mention the other great android from A.I. Also one of my favourite Jude Law performances.
Badd Motivator 