Ever since Harry Houdini's 1919 movie The Master Mystery, robot stories have run the
entire spectrum of human emotion. We should note that for the purposes of this list, “Robots”
can include anything from Mech suits to cyborgs-- and the spare parts in between. Change your
batteries and bring yourself back online because these are the best robot movies of all time.
Set in the 29th century, WALL-E finds a world that's been devastated by human carelessness
and global warming. As a result, people now live on distant spaceships waiting for the
Earth to heal. The humans on these massive starliners continue to be lazy and destructive,
relying on machines to carry them around.
WALL-E is one of the last cleanup robots left on Earth. He has a simple and joyful life,
collecting random objects and drifting through the desolation until he meets EVE, a robot
sent to identify signs of life.
"Eve."
WALL-E and EVE's relationship is tender and sweet. They fall in love and eventually find
evidence that humans can finally return to rebuild Earth. Amazingly, many of the robots
in WALL-E, including EVE, display far more empathy, compassion, and humanity than most
of the humans in the film.
James Cameron's The Terminator was a groundbreaking robot movie when it came out in 1984, but
his own sequel in 1991 blew the original out of the water.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day featured both a revamped version of the original robot played
by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the T-1000, who remains one of the most amazing robot creations
ever put to screen. This shape-shifting robot, played by Robert Patrick, has a base form
of liquid metal, which is thrilling to watch in action.
The practical and digital effects in Terminator 2: Judgement Day are even better now thanks
to HDTVs, and the battles between the two robots are just as epic. It's rare when a
sequel surpasses the original, but Terminator 2 easily outperforms the first film.
Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien introduced audiences to extraterrestrial beasts
with acid for blood and creepy facehugging creatures that impregnate humans through their
mouths. But Alien also featured the horrifying revelation that Ash, the chief science officer
aboard the Nostromo, is actually a robot. And worse, he's been given the order to bring
back the Xenomorph creature intact ... and the crew is totally expendable.
When our hero, Ripley, finds out about Ash, the robot tries to attack her but suffers
an android meltdown and loses his head. Ash represents the worst of robot nature, where
his core code forces him into terrible acts of violence.
In Alex Garland's disturbing Ex Machina, we meet Caleb, a programmer who has won a vacation
to the remote estate of Nathan Bateman, his company's CEO. More importantly, he's won
the unique opportunity to see what new projects Nathan is developing before anyone else does.
Nathan introduces Caleb to a robot he designed named Ava, hoping she shows signs of consciousness
through their interactions.
Although Ava resembles a machine in every way other than her face, feet, and hands,
her personality is so charming that Caleb finds himself falling in love. As Caleb loses
trust in the brash and erratic Nathan, we learn that Ava has plans of her own. Plans
that exclude both men.
The special effects in Ex Machina are spectacular and the performances are remarkable. Even
though the plot focuses on common artificial intelligence themes, Ex Machina is a compelling
addition to the AI canon.
Paul Verhoeven's dystopian 1987 action thriller RoboCop is set in a future Detroit on the
verge of total collapse. After a shootout leaves Officer Alex Murphy dead, his body
is taken into a pilot program designed to place cyborg officers in dangerous parts of
the city. The longer Alex is RoboCop, however, the more he is haunted by memories of his
former life and his brutal demise. When RoboCop realizes that his own boss was responsible
for Alex's fall, he goes on a wild rampage for justice.
In the film, we see the tension between his human soul and his robot body. By the end,
our hero must find new ways to integrate both halves of himself. Ultimately, the film suggests
that human and machine can coexist in one body.
Based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott's 1982 cyberpunk masterpiece, Blade
Runner, is a narrative feast. Featuring sweeping scenes of an imaginary 2019, the film introduces
us to a group of human-like robots known as Replicants. These robots are essentially slaves
that were designed to work for humans. What's even worse is that they only live for four
years. With such a short shelf life, a group of Replicants decides to do something about
it.
Harrison Ford plays Decker, a human cop who sets out to destroy the escaped Replicants.
Along the way, he begins to see how human these beings really are, and depending on
which version of Blade Runner you've seen, his own reality comes into question. The robots
in Blade Runner are indistinguishable from humans, unlike many other robot stories where
the inhumanity and physical differences are highlighted. Plus, the moving "tears in rain"
speech at the film's end elevates Blade Runner to one of the greatest films of all time.
"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
Thomas Anderson is a low-level information tech clerk who enjoys occasionally going down
the rabbit hole as a hacker called Neo. When a radical named Trinity informs him that the
infamous Morpheus can tell him everything he wants to know about "the Matrix," Neo jumps
at the opportunity. But not before the evil Agent Smith attempts to silence Neo and keep
him from his destiny.
The Matrix features some of the more monstrous robots in sci-fi history. These beings appear
as jellyfish-like creatures with many eyes and tentacles, which is about as far from
human as a robot can look. They harvest humans as a renewable energy source, and to keep
them from fighting back, the robots created an elaborate computer program that convinces
people they're actually in the real world.
With its high concept and unique portrayal of robotic beasts The Matrix stands out as
one of the best robot movies.
Steven Spielberg's robot opus A.I. Artificial Intelligence is set in the 22nd century, where
a devastated world is marked by extreme economic inequality. Robots known as Mecha were created
to serve all functions, and even show up as surrogate children for those who can't have
kids of their own.
David is one such childbot gifted to Monica Swinton after her terminally ill son was forced
into hibernation until a cure is available. David knows he's a robot, but once he imprints
on Monica as her son, he becomes completely attached to his new "mom." After Monica's
real son wakes from his slumber and returns home, David is flung into the wild world outside
the Swinton home. A world where Mecha are hunted, tortured, and destroyed. In a beautiful
narrative that borrows from Pinocchio, David searches for the Blue Fairy so he can become
a real boy.
A.I. is a heartbreaking commentary on what it means to be human, as told through the
eyes of a robot child.
Horror master Guillermo del Toro took a huge leap from his usual fare with the epic robot
battle extravaganza Pacific Rim. In the film, a deep underwater rift opens up on Earth,
releasing a set of monsters known as the Kaiju who terrorize the planet. In retaliation,
humans create equally monstrous robots manned by pilots sent to combat the growing Kaiju
threat.
Where Pacific Rim differs from other mecha-movies is that the robots are controlled by humans,
as opposed to having their own consciousness. The robots in Pacific Rim are simply human
weapons. The real tension arises when pilots Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori face their own
traumatic histories to properly overcome the Kaiju threat.
The special effects are wild and the action never stops. With a story driven by emotional
conflict, Pacific Rim is easily one of the best robot movies of all time.
Based on Ira Levin's novel of the same name, The Stepford Wives remains one of the most
chilling robot movies of all time. The movie follows would-be Manhattan photographer Joanna
Eberhart and her husband, Walter, after they move to a small Connecticut town called Stepford.
Joanna feels stifled by the community even though it's beautiful. She finds the other
women in town horribly boring, and is deeply disturbed by the local Men's Association,
headed by its creepy president, Dale Coba.
Thankfully, Joanna meets Bobbie, a vocal feminist who would also love to dismantle the strange
patriarchy surrounding them. That is, until one day Bobbie starts acting just like all
the other Stepford wives. From there, Joanna discovers that the men in town have been replacing
the women with robots, offering commentary on gender, marriage, and social control. Considering
its 1975 release, this film has aged remarkably well.
Batteries Not Included is a unique robot movie that features an elderly couple at its center.
When a greedy Manhattan property developer named Lacey tries to take over a rent-controlled
apartment building managed by Frank and Faye Riley, the Rileys and their tenants resist
for as long as they can. One night, after Lacey's goons damage the building, a flying
robot creature known as a "Fix-It" appears. The Fix-Its repair all the damage, as well
as other structural problems in the building.
In a fascinating turn for a robot movie, Mama and Papa Fix-It actually have a set of babies,
and by the end of the film, there's a rather large community of Fix-It robots residing
in New York.
Set in 2020 where robot fighting has replaced boxing, Charlie Kenton is a former prizefighter
whose pivot to robot boxing has been rocky. With his brash personality, Charlie finds
himself deeper in debt and without a robot to bet on. Well, that is until he finds out
his ex-girlfriend passed, and his son, Max, is now involved in a custody dispute between
his Aunt Debra and her wealthy husband, Marvin.
Seeing an opportunity, Charlie extorts Marvin for $50,000 so he can buy a classic boxing
robot. He also gets stuck with Max for the summer, who is cut from much of the same cloth
as his estranged father. Max is into robot boxing as well and turns out to be a huge
help to Charlie, especially after discovering a junkyard robot named Atom.
The movie features incredible fight scenes with an army of actual boxing robots created
using the same technology that brought Jurassic Park and Avatar to life. There are also absolutely
charming moments where Max and Atom dance together. Real Steel is not only one of the
best robot movies of all time, but it also comes wrapped in a heartwarming story about
the intense bond between a father and his son.
Set in 1957 during the height of American tensions with Russia, The Iron Giant starts
with a mysterious object crashing into the water near the small and quaint town of Rockwell,
Maine. The next day, a young local named Hogarth discovers that the object is in fact an enormous
extraterrestrial robot who is both friendly and curious about the planet upon which he
landed. Due to the political tensions of the Cold War era, a xenophobic US agent is convinced
that something far more sinister is taking place in Rockwell than a robot who's ended
up on the wrong planet.
Over the course of the film, Hogarth and the Giant's friendship grows stronger, but their
relationship is eventually challenged by the American government. The Giant has an opportunity
to prove he was never a threat to humans and that people are, in fact, their own worst
enemies. With lush colors and a powerful story that ends on a hopeful note, The Iron Giant
is one of the most beautiful robot tales ever told.
Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece Metropolis has long been celebrated by film scholars and
fans alike. Its story was far ahead of its time and featured a female robot who's made
to look like a human anti-capitalist organizer in a plot by the ruling class, who then ruined
her reputation to maintain the status quo. It's complicated.
Yes, Metropolis might require more suspension of disbelief than other robot films on this
list, but the fact that this movie was made in 1927 is pretty impressive. Plus, it not
only features technology that simply didn't exist at the time, but it also has a very
obvious anti-capitalist message that remains wildly relevant today.
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