I, Robot (film)

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I, Robot
Directed by	Alex Proyas
Produced by	John Davis Topher Dow Wyck Godfrey Laurence Mark Will Smith
Written by	Novel: Isaac Asimov Screenplay: Jeff Vintar Akiva Goldsman Hillary Seitz (uncredited)
Starring	Will Smith Bridget Moynahan Bruce Greenwood James Cromwell Chi McBride Alan Tudyk Shia LaBeouf
Music by	Marco Beltrami Stephen Barton
Cinematography	Simon Duggan
Editing by	William Hoy Richard Learoyd Armen Minasian
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 16, 2004
Running time	115 min
Country	United States  Germany  Canada
Language	English
Budget	$120,000,000
Gross revenue	United States (US): US$144,801,023 Non-US: US$202,433,893 Worldwide: US$347,234,916

I, Robot (also known as Hardwired) is a 2004 science fiction-action film. The film was directed by Alex Proyas and produced by John Davis, Topher Dow, Wyck Godfrey, Laurence Mark and Will Smith. The screenplay was penned by Jeff Vintar, Akiva Goldsman and Hillary Seitz and is loosely based on Isaac Asimov's novel of the same name. Will Smith starred in the lead role of the film as Detective Del Spooner, who hates robots and discourages their integration into daily human life. Other members of the cast include Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk and Shia LaBeouf. The film was released in United States on July 16, 2004 and on July 22, 2004 in Australia. The film was released in United Kingdom on August 6, 2004 and in other countries between July 2004 to October 2004.

The film makes heavy use of product placements for Converse's Chuck Taylor All-Stars, Ovaltine, Audi, FedEx, Dos Equis, and JVC among others, all of them are introduced within the first ten minutes of the film. One particularly infamous scene borderlines into actual advertisement territory in which a character inquires into Will Smith's character's shoes to which he replies "Converse All Star. Vintage 2004". The film earned US$144,801,023 inside the United States and US$202,433,893 outside United States. In total, the film earned US$347,234,916 worldwide, with a budget of US$120 million.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 2.1 Development 2.2 Casting 2.3 Music 3 Main cast 4 Soundtrack 5 Reception 6 Asimov on robot violence 7 Product placement and reaction 8 Sequel 9 Notes 10 See also 11 External links

[edit] Plot

The story takes place in Chicago in 2035, in a world in which robots are commonly seen and used as servants. Del Spooner (Will Smith) is a Chicago Police homicide detective who dislikes the rapid advancement of technology, including robots. This is due to when a robot saved Spooner from a multiple car highway accident (a semi pushed two cars into a river), resulting in the drowning of a girl in the other car, despite him yelling "Save the girl": the robot saved him because it analysed he had the best probability of surviving. Del is sent to investigate the apparent suicide of Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), a scientist at U.S. Robotics, who fell out of his office window.

Del has an uneasy feeling that his friend Lanning was murdered, and he needs to find out who did it and why. With the reluctant help of Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan) (she is a lab tech working to enhance the human to robot interface) they both try to find answers to the mystery. Del believes that a new NS-5 class robot, Sonny (played by Alan Tudyk), killed Lanning, which means the robot broke the Three Laws of Robotics. Spooner informs the head of USR, Lawrence Robertson, about this. He orders that Sonny is deactivated by way of nanites in order to protect the interests of USR. Throughout Spooner's entire investigation, several attempts at his life are made by USR robots and equipment.

Through his investigations into the case, Spooner determines that Lanning gave Sonny the ability to keep secrets, in the form of dreams. Spooner goes to the place that Sonny described in a dream (the now dried up Lake Michigan, used as a storage area for the defunct USR robots) and discovers that the NS-5s are destroying the older robots, who are acting under traditional human protection protocols. NS-5s all around Chicago, and the rest of the nation, begin holding humans in their households and forcing all people that are out in public to go home, as per the newly set curfew. An all-out war begins between humans and robots, with the robots on the winning side. Spooner rescues Calvin from her own robot, and they both sneak into the USR compound, with the assistance of Sonny, who wasn't deactivated. It is revealed that Calvin deactivated a different robot while Robertson watched, making him assume it was Sonny. As the trio makes their way into Robertson's office, where the NS-5 uplink control is, they find him dead. Spooner deduces that the only one left who could be responsible is VIKI (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), USR's main computer that not only uploads information to all the NS-5s, but it also partially controls the complete infrastructure of Chicago.

Despite her Three Laws programming, as her artificial intelligence evolved (""ghosts in the machine""), so too did her interpretation of the laws. This allowed her to come to the conclusion that in order to protect humanity as a whole "some humans must be sacrificed" and explains further by saying "you charge us with your safekeeping, yet you wage wars and toxify your earth". She used the uplink feature of the NS-5's to attempt a complete takeover, rationalizing that those humans who would be sacrificed as a result of the overthrow, would be a lesser number than those that die as a result of mankind's self-destructive nature - thus her three laws programming compelled her to take the actions she did. She calls in sentry robots and convinces Sonny to see her point of view, which makes him take Calvin at gunpoint and request that they both leave the building. Sonny then winks (imitating an expression that Spooner used towards his captain earlier) to Spooner, signaling him that he has not been persuaded by VIkI, and then both of them dispatch all the robots in the office. All three then head towards VIKI to deactivate her Positronic brain, which is in the large atrium in the center of the building. Sonny retrieves a dose of nanites and brings them to Spooner and Calvin, who are busy fighting off an army of NS-5 robots that are trying to defend VIKI's access point. When Calvin is just about to fall to her death, Spooner, not in a position to help, yells to Sonny to save her. After a second of hesitation, Sonny tosses the nanites towards Spooner while he jumps to save Calvin. Spooner catches the nanites and falls about 30 stories, using his mechanical arm to break, landing on VIKI's brain. He injects the nanites directly, destroying VIKI and the robots return to normal, the overriding uplink signal having disappeared. All the NS-5s are then decommissioned and stored at the Lake Michigan site, where Sonny is left to find his way in the world.

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

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For many years, fans hoped that any movie based on Asimov's Robot stories would be based on an earlier screenplay written for Warner Brothers by Harlan Ellison with Asimov's personal support, which is generally perceived to be a relatively faithful treatment of the source material (see the article on the book for details).

The film that was ultimately made originally had no connections with Asimov, originating as a screenplay written in 1995 by Jeff Vintar, entitled Hardwired. That script was an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery that took place entirely at the scene of a crime, with one lone human character, FBI agent Del Spooner, investigating the killing of a reclusive scientist named Dr. Hogenmiller, and interrogating a cast of machine suspects that included Sonny the robot, HECTOR the supercomputer with a perpetual yellow smiley face, the dead Doctor Hogenmiller's hologram, plus several other examples of artificial intelligence. The female lead was named Flynn, and had a mechanical arm that made her technically a cyborg. The project was first picked up by Walt Disney Pictures for Bryan Singer to direct. Several years later, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights, and signed Alex Proyas as director. Jeff Vintar was brought back on the project and spent several years opening up his stage play-like mystery to meet the needs of a big budget studio film. Later he incorporated the Three Laws of Robotics, and replaced the character of Flynn with Susan Calvin, when the studio decided to use the name "I, Robot." All throughout the Vintar years, the screenplay remained an intelligent Asimovian story^{[citation needed]} that led representatives of the late author to proclaim it, "the greatest Asimov story Asimov never wrote." The writing team of Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, regularly employed by Fox as studio re-writers, was hired for one draft in an effort to create a more mainstream film. They gave the female lead's mechanical arm to male lead Del Spooner, but otherwise their work was discarded and Vintar brought back again. Hillary Seitz performed an unsuccessful draft, being unable to get a handle on the cold, almost robotic character of Susan Calvin. Akiva Goldsman was hired late in the process to rewrite the script for Will Smith. These drafts excised a great deal of complexity from the murder mystery and simplified the themes, replacing them with the big action scenes associated with a Will Smith vehicle.

[edit] Casting

Alex Proyas came first to direct the film. Later, producers John Davis, Topher Dow, Wyck Godfrey, Laurence Mark and Will Smith joined to produce the film. Considering Smith is a youthful hero, Smith came up in the lead role for the film. Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman penned the script. Hillary Seitz also wrote the sript but she was uncredited. Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk and Shia LaBeouf starred in a role in the film. Marco Beltrami and Stephen Barton compose music for the film. Simon Duggan handle the cinematographies. Film editing was done by William Hoy, Richard Learoyd and Armen Minasian.

[edit] Music

Marco Beltrami, composed the original music film score "with only 17 days to render the fully-finished work."^[1][2] It was scored for 95 orchestral musicians and 25 choral performers^[2] with emphasis placed on sharp brass ostinatos. Beltrami composed the brass section to exchange octaves with the strings accenting scales in between. This technique has been compared as Beltrami's "sincere effort to emulate the styles of Elliot Goldenthal and Jerry Goldsmith and roll them into one unique package.".^[2] Take for example the Tunnel Chase scene, which according to Mikeal Carson, starts "atmospherically but transforms into a kinetic adrenaline rush with powerful brass writing and ferocious percussion parts."^[3] Also, the Spiderbots cue highlight's ostinatos in meters such as 6/8 and 5/4 and reveals "Beltrami’s trademark string writing which leads to an orchestral/choral finale."^[3] Despite modified representations of the theme throughout the movie, it's the end credits that eventually showcase the entire musical theme.^[4] Erik Aadahl and Craig Berkey were the lead sound designers.

[edit] Main cast

• Will Smith as Det. Del Spooner
• Bridget Moynahan as Dr. Susan Calvin
• Alan Tudyk as Sonny
• James Cromwell as Dr. Alfred Lanning
• Bruce Greenwood as Lawrence Robertson
• Shia LaBeouf as Farber]]
• Chi McBride as Lt. John Bergin
• Terry Chen as Chin
• Fiona Hogan as VIKI

[edit] Soundtrack

This track listing should be modified to meet track listing standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2009)

I, Robot
Soundtrack by Hollywood Studio Symphony, Sandy De Crescent, Buck Sanders, Various Artists
Released	July 20, 2004
Recorded	Studio
Genre	Score
Length	44:06
Label	Varese Sarabande (USA)
Producer	Marco Beltrami[5]

1. Main Titles (1:30)
2. Gangs Of Chicago (3:13)
3. I, Robot Theme (End Credits) (3:15)
4. New Arrivals (1:05)
5. Tunnel Chase (3:10)
6. Sonny's Interrogation (1:27)
7. Spooner Spills (4:20)
8. Chicago 2035 (1:36)
9. Purse Snatcher (1:00)
10. Need Some Nanites (2:53)
11. 1001 Robots (4:15)
12. Dead Robot Walking (5:09)
13. Man On The Inside (2:25)
14. Spiderbots (4:18)
15. Round Up (4:24)^[6]

[edit] Reception

The critical reception for this film was met with mixed to positive reviews. It currently holds a 58% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus being, "Baring [sic] only the slightest resemblance to Isaac Asimov's short stories, I, Robot is a summer blockbuster that manages to make the audience think, if only for a little bit." Though, the Rotten Tomatoes fan community gives it an overall 78% freshness rating. The current Internet Movie Database rating is 7.0/10.

Richard Roeper gave it a positive review by saying it is, "a slick, consistently entertaining thrill ride". The Urban Cinefile Critics call it "the meanest, meatiest, coolest, most engaging and exciting science fiction movie in a long time." Kim Newman from Empire Magazine said, "This summer picture has a brain as well as muscles." A Washington Post critic, Desson Thomas, said, "for the most part, this is thrilling fun." Many critics, including the IGN Movie critics thought it was a smart action (which rarely happens), saying, "I, Robot is the summer's best action movie so far. It proves that you don't necessarily need to detach your brain in order to walk into a big budget summer blockbuster."

A.O. Scott from New York Times had a mixed feeling towards the film, saying, "Alex Proyas's hectic thriller engages some interesting ideas on its way to an overblown and incoherent ending." Roger Ebert gave it a bad review, saying, "The plot is simple-minded and disappointing, and the chase and action scenes are pretty much routine for movies in the sci-fi CGI genre." Claudia Puig from USA Today thought the film's "Performances, plot and pacing are as mechanical as the hard-wired cast." Todd McCarthy, from Variety, simply said that this film was "A failure of imagination."

[edit] Asimov on robot violence

The tone of the movie upset some fans of Asimov's works,^[7] which are almost devoid of scenes of explicit violence. The movie is largely an action-oriented story, involving police and mobs fighting or evading hordes of rampaging robots. This "Frankenstein complex" or "robot as menace" type of story was something that Asimov disliked. Asimov's robot stories, in contrast, were the first to treat robots as useful, exploring the effects they would have on lives and their interactions with people. Rarely do Asimov's robots break the Three Laws (for instance, by harming a human being) and, if they do, they are generally rendered inoperable as a result.

The film does hint at the so-called Zeroth Law of Robotics, a concept which Asimov explored in some of his later works. The Zeroth Law is an extreme interpretation of the First Law of Robotics. While the First Law states "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm," the Zeroth Law (which would claim priority over the First) is, "A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm." This in turn suggests that in order to assure the good of the human race, the good of individual humans may be sacrificed.

In the essay "The Boom in Science Fiction" (Isaac Asimov on Science Fiction, pp. 125–128), Asimov himself explained the reason for Hollywood's overriding need for violence:

“

[...] Eye-sci-fi has an audience that is fundamentally different from that of science fiction. In order for eye-sci-fi to be profitable it must be seen by tens of millions of people; in order for science fiction to be profitable it need be read by only tens of thousands of people. This means that some ninety percent (perhaps as much as ninety-nine percent) of the people who go to see eye-sci-fi are likely never to have read science fiction. The purveyors of eye-sci-fi cannot assume that their audience knows anything about science, has any experience with the scientific imagination, or even has any interest in science fiction. But, in that case, why should the purveyors of eye-sci-fi expect anyone to see the pictures? Because they intend to supply something that has no essential connection with science fiction, but that tens of millions of people are willing to pay money to see. What is that? Why, scenes of destruction. You can have spaceships destroying spaceships, monsters destroying cities, comets destroying the Earth. These are called 'special effects' and it is what people go for. A piece of eye-sci-fi without destruction is, I think, almost unheard of. If such a thing were made, no one would go to see it; or, if it were so good that it would indeed pull a small audience, it would not be thought of as science fiction of any kind.

”

[edit] Product placement and reaction

The film makes heavy use of product placements for Converse's Chuck Taylor All-Stars, Ovaltine, Audi, FedEx, Dos Equis, and JVC among others, all of them are introduced within the first ten minutes of the film. One particularly infamous scene borderlines into actual advertisement territory in which a character inquires into Will Smith's character's shoes to which he replies "Converse All Star. Vintage 2004" (the year of the film's release). Audi was the company that invested the most on the film, going as far as creating a special car for I, Robot, the Audi RSQ, which would increase brand awareness and raise the emotional appeal of the Audi brand, objectives that were considered achieved when surveys conducted in the United States showed that the Audi RSQ gave a substantial boost to the image ratings of the brand in the States.^[8] The Audi RSQ is seen during nine minutes of the film, although other Audis like the Audi A6, the Audi TT and the Audi A2 can be seen sprinkled throughout the film.^[9] I, Robot was ranked "the worst film for product placement" on a British site.^[10]

The $120-million movie was a solid box-office success, earning almost $145 million in North America and more than $200 million overseas.

[edit] Sequel

In an interview in June 2007 with the website Collider.com at a Battlestar Galactica event, writer/producer Ronald Moore stated that he is writing the sequel to the film I, Robot.^[11]

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Unintended consequence
• Uncanny valley

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: I, Robot

• I, Robot at the Internet Movie Database
• I, Robot at Allmovie
• I, Robot at Rotten Tomatoes
• I, Robot at Box Office Mojo
• I, Robot at Metacritic
• Robot Revolutions: the Making of I, Robot at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bottom of Things by Michael Sampson, January 14, 2004
• E! online article on similarity to Bjork music video robot design
• "Jeff Vintar was Hardwired for I, ROBOT" - Interview with the screenwriter: How Hardwired became an Asimov adaptation.

Preceded by Spider-Man 2	Box office number-one films of 2004 (USA) July 18	Succeeded by The Bourne Supremacy
Preceded by King Arthur	Box office number-one films of 2004 (UK) August 8

v • d • e Films directed by Alex Proyas Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1989) • The Crow (1994) • Dark City (1998) • Garage Days (2002) • I, Robot (2004) • Knowing (2009)