Otherwise, I don't think the sky is falling. I, Robot opens next week and it doesn't seemed to bear any relationship to any Asimov or the Ellison screenplay.

LinnTate wrote:

"I don't know what to make of I, Robot. If memory serves, the film is based more on the Elijah Bailey/R. Daneel Olivaw stories, but the producers felt I, Robot was a more familiar and marketable title.

"In addition to The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun, Asimov returned to Elijah Bailey and R. Daneell Olivaw in 1983 with The Robots of Dawn. Asimov also continues R. Daneel Olivaw's story without Elijah Bailey."

You're right in your spoiler, LinnTate, the Elijah Bailey and R. Daneell Olivaw novels were Asimov's most explicit attempt to bring together the universe of his 3 Laws of Robotics and the Foundation. I think when I was a kid I thought that was neat. In retrospect I wish he'd left it alone. How exciting is it to have Alien meet Predator?

Unfortunately, I gave up on Asimov after The Gods Themselve, when he became afflicted with the same malady that got the later Heinlein and Varley, whole novels where people gabbed incessently to little point.

To paraphrase Professor Frink from an episode of The Simpsons this season, so many novels, so few good.

Asimov deserves all the accolades he is accorded as an editor, a champion of the genre, and yes, as an author. He could not, however, leave well enough alone. Foundation as a trilogy? Great. The Caves of Steel? I honestly think it's his single finest novel. The Naked Sun and all of the robot novels to follow. No thanks.

The incessant dialogue might not be such a problem were it not for the fact that it was often such bad dialogue. Asimov wrote quintessential "literature of ideas" at the expense of character development and style.

Wow. That's harsh. I should stop now because I am being far too critical of a man that I do believe deserves every bit of esteem in which he is held.

But, really. What was he thinking sometimes?

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I liked The Naked Sun; it was pleasantly heady. The Robots of Dawn was too long and Robots and Empire (or was it called Robots and Earth?) was a disaster.

One thing to note is that Bailey & Olivaw's adventures wouldn't be included in I, Robot even if it weren't the Will Smith title-stealing offensive pillage that it is (the trailer makes me want to vomit). Remember that I, Robot the book was just a collection of short stories.

...Did part of this post disappear? I see references to an earlier discussion but no such earlier discussion.

Not to make all of our heads spin any further, V., but the film I, Robot borrows the robot-hating cop borrowed from the Elijah Bailey/R. Daneel Olivaw novels, but names him Del Spooner, while simultaneously presenting us with a character named Dr. Susan Calvin.

Oh, and wong828 cut and pasted (wisely, I think) the initial post in this thread from where it was buried in another dicussion. You'll find that dicussion here.

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quote:

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Originally posted by LinnTate:
Not to make all of our heads spin any further, V., but the film _I, Robot_ borrows the robot-hating cop borrowed from the Elijah Bailey/R. Daneel Olivaw novels, but names him Del Spooner

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I see no resemblance.

As for the title, it's one of my favourites, and I would love for it to be attached to a better movie.

NPR's Weekend Edition did a pretty solid feature Sunday regarding the new film and spent a fair amount of time talking to Harlan Ellison.

The Web site includes links to the feature that weren't broadcast including one of Ellison's trademark rants regarding what's wrong with the film industry and how much smarter he is than pretty much everybody else in the world.

God love 'im.

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I, Robot was bad. It had tons of plot holes that just can't be overlooked. I read the Asimov books a long time ago when I didn't notice things like character development so I thought the books were good. It's not a good sign for a movie when you can hear people whispering about the plot holes as they happen. For example, why did Dr. Lanning's house need to be demolished (with his cat still inside)? The car wreck scene was over the top. Wouldn't all those robots be reported as missing/destroyed by the company? The movie didn't work on so many levels.

I watched "I, Robot" last week and didn't have so many problems with it. I haven't read the stories at all. Will Smith's character, as well as several others, were annoying at the beginning, but I got used to them, especially when their motivations were revealed.

As far as the house demolition and car wreck scenes go, except for the fact that we don't see any other cars in the tunnel, they can both be explained once the ultimate mystery is solved at the end (and that could also explain why it may have been "arranged" for the tunnel to be empty.) The only thing I didn't get was where they all ended up after the tunnel scene (the end of the line?!?)

Anyhow, I found that the film discussed some legit concerns in the context of a special-effected-up summer blockbuster. Director Alex Proyas might not have been working in the headtrip zone of "Dark City", but I found it plenty entertaining and a good mystery. Like I said, I don't read much sci-fi, so you reading faithful might solve the mystery real early. I accepted it as a sorta cross between "Minority Report" and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" with a pinch of "2001" thrown in. Oh, and Sonny is the most-believable CGI character this side of Gollum.

i read asimov about 100 years ago, it seems, but don't really remember much of it.

that said, i just watched I, Robot this weekend (i don't get out much) and enjoyed the movie very much.

probably, i guess, because when i see a sci-fi movie i don't expect it to be much more that a little plot and a whole lotta special effects.

i was pleasantly surprised by I, Robot in that it gave me much more plot than anticipated, a character (sonny) that evoked some sympathy from me, and some very good cgi, except that i kept thinking that the robot attacks looked creepily like a bunch of swarming cockroaches.

I think that the thing that annoyed me about "I, Robot" the most was the anti-artificial intelligence stand that it took, which has become so prevelant with "robot" movies, especially since the popularity of the "Terminator" franchise.

It seems that this genre has become a sly way of exploring racial issues, without offending any particular minorities.

Is this a form of moral cowardice on the part of film-makers, I wonder?

The television version of I, Robot was much more intimate and focused on one particular Robot's seeming violation of Robotic law, murder of a human. The television version was much more dramatic, stripped to the bare essence of a legal/moral/technological matter, one that most likely couldn't sustain a movie length screenplay.

I didn't like the movie version as well as the television version, that I believed became Twilight Zone episode and remade by Leonard Nimoy's son with the new Twilight Zone series. However, the movie version was more enjoyable and consistent than I had expected it to be.

I Hate I, Robot. God it was boring.

Why?