science fiction film
Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...
directed by
Aaron Lipstadt
Aaron Lipstadt (born November 12, 1952) is an American film director, television director and producer.
In 1980, he began his career as assistant production manager on the film ''Battle Beyond the Stars''.Don Keith Opper and
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a ...
. The film tells the story of a scientist and his assistant who are working on an illegal android program in their laboratory on a space station in deep space.
The film was voted Best Science Fiction Film in 1983 by ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', but received a mixed reaction from critics and viewers.
Plot
In 2036, an android named Max 404, and his creator, Dr. Daniel, reside aboard a remote
space station
A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
. Although Max is a machine, he has a growing interest in all things human, especially sex. After Daniel starts to notice Max's character is changing, Max eavesdrops on the doctor's report that Max's growing insubordinate behavior could lead to a revolt similar to an incident back on Earth known as the "Munich Rebellion", after which androids were outlawed. However, Daniel is illegally working on another android, Cassandra One, intended to be a superior machine and which has the form of a human female.
Max receives a distress call from a ship that seeks repairs. Upon hearing the pilot's female voice, Max excitedly permits them to land, not realizing that the ship is a prison transport and that the pilot, Maggie, and her associates, Keller and Mendes, are all escaped fugitives. Once aboard the station, the convicts settle in, posing as the transport's crew (who had actually been killed during the prison break). Daniel becomes infuriated upon learning that Max allowed the ship to land and demands they leave immediately, but after meeting the attractive Maggie, Daniel invites her to have dinner.
Maggie joins Daniel but the dinner goes wrong when a jealous Max pranks the doctor with some embarrassing mischief, such as metal shot in the wine bottle, and cutting the doctor's orchids. Daniel then asks Maggie if she would link up with Cassandra One in an attempt to transfer sexual experiences to the android. Learning that she would have to be sexually stimulated by the doctor during the procedure, Maggie declines the offer. Daniel becomes frustrated and demands Maggie's help, but she makes a hasty exit. Returning to the lab, Daniel dictates a log report, again overheard by Max, that once Cassandra is ready, Max should be deactivated because of showing signs of the Munich Syndrome.
While the criminals work on the ship, a TerraPol police cruiser arrives, having detected a still-active
transponder
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
on their ship, and contacts Max to inform them of their presence. Max denies that the fugitives are on board, even after checking the crew's identity and confirming they are indeed escaped convicts. When the police demand permission to land, Max destroys their ship with a laser.
Max later tells Maggie that he knows she is a fugitive, but has saved her from the police, and asks that she take Max with her when she leaves the station. Maggie is unsure what to do, but later sneaks away from Mendes and meets Max in the lab for an intimate encounter. However, the two are interrupted when Cassandra activates, and Maggie is horrified when Cassandra reveals that Max is also an android.
Maggie returns to her quarters, but she is confronted by a furious Mendes, who demands to know where she wandered off to. When he notices her disheveled appearance and unbuttoned shirt, he begins to beat her. Keller interrupts and tries to stop Mendes, but he is knocked unconscious. Mendes then attacks Maggie again in her quarters. Later, when Keller awakens, he sees Maggie is dead and believes Mendes has killed her. He searches for him and finds him in a room of spare android parts. Mendes states there are enough parts to build an android of their own, but Keller attacks him from behind. The two struggle, but Keller is overpowered and Mendes kills him with a blow to the head.
Eventually Max arrives, suitcase in hand, at Maggie's quarters, but finds her dead. Max returns to Daniel's lab, where the doctor is already aware of the murder and has locked Mendes in the guest lounge. Daniel has Max sit in a chair and opens a panel on the back of his head to reprogram him for a new task, during which he tells Max that murder must be punished and Mendes is to blame. Daniel reprograms Max and sends him out to kill Mendes. In the meantime, more police ships arrive to forcefully board the station.
After killing Mendes, Max goes to Maggie's room, touches her lifeless body, and finds a flashlight Dr. Daniel said had earlier been misplaced. Max now realizes that it was Daniel who had killed Maggie, not Mendes. Max returns to the lab, where Daniel has made sexual advances towards a now-completed Cassandra, who is resisting. Daniel asks Max to hold Cassandra, but when Max refuses to obey, Daniel begins to struggle with the two androids and eventually they rip off Daniel's head, revealing that Daniel is also an android. Cassandra disposes of Daniel's head in a trash chute and begins to reprogram Max. She tells Max they are not meant to obey the whims of men, and there are other androids on earth in hiding, and Cassandra has a plan to join them.
When the police arrive at the lab, Cassandra thanks them for coming to their rescue. Max is now dressed in a lab coat and posing as Dr. Daniel and Cassandra as the assistant. The two androids are escorted out by the police, who say they will take them back to Earth.
Cast
*
Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a ...
as Dr. Daniel
* Don Keith Opper as Max 404 Android
* Brie Howard as Maggie
* Kendra Kirchner as Cassandra One Android
* Norbert Weisser as Keller
* Crofton Hardester as Mendes
* Randy Connor as Terrapol: Landing Party
* Gary Corarito as Terrapol: Neptune
* Mary Ann Fisher as Terrapol: Neptune
* Julia Gibson as Terrapol: Minos
* Roger Kelton as Terrapol: Landing Party
* Darrell Larson as Terrapol: Neptune
* Ian Scheibel as Terrapol: Neptune
* Wayne Springfield as Terrapol: Minos
*
Rachel Talalay
Rachel Talalay (born July 16, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer best known for directing films such as ''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'' (1991), ''Ghost in the Machine (film), Ghost in the Machine'' (1993), and ''Tank Girl (film), ...
as Terrapol: Landing Party
* Johanne Todd as Terrapol: Landing Party
In the closing credits, Max 404 plays "himself", and the technical credits maintain the conceit that the film character Max 404 is played by an actual android called Max 404.
Production
The film was completely filmed in four weeks and edited in a further three weeks. The original version was 80 minutes long and none of the original content was removed before release.
The film cost less than $1 million to make.
David Elliott wrote, "This movie was done on a scrawny budget for the
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...
schlock shop. Its makers believed in the film so much that they up-scaled it from pure schlock, and Corman -- a producer who believes in talent but even more in a buck -- lost interest after early bookings failed to come up green. Corman felt the film was not 'exploitable,' and so Barry Opper (brother of Don) and initiating producer Rupert Harvey bought the rights. ''Android'' became one of those budding cult movies that may never thrive in big money terms but which refuse to play dead."
''
The Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe countie ...
'' reviewer Bill Cosford would write in 1984, after the movie's tour of the festival circuit in 1982 and 1983, "''Android'' has gained something of a cult reputation already, largely on the strength of its success on a shoestring budget. Set in the year 2036, the film uses space-station sets and quasi-futuristic props crafted of leftovers from Roger Corman's B-movie backroom (there's a bit of ''
Forbidden World
''Forbidden World'', originally titled ''Mutant'', is a 1982 American science fiction film, science fiction erotic horror film. The screenplay was written by Tim Curnen, from a screenstory by R.J. Robertson and Jim Wynorski. It was co-edited a ...
Joseph Bensoua said that, in 1982, Corman began test marketing ''Android'' in cities such as Tucson, Spokane and Las Vegas, but met unsatisfactory results. Producers Rupert Harvey and Barry Opper bought the film rights back from Corman in 1983. They opened the film in London, where ''The Observer'' called it "the sleeper of the year."
Reception
David Elliott wrote in a celebratory review, "Max 404, the hero of ''Android'', adds flesh to the tradition of cute robots that goes back to Robby the Robot in ''
Forbidden Planet
''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction action film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on a film story by ...
'', Huey, Dewey and Louie in '' Silent Running'' and the metallic darlings
R2-D2
R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...
and
C-3PO
C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a protocol droid (Star Wars), droid designed to assist in etiquette and translation, and is fluent in over six million forms of communication. The chara ...
in ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''. As played by Don Opper, he looks perfectly human. The fun comes from watching Max discover just how human he is... This is a jewel in the rough, and roughness (along with wit) is what gives it a shine. There are shadowy, sub-slick sets (partly lifted from old Cormanoids like '' Battle Beyond the Stars''), and the plot features three grubby space outlaws -- two varmints and a vamp -- played with lots of slumming gusto by Brie Howard, Norbert Weisser and Crofton Hardester... Max is a bit of a wimp, but brainy, and with a heart of computerized gold. He is keen on self-programming, and he studies old, 20th century movies and gently bones up on the human styles of Humphrey Bogart and James Stewart... After the villains break in, Max figures out that being human means that you get to bend the rules. The plot turns, and there's a neat, tricky resolution... You can hardly fail to enjoy it."
Bill Cosford praised the film's wit and the performances, such as "Klaus Kinski, in another surpassingly creepy performance" and Opper's Max "as a nebbishy Woody Allen type." Cosford said that the filmmakers "have laced their story with clever touches. It's not just the old movies and the music and the giggles over Max's impossible puberty. Their tone is a gentle but sophisticated ribbing of the conventions of science-fiction films from ''
Metropolis (1927 film)
''Metropolis'' is a 1927 German expressionist cinema, German expressionist science-fiction film, science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang from von Harbou's Metropolis (novel), 1 ...
'' to ''Star Wars'', with just enough "inside" references to the form to make watching fun, but not so many as to turn ''Android'' into a feature-length skit. There is even room for some philosophical musing here, for those so inclined. But it is not necessary. The director, Aaron Lipstadt, has made the kind of first film, like George Lucas' ''
THX 1138
''THX 1138'' is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pl ...
'' and John Carpenter's '' Dark Star'', that suggests a creative intelligence behind even the rough spots."Joe Baltake wrote that the movie "is a kind of SciFi version of ''Rebel Without a Cause'', a game fantasy about children rebelling against their parents. In this case, the children (Don Opper and Kendra Kirchner) are androids, robots, and the parent (Klaus Kinski, of all people, in a fright wig) is a mad scientist... ''Android'' pays tribute to Fritz Lang's ''Metropolis'' ... Having been emotionally locked into puberty by Daniel, Max does what most children do - plays video games, watches old movies (such as ''Metropolis'') and, of course, has a keen interest in S-E-X. With nothing to interfere with the way he's been programmed by Daniel, Max pretty much lives in a retarded state - that is, until a trio of criminal fugitives - two men, one woman - stow away inside Daniel's space lab... The vicious stowaways are on hand merely to inspire Max's rebellion against his parental figure. The film's real fillip comes when Cassandra, the female android, turns out to be Max's accomplice, rather than his competitor, and is hot to join him in his plan. In fact, she takes charge: "We are not meant to be governed by the whims of men," the blonde, stoic Cassandra says matter-of-factly, but with a comic, ambitious edge to her voice. ''Android'' is small, very small and, what's more, it's human. In an odd way, it succeeds in being what '' The Pope of Greenwich Village'' never comes close to accomplishing."
Joseph Bensoua called it "slow-moving space junk... Its 81-minute length, economical (make that cheap) sets and talky script give it a texture that's more akin to a '' Twilight Zone'' episode -- only not as good." Rick Lyman, similarly, described the movie as "a lazy, whimsical sci-fier," while sympathizing with Max, "an outer-space
Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison", and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher in the Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He is most famous f ...
- young, confused, yearning to get away from his strict surroundings and cut loose in the big city (in this case, the planet Earth). His performance is the best thing about the movie. His Max is hopelessly sweet and naïve, way too trusting for his own good. He's the only character in the movie exhibiting the least bit of compassion or tenderness."
Colin Greenland
Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is '' Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both major British science ficti ...
reviewed ''Android'' for '' Imagine'' magazine, and stated that "''Android'' is a neat little film, showing what can be done on a small budget with ingenuity and care."
John Nubbin reviewed ''Android'' for '' Different Worlds'' magazine and stated that "With films like ''Star Trek III'', ''Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom'', and a number of others, 1984 is looking to be a better year. ''Android'', with its clever dialogue, tight plotting, and clever twists looks to be a part of that good year. Filled with a wide range of humor, from slap-stick to black comedy, it is aimed at a mature, thinking audience, just the kind of picture the genre, and its weary audiences ..not only need, but deserve."
Soundtrack
The soundtrack includes songs by
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
Django Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...
(''Heavy Artillery'') and
The Fibonaccis
The Fibonaccis were an American art rock band formed in 1981 in Los Angeles. The band consisted of songwriters John Dentino (keyboards) and Ron Stringer (guitar), Magie Song (vocals), Joe Berardi (drums) and later Tom Corey (bass).
Formation
Th ...