I, Robot is a science fiction film filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, but produced in the United States released on July 16, 2004, attributed to Isaac Asimov's Robot Series, especially a short-story collection of the same name. It is technically based on Hardwired, a freelance script by Jeff Vintar, but bears some significant resemblance to a pre-Asimov, 1939 classic sci-fi short story, "I, Robot" by Eando Binder, after which the Asimov collection was named by its publisher against Asimov's wishes. Some of Asimov's ideas about robots were added to Vintar's script after the film's producers acquired the rights to the anthology title, although the plot is not directly based on any particular story or group of stories by Asimov. The Binder story concerns a sentient humanoid robot arrested and placed on trial for the murder of its creator. Download high resolution version (510x755, 53 KB)Movie poster for I, Robot with Will Smith, deemed fair use This work is copyrighted. ... Alex Proyas (born September 23 , 1963) is an Australian film director, writer, and producer. ... John Davis is an American film producer and founder of Davis Entertainment. ... Laurence Mark (born in New York City) is an American film producer. ... Akiva Goldsman is a writer, producer, and actor in the film industry. ... I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950. ... Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920? – April 6, 1992, IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Kathryn Bridget Moynahan (born September 21, 1970 in Binghamton, New York) is an American model and actress of Irish descent, best known for her roles in films such as Coyote Ugly, I, Robot, and Lord of War. ... Alan Tudyk as Wash (left) and Gina Torres in Firefly Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971 in El Paso, Texas) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... Marco Beltrami is a musical composer for motion pictures. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the major American film studios. ... July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey, an archetypal science fiction film Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... Vancouver (pronounced: ) is a city in south-western British Columbia, Canada. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo - Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 36 - Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area Ranked 4th - Total 944,735 km... July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920? – April 6, 1992, IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... Isaac Asimovs Robot Series is a series of books by Isaac Asimov, both collections of short stories and novels. ... January 1939 issue of Amazing Stories I, Robot is a science fiction short story by Eando Binder about a robot named Adam Link. ... Eando Binder is a pseudonym for two brothers, Earl Andrew Binder (1904-1965) and Otto Oscar Binder (1911-1975), who were science fiction authors in the mid-20th century. ... Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920? – April 6, 1992, IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ...

Plot outline

Set in the year 2035 in Chicago, Illinois, the film stars Will Smith as Detective Del Spooner, a technophobic homicide detective who is faced with an unprecedented murder mystery. The victim is Dr. Alfred Lanning (played by James Cromwell); the suspect is a prototype NS-5 robot Sonny (Alan Tudyk). However, robots are bound by the Three Laws of Robotics, which should make harming a human impossible. In fact, the circumstances behind Lanning's murder at first seem to indicate suicide. Spooner still believes that Sonny is the perpetrator, as Spooner seems to have a seemingly irrational distrust for robots, stemming from an incident where he and a little girl were in a car accident. A robot had the chance to save him or the girl, but chose him since he had a better statistical chance of survival, a decision Spooner believes any human being would have disagreed with. Spooner's suspicions puts him at odds with his department, bringing him dangerously close to suspension. Still convinced that Sonny is indeed the culprit, Spooner enlists the unwilling aid of Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan), a robopsychologist who works at U.S. Robotics and, Spooner's only viable source to confirm Sonny's guilt. 2035 (MMXXXV) will be a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian Calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Dr. Alfred Lanning is a fictional character from the books and movie of I, Robot. ... James Cromwell as George Sibley from Six Feet Under (2005) James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an Academy Award-nominated American television and film actor. ... Alan Tudyk as Wash (left) and Gina Torres in Firefly Alan Wray Tudyk (born March 16, 1971 in El Paso, Texas) is an American stage, film, and television actor. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... It has been suggested that Suicide method be merged into this article or section. ... Dr. Susan Calvin, from a cover to I, Robot. ... Kathryn Bridget Moynahan (born September 21, 1970 in Binghamton, New York) is an American model and actress of Irish descent, best known for her roles in films such as Coyote Ugly, I, Robot, and Lord of War. ... Robopsychology is the fictional study of the personalities of artificially intelligent machines. ... The fictional corporation US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. ...

As they investigate the crime, the world awaits the release of the NS-5—the latest and greatest robot from U.S. Robotics, a company owned by Lawrence Robertson (played by Bruce Greenwood). Spooner and Calvin soon discover that something is not right with the new release. Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956 in Noranda, Quebec) is a Canadian actor. ...

The central positronic brain, V.I.K.I. (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence), continuously uploads fresh software to each of the NS-5s and has developed an interpretation of the Three Laws which supports the robots running Earth as a benevolent dictatorship, preventing humans from self-harming behavior such as crime or environmental damage. The result is a revolution of the NS-5s. At a given hour the NS-5s destroy earlier models which run on a stricter interpretation of the Three Laws (to prevent them from protecting the humans from their regime), capture Chicago's police station and enforce a curfew confining all humans to their homes. Lanning had become aware of VIKI's plans, but being under VIKI's close surveillance had to engineer a trail of clues to lead Spooner to the truth in time for him and Sonny to act to counter the threat - and this had included asking Sonny to kill him in order to attract Spooner's attention, as he knew Spooner would love the idea of a robot being the villain. Spooner, Calvin, and Sonny then proceed to take down VIKI once and for all. While Sonny goes to get a vial of nanites which can destroy VIKI, Spooner and Calvin try to access her CPU. Now aware of what they are planning, VIKI sends the NS-5s to attack them. Eventually, Spooner, Calvin, and Sonny succeed in stopping VIKI by injecting the vial of nanites directly into the core of VIKI. VIKI is destroyed and all the NS-5's revert to following the Three Laws. The film ends with the retiring and storage of all NS-5s and Sonny standing on a hill in front of thousands of NS-5s, reminiscent of a "dream" he had earlier (this dream was actually a sub-routine programmed into him by Lanning to help Sonny realize the truth about VIKI). A positronic brain is a fictional technological device, originally conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. ... Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence (V.I.K.I.) is a fictional computer/character in the I, Robot movie. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by a dictator. ... The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution. ...

History

For many years, fans hoped that any movie based on Asimov's Robot stories would be based on an earlier screenplay written 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). Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, essays, and criticism. ... I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950. ...

The film ultimately made originally had no connections with Asimov, originating as a screenplay written in 1995 by Jeff Vintar, entitled Hardwired. Several years later, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights, and signed Alex Proyas as director; he is said to have started referring to the project as "I, Robot" almost immediately. At around the same time that the rights to use that name—and elements of Asimov's fiction—were acquired, Akiva Goldsman was hired to rewrite the script; some have speculated that a large portion of this rewrite consisted of inserting references to Asimov's work into the existing plot. Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the major American film studios. ... Alex Proyas (born September 23 , 1963) is an Australian film director, writer, and producer. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Akiva Goldsman is a writer, producer, and actor in the film industry. ...

In late 2004, Costco bundled a reprint of Ellison's screenplay with its copies of the movie's DVD. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the world based on sales volume, headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, United States, with its flagship warehouse in nearby Seattle. ...

Fan reaction and faithfulness to Asimov's works

The tone of the movie upset some fans of Asimov's works^{[citation needed]}, 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. In Isaac Asimovs robot novels, the Frankenstein complex is a colloquial term for the fear of robots. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...

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:

On the other hand, the film's key plot twist—a particular interpretation of the Three Laws—echoes those of many of Asimov's stories, which often turn on how robots behave when the Three Laws are put under unusual stresses. From a plot standpoint, it could be said that the broadest strokes of the movie are true to Asimov's stories; the unexplained pattern of robotic destruction and carnage ultimately seems to fall under Asimov's Zeroth Law, though it is not explicitly mentioned or discussed in the movie. However, the theme of Zeroth-law interactions is generally positive in Asimov's works (see, in addition to the works cited below, Foundation and Earth) whereas, in this movie, the Zeroth law is obviously meant to be very negative. The near-panic reaction of U.S. Robotics' management over damage to its public relations after discovering a robot that seemingly does not follow the Three Laws is also found in several of Asimov's stories. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Foundation and Earth Foundation and Earth (1986) is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, the fifth novel of the Foundation Series and chronologically the last in the series. ...

Besides the Three Laws and the Zeroth Law, Calvin, Lanning, Robertson, and U.S. Robotics (a slight departure from "U.S. Robots"), the film is filled with numerous other references and allusions—both subtle and obvious—to many of Asimov's works. Examples include:

• "Little Lost Robot" (a not-quite-Three-Laws-compliant robot hides in a sea of identical copies)^[1]
• "Catch That Rabbit" (robots controlled by central positronic brain)
• "The Evitable Conflict" and "—That Thou art Mindful of Him", as well as The Zeroth Law (robots take control of humanity for its own good)
• "Robot Dreams" (robot dreams of freeing fellow robots from humanity's rule)
• "Segregationist" and "The Bicentennial Man" (robot technology used for human prosthetics)
• "The Bicentennial Man" (robot seeks to better understand humanity)

Although there are broad references to general themes originally introduced by Asimov, the only "direct" connection to his work is the use of the Three Laws of Robotics. However, after Asimov created the laws they proved so popular with other writers that Asimov publicly gave permission to all writers to use them in non-Asimov stories (as long as they didn't quote them verbatim), essentially making them public domain. So, put this way, the largest claim this film has to being based on Asimov's works is that it uses the Three Laws, but many other sci-fi stories also use the Three Laws and are not considered connected to Asimov. Little Lost Robot (1947) is science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. ... Catch the Rabbit (1944) is a science-fiction short story found in I, Robot and written by Isaac Asimov. ... A positronic brain is a fictional technological device, originally conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. ... The Evitable Conflict (1950) is a science-fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. ... —That Thou art Mindful of Him (1974) is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, which he intended to be an ultimate probe into the subtleties of his Three Laws of Robotics. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Robot Dreams (1986) is a collection of Isaac Asimovs short stories, intended largely to show a series of Asimov robot-inspired drawings by Ralph McQuarrie. ... Segregationist is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, included in the collection Nightfall and Other Stories. ... The Bicentennial Man is a novella in the Robot Series by Isaac Asimov. ... A United States Army soldier plays foosball with two prosthetic arms Jon Comer, professional skateboarder with a prosthetic leg. ... The Bicentennial Man is a novella in the Robot Series by Isaac Asimov. ...

Despite all these criticisms, it did not stop the $120-million movie from being a solid box-office success, earning almost $145 million in North America and more than $200 million overseas.

Trivia

• U.S. Robotics is a real-life maker of modems, named in honor of Asimov's fictional company, whose full name in the I, Robot collection is U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men.
• While the robots in the film are classified as "NS-4" and "NS-5" class, Asimov's only mention of this classification was the "NS-2" (or "Nestor") class in the short story "Little Lost Robot". (In Greek mythology, Nestor was an Argonaut who later fought on the Greek side in the Trojan War.)
• There are several references to Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. One of which is the Delivery robot in the beginning having the ID Number 42, which is, according to the book, the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything. Coincidentally, its behavior echoes that of the annoyingly enthusiastic cybernetics that pervade the Hitchhiker series. Later, Detective Spooner says the only normal day he ever had was a Thursday, which is the day Arthur Dent "never quite got the hang of."
• Director Alex Proyas asked every cast member to read the book The Age of Spiritual Machines, by Ray Kurzweil, before filming.
• For the release of this film, the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a think tank with designs to author the first complete, working description of how to build a thinking machine, released a publicity website called 3 Laws Unsafe, to draw attention to their own vision of artificial intelligence in the light of Asimov's mythos.
• The movie was filmed in Super 35 mm film format.
• I, Robot was originally going to be released the same month as Shark Tale, another film Will Smith starred in.
• The movie's shower scene (which featured full frontal nudity by Smith), was edited for American audiences and Smith's character does not actually appear fully nude. The un-edited version was kept for European audiences and is available in the UK version of the DVD.
• Initially, Smith was asked to pen and perform a hip-hop song for the film, as he did for Men in Black and Wild Wild West. After giving it some thought, Smith decided against it, saying the song "I, Robot" which featured lyrics about the "robots comin' " to take over, would take away the serious edge from the film.
• In a reference to 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air', Det. Spooner's grandmother makes him his favorite treat, Sweet Potato (yam) pie, the same as Will Smith's character in the series.
• The primary weapon of the officers in the holding room with Sonny is the FN P90.
• At odds with the (fictional) cars in the film, the motorcycle seen ridden by Smith in the film is an MV Agusta F4, identifiable by the stacked, diamond form headlights, but more so by the unique exhaust silencer configuration (all four silencers sit side-by-side, under the pillion seat).
• The wrecked bridge shown in the closing shots is completely impossible in the form depicted. Any suspension bridge would immediately collapse if the catenary cables were severed. A cable-stayed bridge, on the other hand, would be possible with a single tower and segment of deck, but this is not the type of bridge shown.
• The film featured many product placements for sports shoes, cars, hi-fi and several other products.

U.S. Robotics (popularly nicknamed USR), based in Schaumburg, Illinois and founded in 1976, is a company that makes computer modems and related technologies. ... A modem (from modulate and demodulate) is a device that modulates an analogue carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... The fictional corporation US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. ... Little Lost Robot (1947) is science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the telling of stories created by the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices. ... In Greek mythology, Nestor of Gerênia (Greek: Νέστωρ) was the son of Neleus, the King of Pylos, and Chloris. ... The Argo, by Lorenzo Costa In Greek mythology, the Argonauts (Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest for the Golden Fleece. ... The fall of Troy by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769) From the collections of the granddukes of Baden, Karlsruhe The Trojan War was waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor, by the armies of the Achaeans (Mycenaean Greeks), after Paris of Troy stole Helen from... Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. ... The cover of the first novel in the Hitchhikers series, from a late 1990s printing. ... Look up forty-two in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Answer to The Ultimate Question Of Life, the Universe, and Everything is a fictional solution in Douglas Adamss science fiction series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. ... Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, waking up at the beginning of the movie. ... Time periods between key events in human history shrink expotentially in a chart by Kurzweil depicting his Law of Accelerating Returns, explained in the book. ... Dr. Raymond Kurzweil (born February 12, 1948) is a pioneer in the fields of optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic musical keyboards. ... The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence is a non-profit organization with the goal of developing a theory of Friendly artificial intelligence and implementing that theory as a software system. ... This article is about the institution. ... In the philosophy of artificial intelligence, strong AI is the supposition that some forms of artificial intelligence can truly reason and solve problems; strong AI supposes that it is possible for machines to become sapient, or self-aware, but may or may not exhibit human-like thought processes. ... Hondas humanoid robot AI redirects here. ... Comparing the film area of Super 35 to CinemaScope, standard widescreen and Techniscope. ... Shark Tale is an Academy Award nominated computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation, and was released in motion picture theatres around October 1, 2004. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy action film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent DOnofrio. ... For the 1960s television series, see The Wild Wild West. ... Spoiler warning: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a television sitcom which aired on NBC from 1990 to 1996. ... The P90 is a compact submachine gun developed and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN Herstal). ... The F4 was the motorcycle that launched the resurrection of MV Agusta in 1998. ... A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more pillars, with cables supporting the roadbed. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Product placement is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real commercial product is used in fictional or non-fictional media, and the presence of the product is a result of an economic exchange. ...

Notes

1. ^ Topel, Fred. "Jeff Vintar was Hardwired for I,ROBOT."[1] 17 August 2004.

August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official website
• I, Robot at the Internet Movie Database
• I, Robot at Rotten Tomatoes
• I, Robot at Metacritic
• The Bottom of Things by Michael Sampson, January 14, 2004
• James Berardinelli's review of I, Robot
• 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.