Android starring Klaus Kinski, Don
Keith Opper, Brie Howard, Norbert
Weisser, Crofton Hardester
Do Androids Dream Of Deception, Sex, And Murder?
Eccentric scientist dr.Daniel & his shy assistant max lead a quiet life on
their space station where they carry out illegal research on androids until
they receive an unwelcome visit from 3 fugitives one of whom is female. Dr
daniel & max are both interested in her but one of them has more sinister
intentions. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 10/12/2004 Run time: 80
minutes Rating: Pg
Personal Review: Android starring Klaus Kinski, Don Keith
Opper, Brie Howard, Norbert Weisser, Crofton Hardester
As any true fan of science fiction will tell you, special FX alone do not a
good science-fiction movie make. Now don't get me wrong--dazzling
special FX can be really cool and entertaining. But if an SF movie consists
solely of high-dollar, well-executed FX, then it's nothing more than a pretty
picture. It's compelling eye-candy, sure, but it has no real substance. SF is
a genre of intellectual substance. So first and foremost, good SF films are
built on intriguing ideas that are then wrapped in an engaging story. If the
film also has skilled actors, ones who can create sympathetic characters to
whom viewers can relate and thereby vicariously experience the story
ideas, then it's more than a good SF flick--it's a GREAT SF flick. And this
is often true even if the special FX are mediocre. 1982's ANDROID,
directed by Aaron Lipstadt, is one of those great SF flicks. Well, okay, so
maybe it's not GREAT. But it certainly is a damned good SF flick, in spite
of the cheesy FX.
The primary thing that makes ANDROID a damned good SF flick is that
the script is very well written and contains some pretty thought-provoking
ideas. It tells the story of an android, name of Max 404 (Don Opper, who
also co-wrote the script), who lives and works on a somewhat derelict
space station with only the companionship of his self-centered and
egotistical creator, Dr. Daniel (Klaus Kinski). As an android, Max is your
typical Pinocchio type, studying human culture and dreaming of visiting
Earth and becoming a real "boy." Unfortunately for Max, Dr. Daniel is
working on a new generation of android that will render Max obsolete. It
seems that androids have been outlawed on Earth because of a
malfunction that resulted in an uprising against their human masters, and
Dr. Daniel hopes to restore his reputation, as well as the legal status of
androids, by creating a better, more fool-proof android. Once he achieves
success, Daniel plans to deactivate Max and return to Earth. However,
Daniel's plans are thwarted and Max's dreams pushed back within his
grasp when the space station receives an unexpected visit from three
strangers.
As in the case with many androids in SF stories, Max faces a constant
dilemma between his duty to his creator and his desire to become more
human. But what raises ANDROID above the standard cliche is that the
story is not about how Max strives to achieve his humanity; rather, it is
about what Max does with the humanity he has already acquired. Soon
after the film begins, things happen that make it clear that Max has already
become human without even realizing it. Or he has at least developed
characteristics that are clearly human-like and therefore raise him far
above the level of mere machine. For example, he shows signs that he is
capable of desire, love, loneliness, jealousy, and an appreciation for the
arts, and he even questions the idea of blind faith in his creator. And it is
made equally clear that, like some humans do, Max can also lie, cheat,
and manipulate others. Indeed, he even commits murder in order to
achieve his goals and fulfill his desires.
Because it was released the same year as Ridley Scott's more famous
android flick BLADE RUNNER, some fans and critics tend to decry
ANDROID as an inferior imitation, but both the comparison and the
depreciation are unfair. Based on the sardonic novella DO ANDROIDS
DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick, BLADE RUNNER is
essentially a critique of human society that questions both human ethics
and the various stratification systems prevalent in most (if not all) human
social structures. ANDROID, on the other hand, ponders the nature of
humanity itself and questions what it means to be human. Where BLADE
RUNNER says that we humans are often wrong in our treatment of both
our fellow humans and other intelligent beings, ANDROID hints that some
of those very foibles, as well as our decisions to either embrace or reject
them, are part of what makes us human. In many ways, ANDROID is
much more thought-provoking, and way less preachy, than BLADE
RUNNER.
The second thing that makes ANDROID a damned good SF flick is the
acting. In his portrayal of the Frankenstein-like robotics scientist Dr.
Daniel, Klaus Kinski restrains his usual over-the-top intensity and delivers
a very believable performance. As Max 404, Don Opper acheives the
necessary balance of naive innocence and unfettered cunningness to
make the android both a sympathetic character and a scary reflection of
humanity gone askew. Although her part is small, the beautiful Kendra
Kirchner is frightening as the mechanically icy Cassandra, Dr. Daniel's
"ultimate" android. And supporting actors Brie Howard and Norbert
Weisser, who play two of the unexpected visitors to the space station, are
very good. Only Crofton Hardester, playing the sociopathic third visitor,
takes his performance a few notches too far over the top, but he's not bad
enough to spoil the overall production.
Yes, ANDROID is a product of low-budget king Roger Corman's New
World Pictures, so the sets and the special FX in ANDROID lean towards
the cheesy end of the scale. It has long been rumored that film's sets were
leftovers from another New World cheapie, BATTLE BEYOND THE
STARS (1980)--although this is disputed by Lipstadt and Opper in the DVD
commentary, the sets do look strangely familiar--and most of the
computer-screen FX in the film are clearly lifted straight off the screens of
early 8-bit microcomputer consumer products like Vectrex video games
and Commodore 64 computers. Still, the writing and characterization are
so strong that the cheesy FX detract little from ANDROID's overall
substance and convincing verisimilitude.
Anchor Bay's DVD release of ANDROID presents the film in anamorphic
widescreen at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The digital transfer is
reasonably clear and crisp, with vibrant colors and few noticeable filmic
artifacts, and the original mono audio comes through very nicely on the
Dolby 2.0 two-speaker soundtrack. Bonus features include an interesting
feature commentary with director Lipstadt and star and co-writer Opper, as
well as the original theatrical trailer. At amazon.com's reasonable price of
admission, ANDROID should be in the collections of all fans of compelling
SF cinema.
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