Everyone’s still so excited about robots, despite all the movies warning us that they will take over the earth and enslave us all. Well, there are just as many movies about cute and cuddly robots, like this week’s WALL E. Before Pixar’s latest creation, there was a long history of memorable robots in movies, television and gaming. Here are the top 10. And no cyborgs. They’re half living tissue. These are the top 10 purely mechanical robots!
10. B-9 (Lost in Space)
Cheesy 1998 remake aside, the robot from Lost in Space got kids around the world to try to build their own robot friends. Most never got beyond garbage cans and naked wire, but the TV version had his own catch phrase, “Danger, Will Robinson!” [PAGEBREAK]
9. The T-800 (Terminator films)
Once you shred all that human skin off the terminators, their pure metal endoskeleton is a pretty intimidating machine. Maybe they’re not as all powerful as the liquid metal T-1000, but they’re scary and they never give up. [PAGEBREAK]
8. Number Five (Short Circuit)
Number Five is alive! Sure, the tank treads and clunky servos weren’t so pleasing to look at, but he could tell jokes and dance. Oh, and he’d rather be called Johnny Five. [PAGEBREAK]
7. The Iron Giant
Perhaps the most touching version of the “boy and his robot” story, the few people who discovered this film got it. It’s been a slow build, but thanks to DVD, more and more kids are discovering what the Will Robinson generation only imagined.[PAGEBREAK]
6. Bender (Futurama)
Well, perhaps the funniest robot, since he’s got a team culled from The Simpsons providing his snarky dialogue. In a future where robots enjoy alcohol and soap opera programming, Bender is the kind of carefree A-hole people wish they could get away with being.
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5. Robbie (Forbidden Planet)
Sure, he was just a guy in a lumbering suit, but Robbie became such a classic of science fiction that he even made cameos in other movies. He was perhaps the first movie robot to have an actual character, hence the affectionate first name. Built by the mad scientist Morbius, Robbie was a good guy who became part of the crew, not just a service mechanism.[PAGEBREAK]
4. Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
Technically these toys are movie stars, as they are featured in Toy Story. Either way, there’s something so classic about the boxing red and blue robots who knock each other’s heads off. Perhaps their only function is to vent the frustration of their users, but that is indeed a great service to provide mankind. [PAGEBREAK]
3. ED209 (Robocop)
They never quite perfected the Enforcement Droid 209’s programming. He’d shoot executives to pieces in demonstrations and he couldn’t walk down stairs, but he’s so cute with that pod head and stop motion animated legs.
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2. R2D2 (Star Wars)
Through a series of beeps and blips, R2D2 communicated so clearly that everyone understood him. He remained cool during even the most preposterous situations (like the plots of any of the prequels), and he deserves props just for putting up with that whiny C3PO all the time.[PAGEBREAK]
1. Optimus Prime (Transformers)
Yeah, this is a controversial choice for Star Wars fans, but there really is no robot as cool as Optimus Prime. Even if he didn’t turn into a Mack Truck (which he does, by the way), he keeps his cool and offers wisdom to anyone who will listen. He is the ultimate leader, willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the group, and he just seems to know everything.
