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Bicentennial Man

Bicentennial Man

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Robin Williams stars in this very long film.
Review: Bicentennial Man runs 2 hours and 12 minutes long. And your eyes may feel tired after watching this very long film. How would your eyes feel if 48 more minutes were added. In fact, since Robin Williams started in What Dreams May Come, he has some pretty long films that include Patch Adams, Jakob The Liar and this one. And it is out runing the film I have metion before this one. In fact after this one, Robin Williams seemed to have taken a year off. And now here has another one called A.I which he has a short part.

As the movie opens a man named Richard Martin (Sam Neill) has bought his family a robot and names it Andrew (Robin Williams) after his daughter named Adamda askes "What's an Andrew?" His other daughter named Grace (Lindze Letherman). They are both children as the movie opens. Andrew calls them Little Miss, Miss, and Ricard "Sir". And his wife (Wendy Crewson) "Ma'am. Little Miss as a girl is played Hallie Kate Eisenberg who grows up to be played Embeth Davidtz.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Six million dollar rehash . . . Stick with Lt. Cmdr. Data!
Review: This is an interesting film, so this will take a while. My brother's name is Andrew Martin Hunter.

This is a wonderful San Francisco movie. The city does not overwhelm the story, but is a perfect nest for the action. Good choice and good job!

Similarly, the effects enhance the film, and do not overwhelm and choke the story being told, which is why we are seeing this movie in the first place. There are plenty of Mork and Mindy reruns if you want to see Williams preform!

ROBIN WILLIAMS: I have a hard time seeing the character of Andrew through Robin Williams, sin Williams (call him "W"?) is such a strong personality. I have to ask myself if this movie could this film stand alone with out Robin Williams. I think it could, it is just theat Williams has the name draw, along with Asimov, so they had him do it. Robin Williams got in the way of the story, though not intentionally. He is so strong and such a high-pressure personality that I don;t think he can help it. Plus the several wise-cracks which are a shadow of the comedian Williams.

THEME: This is a story of humanity by studying a contrast. If this seems familiar, it is a leitmotif of Lt. Cmdr. Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched the film to see if they did anything fresh or new. They didn't . . . except for the suicide. I think you could piece this film together from fragments of the TV series and First Contact. Indeed, Star Trek has treated this theme so well, there is a book called "The Metaphysics of Star Trek: Is Data Human?" which covers this whole ground. See episode 135 "The Measure of A Man."

I saw the film as having two conclusions about humanity.

CONCLUSION 1: Meaning of humanity is sex. This is absolutely laughable. Andrew Martin becomes a human, and has sex. ... Egad! So the point of humanity is sex. Is heaven found at the red-light district, and is God's name "Roxanne?" Is Bill Clinton the most enlightened human on earth? Why my grandmother was dying of Alzheimer's disease, my grandfather has a sexless life. So was he missing something, or did he find something in nurturing my grandmother, feeding her, dressing and bathing her, and so forth? The Bible says that God is love, not that God is sex!

CONCLUSION 2: Suicide is an option. Aside from being just a change of scenery, suicide is the ultimate choice. We can not unscramble that egg. We talk about life being precious and full and rich, yet there are some people who do not see it as such. We want to respect choices and we all feel pain, but we also have obligations to others and to society. We are all needed somewhere,a nd suicide pulls us out of the pool of helping hands.

Back to my Grandmother. It cost [money] to keep her alive, and took all of my grandfather's time to tend her. A lethal injection of Kevorkian Juice cost [less]. Physician assisted suicide is less about pain, and more about money. If we stop caring about the dying, we will lose feeling about the living.

I wonder what Mr. Williams's opinion is about suicide. He did a marvelous anti-suicide film, "What Dreams May Come," yet he does this pro suicide film. You can see why hypocrite was originally a theatrical term.

Well, this was not one of my favorite films. I think star Trek did a better job with the themes. Also, read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series, and watch Jane!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Night Little Miss
Review: Movie Summary: The Martins buy a robot and name him Andrew. Andrew turns out to be very special. He strives over the course of 200 years to find out who he is. What he finds is that more than anything, he wants to be human.

My Opinion: This was a really nice story. The problem I had was that it was a lot more fun when Andrew looked like a robot. Once he turned into Robin Williams, I couldn't buy him as a Robot anymore. He didn't walk, talk, or act like a robot anymore. Now maybe that was the point, but it didn't work for me.

DVD Quality: Great picture and sound. Extras include trailer and making of documentary. It's anamorphic which is near and dear to the hearts of all 16:9 TV or monitor owners out there.

What You Should Do: Rent it. I really can't see this one appealing to either SciFi fans or Robin Williams fans enough for them to buy it without seeing it first. It is a nice family movie. Nothing too offensive or vulgar.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: BOO HISS! WILL NOT KEEP YOUR KIDS INTERESTED!!!
Review: This movie was a TOTAL drag! It will not keep your kids interested at all! The story line was much to involved, and even I had a hard time staying awake for the whole movie. It is very depressing. If you have kids that are under 13, don't buy this movie, and expect them to hang around the popcorn. Eventhough there is a "moral" to the story, kids will not wait around for the whole movie to "get it". Do not recommend this movie for anyone under 20, and even us oldtimers thought it was too heavy. I walked away from seeing this with a "wasted my money" feeling.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Most emotional movie ever, put an 18 year old guy into tears
Review: I had read the reviews of this movie when it came out into theatres, actually more of my dad bashing it really, which between the two caused me not to see it. I was home sick one day and I happened to stumble on to this movie on STARZ! What I saw wasn't just a movie, it was a masterpiece. Every aspect of the movie was done to perfection. The acting, the directing, the music, it goes on and on. Not since The Last of the Mohicans have I seen a movie do this. The movie itself did something that only the movie Brian's Song has made me do... Put me into tears. If you do not cry at some point in this movie, you may just not have a heart. You can thank the great acting by Robin Williams and relative unknown Embeth Davidtz and the music by James Horner for doing this to me. I especially enjoyed Davidtz. Why this was her first "Big time" movie I do not know. Williams and Horner as usual performed to thier potential. Another thing well done in this movie was the special effects. It's a rarity today to see a movie with special effects that actually has a plot. In the end, you must see this movie. If the Academy just didn't pick their best picture nominees according to highest gross and public opinion, I truly feel this would have been in contention. After you see this movie, tell me if Gladiator was better than this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best movies I have ever seen.
Review: It is a pity that Dr.Asimov died before the release of this movie (He died in 1992). He was always suspicious about movies made from his books and I guess he should be very happy seeing this one. It is perfect. Excellent actors, good timing, especial effects that do not seem especial effects, a human, delicate and moving history to tell...And if you are a Science Fiction fan, like me, do not miss it: You will see the radiant future that appears in Asimov's books, a possible future for us, a future that seldom appears in any SF movie (SF movies often shown our worst possible futures). It is highly inspiring to see it, we must fight for it. If you are looking for action, forget this movie. If you are searching humane and delicate feelings, see it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It had Such Promise
Review: If a master chef throws the freshest eggs, the finest flour, the purest sugar, and the richest milk into a bowl, but does not mix them before putting them in the oven, he will not have a cake when he is done, he will have a mess. So it is with this movie.

I was quite excited when I heard that a movie was being made of "The Positronic Man" by Issac Asimov, under it's earlier title of "The Bicentennial Man". I am an Asimov fan, and that is maybe why I did not like this movie.

Then I heard that Robin Williams was the star, and I started to worry. I admire some of his work, and am bored by some other parts of his work, but I did not think that he would be right for the role. Great talent used in the wrong way, just as Tiger Woods will never be a quarterback for the Steelers.

So it was with mixed emotions that I watched. I was hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

Perhaps I should not have read the book, because then I would not have been so disappointed by the result. It seemed to me like a desecration of a great work. Gone was the sentimentalism, replaced by humor of Robin William's style, a style that was not suited to the role. I knew Andrew Martin, I read Asimov's version of Andrew Martin, and sir, you are no Andrew Martin.

So now we have a DVD whose contents are similar to the unmixed cake that is now congealing in the oven.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderfull, futurist and great movie
Review: My attraction to watch this movie was the futurist story and the good performace of Robin Williams. I had some comments before I watched it, so I was almost sure that I knew the whole story of the movie. I was wrong!!.

The movie shows the interaction of about three generation of a family with a robot and how this particular robot gets improved by itself.

Watching this movie, I found many parts with comedy, love, death, romance, and others, a lot of feeling that it's not common to be found at the same time and movie.

Many movie have lessons about the life. The story is centered the trends of humans with robots.

This movie shows about the facts and contradiction of the technology and the humans. Robots want to be more like human and humans want to be more technology dependant. That teach us that human being is very complex and difficult to reproduce technologically, in special the feelings.

Also, as the time goes by, the robots can't get sense of time, as opposed of humans that it's getting old each day. That teach us that the time for a person is short and we should love our families every day.

I would recomend to watch this movie very relaxed and with your family.

One last thing. For me, It's difficult to get me tears watching a movie, but Bicentennial Man got me some tears. So be prepared with a lot of tissues.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Fantastic movie - Critics should get their heads examined.
Review: This was a fantastic movie, and a true-to-form continuation of the Asimov Legacy.

The film incorporates many of Isaac's insights into the fundemental core of the human condition, in the person of R. Andrew Martin, Android.

Given time, I've no doubt that it will be appreciated for the true work that it is. (Note to critics - Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but it can be appreciated as such. ;-))

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Long and boring
Review: Very long. Very boring. This movie did not hold my attention very long. I made it about 1.5 hours through and realized that you were basically watching the same story being repeated over several generations in the same family. The whole "freedom" and "declaration of humanity" themes just didn't save it. It's very difficult to portray the life of a single character spanning 200 years, and "Bicentennial Man" didn't pull it off.

The biggest problem is that the life of "Andrew" is portrayed so quickly, moving through time like the years are broken blades of grass, it's impossible to make a connection with the character. Once you think you may be connecting with him and feeling what he feels, BAM, the movie just skipped 16 years, and you're left with, "Hey, wait a minute, I was just getting into that period."

Robin Williams and the special effects guys did a fantastic job. Other than that, it's just plain dumb.


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