Top 10 Movie Robots

As it's just occurred to me that robotics are a big part of films these days, I thought I would countdown my ten favourites. There were many artificial hulks of metal to choose from in films that brought many happy times to my childhood, so to avoid any sci-fi snobbery this is just a list of physical creations controlled by robotics alone, listed into order of how awesome I thought they were as a kid.


#10 Marvin (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

"Incredible... it's even worse than I thought it would be."

Marvin is the always lovable depressing robot from 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Built as a personality robot Marvin always has a depressed and bored view of every event due to his huge brain and relative intelligence. That intelligence however is used to pull out some great one liners, and many a scene in the film is greatly improved by this robot's cynical view on proceedings. Marvin originally looked like something you'd leave in a bin when he first appeared in the television series, but when the much larger budget of the film was put to good use he was given a sleek redesign and was masterfully voiced by the late Alan Rickman,who really did manage to give this emotionless robot one of the best personalities in all of sci-fi.

Alan Rickman's version of Marvin managed to pull off the trick of getting the audience to care about such an average and depressing character, and as such propelled Marvin to become the star of the film in my opinion. Marvin's greatest asset however is his unique gun that gives others a depressing view of the world, forcing them to loose the will to fight. The science behind that wacky creation probably involves a digital version of a 'Radiohead' album, which coincidentally Marvin helped to inspire. Clearly Marvin's depression has had a big impact on pop culture, and in fact the original Marvin was also a musician and released some singles that actually charted. They even sound better than the majority of crap out there today, so all in all Marvin is a bit of an understated hero really.


#9 Optimus Prime (Transformers)

"Autobots, roll out!"

You have to give it to Optimus Prime, even after being ruined as a character by the awful directing of Michael Bay he still has the reputation of a robotic god. I'm sure you can all debate about which of the Autobots really is the best, but the fact is that Optimus Prime is the best by a long way. That may be because he's the most badass robot on this list, repetitively kicking the shit out of everything and leaving areas in a ball of explosions, yet still looking great at the end in a way that no other children's toy manages. That's one thing I will give Michael Bay; he made Optimus Prime look fucking cool, and if you do watch his 'Transformers' films then you can at least respect the hell out of the visuals. In those films Optimus Prime is 28 feet of metallic mastery that likes to dish out a good speech as well as looking really cool.

Prime's deep and smooth voice coupled with his immense screen presence have made him an icon to many young kids over the years, with his noble attitudes towards liberty only being toppled by his love of blowing shit up in fanciful ways. As a poster boy, or poster robot I suppose, he's an absolute gem in the 'Transformers' franchise, always at the centre of their films, no matter how bad they end up being. Optimus Prime usually takes the form as a truck, which doesn't sound too fanciful, but when he's had enough of sweaty Americans ruining his interior, just like they do to your mum, then he likes to save the world from other big and menacing robots that may or may not be making an appearance on this list. Optimus Prime however has become such a memorable character over the years, but when slicing other robots into pieces is on your resume it becomes hard to forget the actions of this giant robot.


#8 The Iron Giant (The Iron Giant)

"I am not a gun."

The Iron Giant is, well quite self explanatory actually. It's a fifty foot robot made out of iron, but just describing him as simply as that doesn't do justice to a very complex character. Nobody really knows anything about this creation, and for some reason it fell out of space to befriend a boy who persuades him to be a robot of good instead of evil. It's such a great story actually, and the moment when the boy convinces him to save the world is one of the most heart-wrenching moments of my childhood. The original plan for the character was that Pete Townshend of 'The Who' would create a musical film around this story, probably because he likes watching sensitive videos of young children, but thankfully he didn't go ahead with that plan, as the last thing The Iron Giant needed was an unnecessary rock soundtrack that just doesn't fit with his character at all.

The Iron Giant is so well crafted as a character and looks fantastic in this well designed film. The animation itself is computer generated, but nevertheless The Iron Giant blends into the film beautifully and look just like an animated drawing. In my opinion this film was far better than watching superheroes in underpants doing dumb shit to save the Earth, and the irony of this character was that he had more heart than any human character in the film despite his aspirations to be like them. That's all very surprising considering he's voiced by the almost talentless Vin Diesel, who thankfully only had to say 53 words in total, voicing an emotionless character effectively despite saying so little. The Iron Giant is such a great symbol of turmoil in war, and as such is instantly relatable to a wide audience, even if this cult hero isn't the most famous robot on the list.


#7 Megatron (Transformers)

"Even in death, there is no command but MINE!"

I'm sorry but Megatron is so much better than Optimus Prime. I know as a kid I'm supposed to support the 'Autobots', but the Megatron led 'Decepticons' are far more awesome in their quest to enslave humanity. Just like Optimus Prime he's ridiculously overpowered, often using his laser cannon to blow up just about everything in the vicinity like a nuclear bomb. Megatron is a ridiculously tough gladiator that can beat the shit out of anything, and the child version of me was scared shitless by this monstrous machine. In my opinion Megatron looks just as good if not better than Optimus Prime in the latest Michael Bay films, although unlike Prime he can transform into random weapons instead of a rather boring articulated lorry. That's a lot cooler if you ask me, and when you sound as commanding as Megatron does then it becomes clear who the better Transformer is. Suck it 'Autobots'.


#6 General Grievous (Star Wars)

"Crush them! Make them suffer!"

Yeah he really is as fucking awesome as that picture makes him look. The fact that he has four lightsabers, I repeat four lightsabers, was enough to make me cream myself senseless as a kid. Grievous' fight with Obi Wan in the third chronological 'Star Wars' film was just so awesome that he had to have a place on this list despite his rather minimal contributions to the 'Star Wars' franchise as a whole. Even though Grievous has an apparent chest infection and trouble breathing, he was just what the third film needed, and viewers started to actually give a shit about the droid army, which just hadn't been the case in the previous films. His four iconic lightsabers, and I really can't stress enough how cool that is, were actually collected from fallen Jedi; so yeah, this guy's pretty badass. He's also ruthless as well and enjoys people's suffering; so yeah, not a nice cyborg either, but an awesome one nonetheless.


#5 R2-D2 (Star Wars)

I'm sure there would be rioting if such an iconic robot as R2-D2 wasn't included on a list of best robots, even though he's technically a droid, but in all honesty I just don't care. His iconic beeps and whistles are now something of sci-fi legend, and in fact there's even a translator programmed by someone who I would hate to invite round my house for dinner. Clearly you would have to be the loneliest person in the world to be able to translate what this metal heap is saying, but the clever thing about R2 is that audiences can easily interpret him thanks to the strong characterisation from Lucas' script.

R2 may just be the most loved character of the 'Star Wars' franchise, and that's saying a lot considering how many characters there are in the 'Star Wars' universe that unlike R2 can actually talk. R2's fame is so widespread that he's even being inducted into the robot hall of fame, which may have something to do with his now iconic status in the 'Star Wars' storyline, saving every main character at least once. His role is actually sort of like a pocket knife, and despite looking like a futuristic fire hydrant, this little droid contains about every useful implement you could ever possibly need. It's hard to imagine that in the original 'Star Wars' films there was somebody actually stuck inside that box, but I personally want to thank them for bringing to life such a lovable character in such a lovable franchise.


#4 Robocop (Robocop)

"Come quietly or there will be... trouble." 

Now Robocop is a cool looking police officer. Peter Weller was the man inside the suit and sent this creation into Hollywood legend. The first time he donned the armour plating in the original film is by far the most memorable moment of the franchise, and since then he's dished out many an ass kicking to the comparatively pathetic criminals of America. He's just a fucking badass, which is a good thing when you have to deal with the worst Detroit has to offer. It's a good job then that Robocop has his own fucking arsenal that includes an assault cannon, a rocket launcher, a jetpack, a minigun, and various explosives. Eight year old me got sexually excited at the mere sight of this hero, and looking at his weapons now is bringing it all back.


#3 C-3PO (Star Wars)

"Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1"

This gay and gold creation from the ever impressive 'Star Wars' universe was one of the many reasons I and many fans fell in love with the original films. His now iconic relationship with the aforementioned R2-D2 was enough sexual tension to put your mind off the constant incest partaken by other members of the Rebel Alliance, and together as a duo their unique chemistry made the original film so pleasant to watch. This was a simple friendship of just great characters that never felt like a forced relationship we get in the latest films.

Anthony Daniels was the man who gave this creation that amazing voice, and over the years it's become iconic and such an irreplaceable role in the 'Star Wars' franchise. To this day Daniels is still going strong and is still the guy that walks around in the suit, still whipping out some belters in the new film despite sprouting a red arm for some reason. Aside from irritating everyone in the films at least once he's also a useful translator, and on many occasion he's been an essential part of the plot. For this reason I genuinely think C-3PO is one of the forgotten heroes of 'Star Wars', and without his iconic appearances we just wouldn't have that great 'Star Wars' experience we do today.


#2 Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die." 

The man, or rather robot, that caps off a great film with one of the all time best speeches in cinema history. Batty goes from total badass and the intentions of kicking the shit out of Harrison Ford to the world's greatest ever philosopher in a matter of moments. It's quite an astonishing transformation for any character, yet alone a robot, and it proves that Batty is far more than just the main antagonist for Harrison Ford to run away from. Batty only appears in the film for a very short amount of time, but is still the one character who leaves the greatest impact with an unforgettable performance.

Despite his looks Batty is a fully fledged AI known as a 'Replicant'. The idea is that the robot is meant to look like a human, and the story goes that Batty is created specifically for combat and intelligence; so as you can imagine he's not something you want to meet in a dark alleyway. Batty is insanely good at beating the shit out of everyone and looking like a boss in the process. Even Harrison Ford gets fucked up by this guy whose only motive for this killing spree is to try and extend his lifespan. If the 'Blade Runner' franchise was a real story then Batty should have been created by now, as the film states he was incepted on the 8th January 2016, but thankfully for all of humanity he's just the brilliant creation of a brilliant film.


#1 The Terminator (Terminator)

"Hasta la vista, baby."

I know that in this film franchise a 'Terminator' is simply an indestructible robot soldier that seeks to wipe out humanity, so this is specifically an entry for the T-800 model made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His version of the robotic hitman is the sole reason why the series gained the popularity it did in the first place, and even in Arnie's extensive career this is probably his most famous role. The reasons for success are simple; has anyone made robots look as cool as Arnold Schwarzenegger? No is the answer to that one. And so not surprisingly 'The Terminator' is by far the most infamous robot on this list.

'The Terminator' is essentially a programmed hitman that behaves exactly like a human being. 'The Terminator' can sweat, read, speak, in such a way that only dogs can tell the difference between these robots and humans. As an audience we can tell them apart due to 'The Terminator' having some brilliant lines, and over the years the roles of 'Terminators' and humans have been blurred many a time. Arnie himself has been everything from a cool protector to a hitman hellbent on destruction, but in both roles he remains as badass as it gets. He can destroy walls, repel bullets, and just generally look like a machine not to be messed with. The version from the second film is the best however, in which we get a great performance from Arnie despite a lack of emotion or drama in one of the most action packed testosterone filled rides in recent times. His fight with the T-1000 model, which coincidentally is another awesome robot, is robotic legend for cinema, and helped cement the status of 'The Terminator' as a robotic god.