Cheap Bicentennial Man (DVD) (Robin Williams) (Chris Columbus) Price
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Williams plays Andrew, a robot programmed for domestic chores and sold to an upper-middle-class family, the Martins, in the year 2005. The family patriarch (Sam Neill) recognizes and encourages Andrew's uncommon characteristics, particularly his artistic streak, sensitivity to beauty, humor, and independence of spirit. In so doing, he sets Williams's tin man on a two-century journey to become more human than most human beings.
As adapted by screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, the movie's scale is novelistic, though Columbus isn't the man to embrace with Spielbergian confidence its sweeping possibilities. Instead, the Home Alone director shakes off his familiar tendencies to pander and matures, finally, as a captivating storyteller. But what really makes this film matter is its undercurrent of deep yearning, the passion of Andrew as a convert to the human race and his willingness to sacrifice all to give and take love. Williams rises to an atypical challenge here as a futuristic Everyman, relying, perhaps for the first time, on his considerable iconic value to make the point that becoming human means becoming more like Robin Williams. Nothing wrong with that. --Tom Keogh
| ACTORS: | Robin Williams |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | Chris Columbus |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 17 December, 1999 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Touchstone Video |
| MPAA RATING: | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) |
| FEATURES: | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby |
| TYPE: | Feature Film-comedy |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 717951004888 |
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Customer Reviews of Bicentennial Man
Smart, funny, touching sci-fi film. Director Chris Columbus(Mrs Doubtfire) did fine job making this soon to be classic film about a robot who learning slowly to be a human. Robin Williams(What Dreams May Come) gives one of his best performance as Andrew, He played the android who lived among the family Martin. His master Richard Martin(Played by Sam Neill) teach him about being human and also Andrew self-thought himself also by reading books and working on his original work of art, by using the old technique. (...)
The film is based on a short story by sci-fi writer Issac Asimov. Screenplay by Nicolas Kazan(Fallen) and Great make-up effects by Greg Cannon(Bram Stoker`s Dracula). Nice CGI effects by Dream Quest Images(The Abyss, Total Recall). Actress Embeth Davidtz is best know from her first film called:Army of Darkness, where she played Sheila and she landed on a supporting role in Schindler`s List. Great score by James Horner(Aliens, Titanic, The Perfect Storm). Fine performances from Williams(The Best of Times), Neill(In the Mouth of Madness), Davidtz(Army of Darkness) and Platt(Lake Placid). Grade:A.
One of Williams' best yet!
I have just seen Bicentennial Man (on cable) for the second time. I loved it even more than my first time seeing it in the theater, because I knew the story in advance and could relax and look forward to it, without being overwhelmed by the wonderful special effects and little tidbits of wonderment that pervade the movie. Quite simply, Robin Williams portrays a robot who becomes human. But, it's so much deeper than that. I must say it is one of Robin's best works... and I've seen them all. It has his delightful comedy, but moreover, his perfect portrayal with pathos and beguiling charm. The movie begins with the robot (dubbed Andrew) being introduced to the family (with Sam Neill as the father). One of the little girls in the family makes a quick connection with the new robot (Williams), and they become fast friends... for life, as it turns out. As time goes by, Andrew (Williams) becomes more and more a member of the family. But, Andrew also becomes more human, and eventually goes to search for his identity, and to seek out others like him. The film moves rather quickly from one time period to another, since they have to cover Andrew's lifespan of two-hundred years (hence the title). Throughout his life, he is constantly evolving, whether mechanically, thru technological improvements, or just by learning human qualities. The thrust of it is that he eventually becomes human, but is not recognized as such until the end of his life. (There is a very moving speech he gives to some delegation who will decide if he is human or not.) It is a landmark film of human emotions and human joy, all experienced and displayed by a robot. It is not the comic fluff of some earlier Williams' films, nor the hardhitting drama of some of his others. Rather, it is the compelling joyousness and heartwarming comedy of a machine who wants to be human... played expertly by Williams, of course. I plan to watch it again, very soon. It is a great movie.
inadequate treatment of a potentially interesting theme
I saw this movie when it first came onto the big screen. I was interested as the theme of the original short story is worth exploring.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed in Christopher Columbus' direction, and the screenplay was simply not adequate. The story descends into mawkish Hollywood sentimentality and glosses over the hard issues, where it had the opportunity to say something valuable about us and our world.
It was very interesting for me to think back to this movie after I had seen Spielberg's "A.I Artificial Intelligence". Both movies are about a very similar theme, but Spielberg turns the treatment in Bicentennial Man on its head.
In Bicentennial Man Andrew argues that he has become human through gradually acquiring a human body although his brain is still computerised. There is however no effort to look at what makes us human beyond our physical attributes. At least I didn't feel that there was. All of his legal battles are based on the idea that he should be accepted as a human because he is PHYSICALLY human.
By contrast, Spielberg does not evade the hardest question of all, which is, "What exactly is it that makes us human" but turns to a time honoured way of throwing meaning onto it; the fairy tale. David remains fully mechanical. However, the fairy tale of Pinnochio which is so beautifully used as a connecting theme is all about what makes us human. Through David's search, we are made to acutely realise that it is our capacity to dream, love, and believe in something bigger than ourselves that makes us human, whether we are mechanical or organic; our spirit is the essence of our humanity, not our body.
Turning back to Bicentennial Man, the previous point begs the same question about Andrew; he may be physically human but in what sense does he have human feelings, and would this be possible in a robot? Surely, although not easily answered, this issue is worthy of exploration. In Bicentennial Man, this question is never even looked at, it is simply assumed that Andrew acts like a person emotionally, which I find strange to say the least. A more realistic situation would be that proposed in A.I, where robots have to be specially created and programmed to have human responses.
Having said that Bicentennial Man is a poor effort at treating a theme that was done much better in A.I this is not to say I extend the criticism to Williams' performance; he does what he can with the terrible script and is sensitive as well as as amusing throughout.