“Short Circuit” is the 1986 smash hit about a robot that was built to be a weapon of war. He’s number five of five, and he’s programmed to hone in on enemy targets and destroy them with a laser. His creator, Newton Crosby (Steve Gutenberg) is a man of science who doesn’t leave much room in his life for miracles, but when Number Five is hit by lightning, that’s exactly what happens – a miracle.
Once a bucket of bolts, Number Five is now alive. Accidentally finding his way out of the laboratory, he ends up at a remote farmhouse owned by Stephanie Speck, animal lover (Ally Sheedy). She thinks she’s happened on an alien, and gives him all her encyclopedias to read so he can learn about Planet Earth. He literally zooms right through them, and then hones in on the television set, where he learns more about the culture than he would from any book.
When she notices his label and discovers he’s a robot and not an alien, she feels misled. But when she calls the lab and they show up with rifles to retrieve their robot, she has second thoughts. He’s terrified of being disassembled, and she can see that he’s no ordinary machine. She decides to do whatever she can to help him, and that involves convincing Newton that his creation has taken on a life of its own.
This movie has a lot of great comedy in it. It also contains some swearing, which you might watch out for. My son loves robots, so I let him watch it with me, and we had a good object lesson on what swearing is and why we don’t want to do that. He’s nine, though, and depending on the ages of your children, you might want to watch it after they’re in bed.
This movie is rated PG.
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