Short Circuit: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Number Five... is Alive!"''}}

{{quote|''"Life is NOT a malfunction!"''|'''Stephanie Speck'''}}

 

 

In the first film (1986) NOVA robotics demonstrates five experimental robots for military use. With mobile tank treads, impressive tactile response, limited AI and a very dangerous laser weapon, they are bleeding edge advanced machines. During a storm, SAINT #5 is [[Lightning Can Do Anything|struck by lightning]], frying its circuits and causing a critical malfunction in its programming. It wanders off unnoticed, headed for the unsuspecting denizens of a small town, in particular one defenseless girl and animal lover named Stephanie Speck (Ally Sheedy). It is a race against time to recapture the wayward robot before disaster strikes - but it is already too late. Number Five is adapting... learning... and willfully ignoring commands.

A remake is being planned, but it is in the very early stages.

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* [[Adorkable]]: Just about everyone, admit it. Most notably: Ben, Newton and Johnny.

** Even then, the AI is incredibly amicable and nonviolent, and takes some serious pushing(a major betrayal and ''very'' serious and brutal attempt on its life) just to move it from an [[Actual Pacifist]] to a [[Technical Pacifist]].

* [[Armies Are Evil]]: Strictly speaking, the "soldiers" are NOVA's security team and not proper military, but close enough.

* [[Badass Unintentional]]: Johnny Five, in the second movie, since he's a [[Technical Pacifist]].

* [[Berserk Button]]: Do not mistreat Johnny Five's friends, and do not treat him like a mere machine. He WILL find you, and he WILL deal the most humiliating yet nonviolent punishment imaginable. Stephanie's ex-boyfriend and {{spoiler|Oscar}} both found that out '''FIRSTHAND'''.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Johnny and Ben. You do ''not'' want to be around Ben if something's happened to Johnny on your watch. Just see [[Berserk Button]] above to see why it's an equally bad idea to take Johnny lightly.

* [[Big Stupid Doodoo Head]]: "I've got an error message for you! I'll scramble your RAM!!" Quoted by Saunders, apparently unsure of how to properly insult a robot. Johnny is understandably less than impressed.

* [[Bus Full of Innocents]]: Howard is scared that the malfunctioning Number 5 might attack one.

{{quote|'''Howard:''' What if it decides to melt down a bus full of nuns? How would you write the headline on ''that''?!

* [[But I Read a Book About It]]: Newton's response when Ben asks if he's ever seen a woman naked.

** Standard fare for Johnny-Five. With most of his fairly short life spent interacting with only about a half-dozen humans in any significant way, the majority of his experience and knowledge comes from the piles upon piles of books he's read.

* [[Candlelit Bath]]: Parodied.

{{quote|'''Number Five:''' "Stephanie... change color? Attractive! [[If You Know What I Mean|Nice software]]!"}}

* [[Dissimile]]: Fred explaining that he didn't "lose" Johnny Five. He just "[[From a Certain Point of View|misplaced]] him, y'know? Like your car keys."

** "'''''HOW ARE YOU MISPLACING A 700 POUND CAR KEY?!'''''"

* [[Does Not Know His Own Strength]]: Johnny, in the second movie. When he wants to push past someone (usually [[Con Man|Fred]]) he tends to toss him halfway across the room. Not to mention the trouble he gives the two police officers when they arrest him for trashing the bookstore.

* [[Do Not Pass Go]]: In the second movie.

{{quote|'''Johnny Five:''' ''You will book me, Danno? I will make your day? Do not pass go?''}}

''' Howard:''' "I thought they were choppers."

'''Skroeder:''' "Well, now they're called Hueys."

** This is likely Skroeder's mistake, as "Huey" is a specific model of helicopter, not the catch-all term for helicopters Skroeder seems to think it is.

* [[Everyone Knows Morse]]: [[Subverted Trope]] in the sequel.

* [[Family-Unfriendly Violence]]: Johnny Five's {{spoiler|[[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|ridiculously graphic maiming]] at the hands of the bank robbers}}.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Johnny seems to believe this is the reason {{spoiler|Oscar tried to kill Johnny, but only locked Ben and Fred in a freezer. See [[Lock and Load Montage]] for the result.}}

* [[Foreshadowing]]:

** {{spoiler|Oscar's}} goons {{spoiler|destroying the No.5 replica}} early in the second film.

** And at the police station:

* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: All the military robots.

** In the sequel Johnny replaces his with a [[Utility Belt|Utility Pack]].

* [[Funny Foreigner]]: Benjamin Jabituya.

** In the first movie, he was more of a [[Plucky Comic Relief]] character. In the second movie, they gave him the last name Jahrvi and tried to give him a more serious story, while still keeping him funny.

* [[G-Rated Drug]]: Apparently, knowledge is this to a newly sentient robot. [[Played for Laughs]], of course.

{{quote|'''Number Five:''' [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|Need! More! Input!]]}}

{{quote|"Los Locos kick your ass!"

"Los Locos kick your face!"

* [[Geek Physiques]]: Ben and his bank robber counterpart, Saunders, are both portrayed as weaklings.

* [[General Ripper]]: Schroeder decides, without bothering to listen to the guy who built it, that recovering SAINT Five requires loads and loads of military firepower aimed in the general direction of the robot regardless of the presence of innocent bystanders.

* [[Genius Ditz]]: Newton Crosby and Ben, and later Number Five himself.

* [[Granola Girl]]: Stephanie. Takes in all manner of poor and homeless animals (and one sentient robot), runs a truck that she sells natural food out of, and expresses her deep displeasure with the military and their weapons.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Newton and Ben. (Ben lampshades this a couple of times.)

* [[Hollywood Nerd]]: Newton isn't exactly smooth with the ladies.

* [[No Sympathy]]: Crosby taking No. 2 (without permission) on his hunt for No. 5, causing Howard to wet his drawers some more.

{{quote|'''Howard:''' Great! So instead of $11 million on the loose, we're going to have ''twenty-two''!

* [[Oblivious to Love]]: Ben's love interest, the woman representing the toy company he had a deal with, doesn't even notice his (poor) attempts at romancing her until Johnny bungles their date.

* [[Odd Couple]]: Mild-mannered, scrupulous Ben and slovenly, amoral Fred.

* [[Race Against the Clock]]: Fred, when repairing Johnny in Radio Shack.

{{quote|'''Fred''': "I can't do this, I'm no good at this stuff!"

* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: Probably originally meant for combat mode, Johnny's back-lit red "eyes" are usually a telltale sign you've managed to tick off the normally happy-go-lucky pacifist robot.

{{quote|'''Johnny Five''': (catches crowbar midswing)'''''Bad humans!'''''}}

* [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]]: Personality-wise, not appearance-wise.

* [[Robosexual]]: Number 5 hitting on Stephanie in the tub.

* [[Run for the Border]]: {{spoiler|Oscar}} and his cronies devise a clever plot to smuggle the jewels into South America. Each one is hidden inside a cheap, plastic toy dinosaur; "Our gift to the Brazilian National Orphanage."

* [[Running Gag]]: Skroder seems rather obsessed with food...

'''Skroder''': How many kids you got, Doctor?

'''Crosby''': None.

** He also mistakes Number 5 for a coffee machine.

* [[Secret Underground Passage]]: The tunnel connecting Ben's warehouse with a high-security bank vault.

* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: Rosy idealism.

* [[Starring Special Effects]]: Despite the films' relatively low budget, the animatronics used for Johnny Five were top of the line and very impressive for the time. He was designed by ''[[Blade Runner]]'' legend Syd Mead.

{{quote|'''Fred''': "Come on now, man, these are serious guys! You're not in top form a-and your back-up battery's used up!?"

* [[Super Prototype]]

* [[Super Speed Reading]]: Johnny can breeze through books at a frightening rate, though apparently he's not programmed to re-shelve them. Set him loose in a bookstore and, [[Oh Crap|well]]...

* [[Trampled Underfoot]]: The opening shot shows a tank running over flowers.

** Johnny learns about death when he accidentally tramples a grasshopper.

{{quote|'''Sandy''': "If we get a ticket, I'll pay for it!"}}

* [[Voice Changeling]]: Johnny, like most [[The Terminator|self-aware robots from the Eighties]], can mimic anyone's voice.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Film]]