Review of Short Circuit

Introduction

The eighties was a wonderful decade for genre comedies. Hits like Back To The Future, Gremlins and Ghostbusters ruled the box office for much of that decade. Below the premiere league were movies like Batteries Not Included, Cocoon, Innerspace and Teenwolf. It was a remarkably prolific period that contrasts with the dearth of such movies today. But with the marvel of the DVD revolution, I get a chance to re-experience some gems of the decade that taste forgot, and while I wait impatiently for a release of Weird Science, I can console myself with Short Circuit, and I finally get a chance to see it in its widescreen glory.

NOVA Robotics is on the cutting edge of military science, and has been developing autonomous robots for use in the battlefield. On the day that the first five units are being shown off to potential customers, a lightning strike hits robot Number 5 and intelligence awakens. The disoriented robot, fascinated by the world it is newly conscious of, wanders off the premises before anyone notices, and soon NOVA is in an uproar trying to locate a nuclear robot armed with a lethal laser, unleashed on unsuspecting Oregon. Scientist Newton Crosby is fascinated by the malfunction and wishes to study the renegade robot, but chief of security Skroeder will only be satisfied with Number 5 in pieces. Meanwhile Number 5 in his search for input has encountered caterer and animal lover Stephanie Speck, who has mistaken the robot for a visitor from the stars.

Video

Short Circuit is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio. The picture is impressive, clear and sharp throughout with nary a blemish or age mark to mar the viewing experience. If only all 18-year-old films got transfers this good. The visual highpoint of the film is the robot design of course, and the design still holds up well today, futuristic and mechanical yet anthropomorphic enough to engender audience sympathy.

Audio

However the sound is less spectacular, merely recreating the original Stereo track. The dialogue is clear throughout and the ubiquitous eighties pop music comes across a dream. For the superior soundtrack though, it may be worth considering the Region 1`s 5.1 remix. This disc also has to make do without subtitles I`m afraid.

Features

No audio commentary on the Region 2 disc, but there are two interview featurettes. First Syd Mead talks for 18 minutes on the design of the robots, and his own personal history and experience. The second interview is with Eric Allard, Special Effects Supervisor and he discusses how the robots were realised in the final film. This lasts for 35 minutes and both interviews are presented in a 4:3 regular format. The menu is simply a still with the choice of the interviews, the movie and scene select overlaid on it.

Conclusion

Short Circuit is still an enjoyable film, with plenty of good clean family fun, comedy and quirky characters to thoroughly entertain over its 94 minute running time. Yet it doesn`t quite hit all the right notes to ensure its place in the pantheon of eighties classics. The cast by and large is good, Ally Sheedy is great as Stephanie, the kind-hearted caterer who encounters Number 5 and educates him about the wider world. Steve Guttenberg is pretty non-descript as scientist Newton Crosby, and I just can`t accept him as a top military robotic scientist. It doesn`t help when nearly every scene is stolen by Fisher Stevens, browned up as fellow scientist Ben Jabituya and sporting the thickest Indian accent this side of Mind Your Language. It`s pretty believable too, and I had no problems with his casting. I can also appreciate his chat up technique. "I enjoyed repeatedly throwing you to the ground, Namaste" Actually the two of them do have a brief routine about socially inept scientists finally unleashed on an unsuspecting world, but unfortunately that isn`t taken far enough to develop their characters. Guttenberg`s fellow Police Academy alumnus G.W. Bailey basically reprises his Lieutenant Harris character as NOVA`s chief of security, Skroeder.

It`s interesting to hear that Short Circuit was initially envisaged as a serious film, a tale of machines turning against their masters, but as Terminator had already effectively covered that story, this comedy was the result. The problem with Short Circuit is that director John Badham had already covered this ground to far better effect in the earlier Wargames, another tale of machine intelligence gone out of control. Short Circuit is pretty much the same tale, without the threat of nuclear Armageddon and with plenty of slapstick instead. Once again the evil military monolith is relentlessly plunging ahead with automating warfare, but this time it doesn`t take a couple of teenagers to teach them a lesson, this time it`s the machine who develops a conscience. The message gets diluted in a barrage of slapstick humour and hilarity and Short Circuit is definitely aimed at the lower age bracket of the audience. I`m sure your inner child will appreciate the anthropomorphic cuteness of Number 5, and adults will get the Three Stooges homage and the John Wayne impersonation. It`s just that after the robot with a soul moment has passed, the story begins to feel a little thin, and I was left wondering how much more Short Circuit could have been.

A fun movie for the young `uns, on a disc with splendid picture quality, but little else, well worth the price tag though, and infinitely better than the sequel.