From Metropolis to Avengers: Age of Ultron, robots are such a staple of movie-going that it's easy to forget they haven't always been around. The idea of automated machines doing work for us has existed for as long as civilization, but it wasn't until 1920 that Czech playwright Karel Čapek coined the word "robot" to describe a humanoid machine in a play called R.U.R.
Robots have been part of science fiction since even before the word existed, but as powerful as literary explorations of the technology can be, there's nothing like seeing it on-screen. Maybe it's because, through the power of visual effects and production design, movies can give even the most futuristic robot an existence we can actually see. Or maybe it's that watching real people react to robots allows us to explore the relationship between humanity and technology by watching actual human bodies and faces.
Updated by David Giatras October 14th, 2023: As society drifts more and more towards the "future" that has been featured in many past robot movies, there has been a shift in storytelling based on today's technology. The rise of AI has gone hand in hand with anything concerning robots, and this has been reflected in some contemporary robot movies that viewers have seen over the years.
25 Bicentennial Man
1999
Bicentennial Man stars Robin Williams as Andrew, an android who longs to become human. As Andrew begins to exhibit emotions, the film follows his life over two hundred years as he strives to be more and more human. The film is based on The Positronic Man by Issac Asimov and Robert Silverberg.
While the film did not get the best reviews, it contains a memorable performance from Williams. It begs the question of what to do if a robot wanted to become human. The film explores these themes alongside the Three Laws of Robotics, also developed by Asimov in his works.
24 Westworld
1973
HBO's Westworld may have been a hit upon release, but the concept made its debut in a much earlier age of visual effects. Written and directed by Michael Crichton, Westworld still managed to channel the novelist/filmmaker's amusement park-based fears into a forward-thinking thriller that fuses together future tech and America's Old West. While mostly sharing a premise with the show, the original Westworld actually features not just one, but three "world"-simulated parks, each populated by robots that facilitate visitors' fantasies.
Its stroke of genius, however, is casting. In West World, a main attraction is The Gunslinger, programmed to duel guests, so picking the original The Magnificent Seven lead Yul Brynner lends a layer of genre commentary. This is especially true once things go wrong and the robots start attacking humans. Westworld was the first movie to use digital image processing to create the pixilated, first-person point of view now standard in depicting the world through robots' eyes.
23 Hardware
1990
Hardware isn't one of the best-known robot movies, but it is one of the most underrated. Directed by Richard Stanley and based on Shok! - a short story from the classic British sci-fi magazine "2000 AD" - Hardware brings a unique aesthetic to its dystopian world that's especially impressive considering its low budget. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the movie's seemingly deactivated robot, MARK 13, is discovered by a scavenger, who sells it at one of the world's few remaining cities, where it ultimately ends up part of a sculpture in an artist's home.
What follows is a combination of thriller, horror and sci-fi that reviewers at the time couldn't help but compare to MTV, thanks to its in-your-face style. It's got substance too: not just in how creatively it brings the "2000 AD" aesthetic to the screen, but also in its cautionary tale of technology gone wrong.
22 The Transformers: The Movie
1986
Forget Michael Bay; the greatest Transformers movie is from 1986. While it may not be quite as awe-inspiring as an adult to watch a movie effectively open with the deaths of both sides' leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, there's plenty that will leave you at least surprised in a way you would not have been as a kid. The Transformers: The Movie features Monty Python member Eric Idle as the leader of a group of scavenging robots from a junk planet, who learned English by intercepting human TV signals.
The film also stars Leonard Nimoy in his second-most robotic role as Megatron's upgraded form, Galvatron. In addition to Nimoy, The Transformers: The Movie features the greatest Transformers villain ever, the planet-devouring Unicron. Unicron is voiced by none other than Hollywood legend Orson Welles, in the final role of his career.
21 A.I.
2001
A.I. Artificial Intelligence was directed by Stephen Spielberg and stars Haley Joel Osment as David, a childlike android whose programming gives him the ability to love. David sets out to become a “real boy” after he yearns to regain his human mother’s love after a horrific incident.
The film is woefully underrated and sometimes forgotten about among Spielberg’s work. It received 2 Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects. It was originally going to be made by Stanley Kubrick, who then gave the rights over to Spielberg after his long journey to making the film proved unsuccessful.
20 Short Circuit
1986
After first taking on the idea of artificial intelligence in WarGames, director John Badham went in a more comedic direction and gave us Short Circuit. The film stars Number 5, a prototype military robot that gains sentience after a power surge, and accidentally escapes into the world. Also known as Johnny Five, Number 5 itself looks a bit like Wall-E, but its whimsical personality makes him a particularly classic 80s bot.
While it may not seem quite as out there today, it's the movie's approach that sets it apart. On the one hand, there's a main robot designed by legendary Blade Runner and Tron artist Syd Mead, but on the other, it's got '80s star Ally Sheedy as an animal lover who mistakes the robot for an alien visitor, with all the hilarity that entails.
19 Brian And Charles
2022
Brian and Charles stars David Earl as Brian, a lonely inventor going through a depression. After going through scraps and finding a mannequin’s head, he builds his own robot, which names itself Charles (Chris Heyward). The film explores the friction between the two as Charles yearns to explore the world while Brian works hard to keep him a secret.
The film is based on the short film of the same name, also created by director Jim Archer, with this film being his feature debut. Archer, Earl and Heyward all developed the short together. It received a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film and was well-received by critics and audiences alike.
18 Robot & Frank
2012
Robot & Frank follows an ex-jewel thief (Robert Langella) with Alzheimer's who receives a robot as a gift from his son. The robot is meant to look after him, but the two decide to team up and go on heists together. The film was director Jake Schreier's directorial debut.
Through the use of its robot, the film provides social commentary about elder care. Could a robot be trusted to be a companion for those with Alzheimer's or dementia? Viewers found the film to be very thought-provoking and a creative way of making it not feel like a general robot movie.
17 Avengers: Age Of Ultron
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron follows the Avengers as they deal with the threat of Ultron, an all-knowing AI hellbent on destroying humanity. Built by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, Ultron was meant to be a peacekeeping tool, but the robot became self-aware and decided that humanity needed to be eradicated.
The climactic battle in Sokovia against Ultron and his robot minions is easily the highlight of the film. It is also another film that explores the potential dangers of AI and what can happen if it begins to think for itself. While Age of Ultron was not the most-loved movie in the MCU, it has fared better over time and included many plot threads that were explored in later MCU movies.
16 The Stepford Wives
1975
Not many movies can spawn a whole new phrase out of their title, but the original, 1975 sci-fi horror thriller The Stepford Wives certainly did. Adapted by The Princess Bride screenwriter William Goldman from Ira Levin's book of the same name, the film dives into the seemingly perfect Connecticut suburb of Stepford, where the Berhart family has just moved. But the wives of the town are suspiciously well-mannered and vacuous, and given that there are robots involved, there is something far more sinister at play.
While director Bryan Forbes faced criticism of the film's depiction of women, the filmmakers maintained that the movie was really about the dangers of a male chauvinism-dominated world. Either way, the most praise should be due to the actresses playing the wives themselves, who manage to perfectly pitch their performances in a way that can be both frightening and darkly funny at the same time.
15 Real Steel
2011
Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up boxer who has turned to robot boxing to make money. He is reunited with his estranged son Max, and they train a robot, dubbed Atom, to go after the global boxing title held by the undefeated champion Zeus. The film also provides commentary about robots taking over a number of things in society, something many viewers can relate to in today's world.
A modest success upon release, the film has been a hit as of late due to streaming services. It has been compared to a robot Rocky movie, but many viewers fell in love with the personal family story that goes along with it. Due to recent interest, a sequel series is being developed for Disney+ and a sequel starring Jackman has been discussed.
14 M3GAN
2022
M3GAN follows Gemma (Alison Williams), a robotics engineer, who builds a life-like doll, dubbed M3GAN. Things go from revolutionary to sinister when the doll takes on a life of her own, especially when Gemma’s 8-year-old niece Cady (Violet McGraw) becomes attached to it.
M3GAN was a surprise hit, delivering a modern spin on a story similar to Child’s Play and the infamous Chucky doll. The film’s success led to a sequel entering development, entitled M3GAN 2.0. The sequel is dated for January 17th, 2025 with Williams and McGraw planning to return.
13 The Forbidden Planet
1956
This 1956 MGM classic isn't just considered one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time, but one of the most boundary-pushing. Directed by Fred M. Wilcox, The Forbidden Planet follows the crew of C-57D, a 23rd-century starship sent to the distant planet Altair IV to investigate the mysterious silence of a planetary colony.
The film used distinctive sets, the first-ever all-electronic musical score, and beautiful, cosmic matte paintings to put humanity's space-traveling future onscreen like never before. As one of the planet's few survivors, Robby the Robot blazed the film trails as one of the first robots to be a true, distinctive character, complete with trademark dry wit. Robby actually went on to appear in over two dozen more movies and TV shows following the film's release.
12 The World's End
2013
It's no surprise that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World director Edgar Wright and Star Trek Beyond co-writer Simon Pegg could come up with one of the best sci-fi comedies of the 21st century. When middle-aged alcoholic Gary King drags his reluctant high school friends back to their hometown in order to complete their 1990 pub crawl, it sets in motion a hilarious, but surprisingly poignant set of character conflicts, as King bemoans how the town has changed.
Only, the town hasn't just changed, it's been taken over by robot replacements of many of its people, known as "blanks." It helps that, for the first 15 minutes, the movie is a perfectly executed, darkly funny character drama. The relationship between these blanks and the dreams and disappointments of King and his friends are as thematically deep as Blade Runner.
11 Ghost in the Shell
1995
Mamoru Oshii's animated feature adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga fused the wild animated action you can only find in the highest-budgeted anime movies with real philosophical introspection. Taking place in 2029, the story follows Major Motoko Kusanagi, a police detective and "full-body prosthesis augmented-cybernetic human" tasked with capturing a hacker, which quickly pulls her into a web of intrigues both political and existential.
With its Akira-esque cityscapes, explorations of artificial intelligence, identity, and the nature of life in a technology-saturated world, and wild soundtrack from Kenji Kawai, Ghost in the Shell stands on its own as one of the last great cyberpunk works. But perhaps the greatest endorsement of this cyborg-starring saga is that when The Wachowskis were pitching The Matrix, they showed the film to producer Joel Silver and said they would do it for real.
10 I, Robot
2004
I, Robot stars Will Smith as Del Spooner, a detective for the Chicago police department who investigates the alleged suicide of U.S. Robotics founder Alfred Lanning in 2035. Deeply mistrusting of robots, Spooner's investigation leads to a surprising discovery that maybe a robot could have been involved.
This robot movie also begs whether robots should be trusted to make their own decisions. Part of Spooner's hatred for robots is that one saved him from drowning after a car crash but did not save a 12-year-old girl simply based on logic. The film was certainly ahead of its time as today's society grapples with the rise of AI and the moral questions that come with it.
9 The Day The Earth Stood Still
1951
Reverberating through film history with the alien phrase "Klaatu barada nikto," The Day the Earth Stood Still stands the test of time, and its robot is no exception. Robert Wise created this particular black-and-white sci-fi tale based on Harry Bates' 1940 novel, in which a flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C. Klaatu, a humanoid alien and a massive, strikingly designed robot called Gort emerge, setting in motion an early precursor to movies like Arrival.
Like many of these robot greats, the movie uses its sci-fi trappings to tell a story about humanity, but more uniquely, in this case, its scope encompasses literally all of humanity. As the world tries to manage its response, the key to it all is the strong, silent Gort, who was portrayed so ably by seven-foot-seven actor Lock Martin in a rubber suit.
8 Wall-E
2008
Andrew Stanton's masterpiece takes advantage of the unique possibilities of 3D animation to turn its two mechanical leads into universally recognizable characters. In an Earth that's been covered in garbage and abandoned, WALL-E is the only trash-cleaning robot left, living alone until he discovers the space probe EVE, and the two connect. However, returning humanity to Earth threatens to separate them.
It's almost hard to believe one of Pixar's most beloved movies spends almost 40 minutes without any dialogue and that it centers around a love story between two robots, but Wall-E isn't really a normal movie. The junky robot WALL-E is someone viewers can relate to even though he doesn't quite speak in words. But through his smaller tale, Wall-E pulls back to tell a larger story about humanity, both future and present.
7 Ex Machina
2015
Anyone who saw the Alex Garland-written Sunshine or 28 Days Later knew he had sci-fi skills, but his directorial debut is still something to behold. Set almost entirely in one location, Ex Machina, follows programmer Caleb as he wins the chance to stay at tech CEO/genius Nathan Bateman secluded retreat, where he meets Ava, an artificial intelligence experiment Nathan has placed in a human female-shaped body.
Nathan wants Caleb to run a Turing test, by having a series of conversations with Ava. But once Ava starts attempting to enlist the cyber-love struck Caleb's aid in escaping the basement lab she's trapped in, Ex Machina gets crazy. Real-world allusions like these, coupled with the spectacular CG effects and the amazingly layered performances from Isaac and Vikander, make this a great movie. But what makes it a great robot movie is how victory completely goes to the machine.
6 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991
Terminator 2: Judgment Day took James Cameron's robot menace to the next level. Where the first film was essentially a great horror movie that effortlessly looped in time travel, androids, and other classic sci-fi material, the sequel expanded things to a much more epic scale. Bringing back Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, Cameron made a key decision in having him portray an old Terminator reprogrammed to protect young John Connor instead of killing him.
But, as great as The Terminator is, the real hero of this movie is Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. In the first movie, she's already capable enough of trying to escape the Terminator, but in this film, she has been training for another attack and can truly hold her own. With Cameron's unbeatable action, and the old Terminator up against the crazy, pioneering CG of the liquid-metal T-1000, T2 is some of the best robot-based cinema you will ever see.