Sentient robots have been a part of popular culture for a while now and Short Circuit has been one of those that people really related to somehow. Johnny 5, as the robot became known eventually, was struck by a bolt of lightning and somehow became sentient despite his programming only enabling him to be just another machine to be used. When he escapes and befriends a human however the US military comes looking for him in order to deactivate Johnny 5 and start over. Having learned what it means to ‘die’ however Johnny 5 is adamant about his desire to remain functional. The film spawned a sequel that didn’t get much in the way of praise but the original is still fun to watch.
It’s one of the least challenging robot movies of all time.
10. Every part of Johnny was built with a specific purpose.
His ‘eyelids’ for example weren’t just for showing expression, but also for shading his ‘eyes’ so that too much light wouldn’t filter into the lenses. Everything added had to be practical in some way.
9. A good chunk of the film’s budget was spent creating Number 5.
The robot took well over $1 million to make, and was still fairly limited in what it could do.
8. A lot of the tricks used by Johnny 5 were done with clever sleight of hand techniques.
Scenes such as when he’s flipping pages in the book, or lifting anything, had to be manipulated just right since the robot couldn’t move all that quickly and wasn’t insanely strong.
7. This film was shot in the same town as The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop.
It was shot in Astoria, Oregon. In fact if you look around town you can pinpoint just where Johnny 5 was standing in the movie when the town becomes recognizable.
6. The sound effect of Johnny 5’s lasers is the same sound that’s used for the proton packs in Ghostbusters.
It seems like a lot of sounds get tossed around in films but this one is hard to miss since it’s so distinctive once you hear in the Ghostbusters movie.
5. There was a script written for a third film.
It was written and ready to go but eventually it was decided that it wasn’t clear as to whether the third movie would follow the first two or if it would be a different movie.
4. During a scene in which Johnny 5 flips a coin a wire is used.
The finer motor functions needed for this weren’t available so they had to get creative.
3. Instead of using stop-motion the director opted to go with more practical effects.
Stop-motion doesn’t seem like it would have been all that great in this movie, but filming like regular seemed to pan out.
2. Stephanie’s house still exists.
You can go to Astoria and look it up, but it’s recommended to keep your distance since it’s still an active residence.
1. There were a number of similarities between the robots in this film and the Terminator robots.
It probably seems like trying to match up an orange with a grapefruit in a way but there are some similarities.
It was a fun movie for it’s time.
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