Artificial Intelligence and its uses may be more popular today, but Hollywood has been pushing the narratives from as far back as the 1950s. One such movie was 1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still, with a robot character named Gort. Artificial Intelligence movies have always been a hit, especially because of the idea that robots may one day save or destroy the world — depending which side of the argument you favor.
Besides R2-D2 of Star Wars fame and RoboCop’s Murphy, few other Artificial Intelligence examples have stayed in our minds like I, Robot‘s VIKI and Sonny. However, I, Robot was one movie that stood out in its era, with a fantastic storyline and cast. Will Smith plays the protagonist Detective Del Spooner, while a young Shia LaBeouf plays Farber, a friend of Will Smith’s character.
The movie, set in 2035, was a box office success and had amazing scenes. Let’s take a look at some of the most captivating scenes in the movie.
Detective Del’s Dream
Credit: I, Robot
The most notable scene at the film’s beginning is Will Smith’s character, Detective Del, being rescued from a sinking car by a robot. In the scene, the detective tries to signal the robot first to save a young drowning 12-year-old girl. The detective is saved, and the car sinks away to the bottom of the river.
Although this scene wakes the detective up from his sleep, viewers discover later that it’s much more than a dream. It sets the stage for the detective’s hatred for robots. He believes robots are unable to make critical, emotional decisions. The detective argues that the robot made a judgment from calculations of who has the highest probability of survival.
The 3 Laws of Robotics
Credit: I, Robot
To help protect humans, the humanoid robots were designed and governed by three laws. The movie begins by stating each law.
- First Law
“A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”
- Second Law
“A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.”
- Third Law
“A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”
The Death of Dr. Alfred Lanning
Credit: I, Robot
The movie starts with the death of one of the co-founders of U.S. Robotics (USR), Dr Alfred Lanning. The doctor, who wrote and programmed the three laws, jumps off from his office in an apparent suicide attempt, but a message requests that Detective Del Spooner be assigned to investigate the case.
Video footage from outside the office shows no one entered or left his office. However, video footage from within the office at the time of the suicide attempt is corrupted. This leads Detective Del to believe the killer is still in the office. He also believes a robot is involved as the old doctor would not have been able to break the office’s security windows.
This scene sets the stage for the movie. The scene left questions like, why would a creator of robots call the only detective in Chicago with an open hatred for robots?
Detective Del’s Encounter with Sonny
Credit: I, Robot
The first shocking scene of the movie involves an NS-5 robot, Sonny, jumping from a pile of garbage. The Detective’s instinct was right, as the suspect was indeed hiding in the office. Sonny makes a run for it and jumps out of the same window the Doctor jumped from. However, as a robot, he survives the jump but leaves a trail of fluid from where he was shot.
Tunnel Ambush
Credit: I, Robot
VIKI believes the detective is catching on to her game plan and decides to kill him in an ambush. For the first time in the movie, we see an army of rogue humanoid robots attack the detective in a tunnel. The scary part about the scene is that it showed how AI could take control if systems are not put in place.
Enforcing VIKI’s Curfew and Lockdown
Credit: I, Robot
VIKI orders the NS-5s to destroy the older model robots and ensure humans obey the curfew. VIKI is trying to check humans from causing their extinction, but humans refuse to take instructions from robots. Humans try to fight back, and chaos erupts. The Detective, Sonny, and Dr. Calvin (a robot psychologist) decide to stop VIKI by shutting her down.Will Smith’s
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