There’s been a drought in robot movies with the peak seemingly hitting in the early 2000s when CG was becoming better. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace definitely took advantage of this new technology but so too did other robotic films. Even though these films feature mechanical humanoids, viewers can empathize with their plights.
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Love, like Math, is a universal language. It knows no bounds in age or species whether that is between a man and a robot or two robots. Some of these movies end with a happily ever after while others are a bit more tragic. Let’s rank them based on how powerful the love story is. There will be spoilers.
7
Paul and Samantha (Deadly Friend)
A Chip Off The Old BB Block
Deadly Friend is a lesser known title from Wes Craven, known most for creating the Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. Deadly Friend isn’t a slasher but it is a dark horror movie that begins with a robotics student, Paul, moving into a new neighborhood. He quickly becomes infatuated with his next door neighbor, Samantha, who unfortunately dies not long into the movie after her father abuses her.
Paul cannot accept her death so he implants a chip from his destroyed robot BB into her brain to resurrect her along with modifying it a bit more. Her love for Paul even in this new robotic state is so strong that she even kills for him with one of the most gruesome deaths with a basketball imaginable (look it up). Unfortunately, Samantha gets put down by the cops and Paul cannot live happily ever after.
6
Josh and Iris (Companion)
Treat Your Appliances Well
Those that missed the trailer for Companion will be in for a treat as there’s a twist early on. It begins with a meet cute in a grocery story between Josh and Iris. Things flash forward a bit when the happy couple go to a retreat in the woods to meet some friends.
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What Iris doesn’t know is that she is a robot specifically made to Josh’s specifications. What’s even worse, Josh sets this cabin retreat up to frame Iris for murder so that he can steal the owner’s money. Against all odds, even though she still loves him deeply, Iris fights for her freedom one bloody kill at a time in Companion.
5
L3-37 and Lando (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
Recontextualizing The Original Trilogy
Most fans can agree that Solo: A Star Wars Story did not need to be made. Not that it’s necessarily bad but there weren’t many questions fans had about Han Solo. That said, it did answer a big question concerning another space outlaw: Lando Calrissian.
He’s partnered with a droid in the movie, L3-37, and the two share quite the romantic connection albeit unrequited. To save the Millennium Falcon, and the crew, she uses her own body to implant her A.I. into the ship. The love of Lando’s life became the Millennium Falcon which makes the idea that Han took the ship away from him more meaningful in the context of the original trilogy.
4
Sheldon and Francesca (I’m Here)
A Short Film Ending On Disaster
- Director: Spike Jonze
- Producer: Vincent Landay
- Released: January 21, 2010
- Length: 31 Minutes
I’m Here is a short film made by Spike Jonze. He’s a director known for his weird takes and while Her may be the more famous romantically inclined robot film in his repertoire, I’m Here deserves a spotlight too. The film begins with Sheldon, a robot librarian going through the motions. One day he meets Francesca, another robot, at his bus station and the two hit it off quickly and they make quite the pair.
Unfortunately, Francesca is a bit clumsy and she loses an arm and a leg at different points both of which are replaced by Sheldon with his own parts. In the end, Francesca’s entire body is destroyed save for her head, so Sheldon sacrifices his whole body to save her. It seems like things work out in the end even though Sheldon is just a head now. I’m Here raises some big questions but Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory play their parts well even in light of some hanging questions.
3
Portia and Andrew (Bicentennial Man)
Generations Of Love
Bicentennial Man
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Embeth Davidtz
Little Miss
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Oliver Platt
Rupert Burns
Bicentennial Man literally shows two hundred years into the life of an android named Andrew. Unlike most of his kind, Andrew is special and learns what it is to be human with his new family. The movie takes many time jumps, the first significant one moving to when the children are old enough to get married. Andrew’s favorite, Little Miss, is seemingly asking him to date but they can’t because he’s a robot so she marries a man instead. Time passes again and now Andrew is getting involved with his freedom along with upgrading his parts to become even more advanced.
He gets synthetic skin, organs, and the whole nine yards. This leads him back to his beloved Little Miss who is an old lady now much to Andrew’s amazement. Zanier yet, her granddaughter, Portia, looks just like her. The two are at each other’s throats at first but given time, the two begin dating. Andrew goes so far as to age alongside Portia using human blood with the movie ending with their deaths hand in hand. It’s complicated but moving thanks to a nuanced performance by the late great Robin Williams.
2
WALL-E and EVE (WALL-E)
Beyond Adorable
WALL-E is one of Pixar’s best films without a sequel and it’s certainly one of their most romantic. The titular WALL-E is a little robot sent to Earth to clean up the wreckage left by humanity. He’s alone until he sees the most gorgeous robot, EVE, who is a newer model.
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The two begin a courtship with little dialogue until EVE takes WALL-E into space following the discovery of plant life on Earth. The mockery of humanity may be what the movie is known most for, but there’s no denying how cute WALL-E and EVE are together and they definitely deserve their happy ending.
1
Wanda and Vision (Avengers: Infinity War)
A Love So Reach, She Kidnapped A Town
Wanda and Vision begin their courtship before Avengers: Infinity War, but it hit an all time peak in the film. It also hit an all time low as Vision is killed in the fight against Thanos. All is not lost though as Wanda used her amazing gift in the show WandaVision to create a new life for herself and Vision. The first Disney+ MCU show certainly had an air of mystery to it.
Wanda turned into a villain by the end as it was revealed she kidnapped a town and played make-believe with a clone of Vision and imaginary children. While this is a bit of a cheat given that this is a show and not a movie, their romance did blossom in the MCU films first. It just ended terribly and didn’t get any better for either party in WandaVision. Still, it’s hard to deny how strong Wanda’s love was even though she went about it in the wrong way.
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