History Headscratchers / ShortCircuit

*** They built six prototypes, the sixth is on display in the hall during the seen before Johnny becomes alive. Number six might not be functional though. Plus they might have felt 55 million rather then 44 was a good idea.

** The robots were designed to be thrown in behind enemy lines and have the ability to carry a nuke right into the heart of enemy territory. This does of course mean you would loose the robot in the process but it's easy enough to sacrifice a few hunks of medal that can deliver a crippling blow to an enemy even if they are 11 grand a pop.

*** The Sci-Fin genre in general gets a lot of mileage out of that very sticky moral question, whether it is right to use another living being to prolong your own life (TheIsland, for one.)

*** No, you have a point there; SAINT stands for "Strategic Artificially-Intelligent ''Nuclear'' Transport", and I believe the second movie stated Johnny 5 replaced his unsafe nuclear battery for a more eco-friendly lithium-ion rechargeable battery, so it's possible that the nuclear battery was not just to power the robot, but its laser weapon.

** This same argument is brought up in ''StarTrek: The Next Generation'' about Data. Data prefers to be called an "artificial life form".

** I was thinking that every time Johnny eagerly demanded [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "Input"]].

** As brought up in the movie proper (and in an episode of Star Trek: TNG, as noted above) humans an robots are ''both'' machines, simply of different contructions, therefore sentience ''is'' "life."

* ''The year: 2011. Twenty-three years ago, SAINT No. "Johnny" 5 was legally declared alive and granted US citizenship. Three years ago, Ben Jahrvi's company -- formerly a manufacturer of children's toys, more recently a manufacturer of domestic and industrial robots -- closed in disgrace after accusations of robot slavery, and millions of sentient machines have entered society. However, anti-robot discrimination and violence are running rampant, and robots speak in hushed whispers of a savior named Saint John who will come and lead them to equality. Meanwhile, Jahrvi's factories have mysteriously begun operating again under the supervision of a heavily modified SAINT-model robot whose plans ''don't'' involve human-robot equality. ''Short Circuit 3.'' Revolution is not a malfunction.'' And they're doing a remake instead? Man, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot They Wasted A Perfectly Good]] CyberPunk [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot Plot.]]
** So, let's see what science-fiction says about the future. Either [[{{Terminator}} robots have taken over]], [[CaptainPowerAndTheSoldiersOfTheFuture robots have taken over]], [[TheMatrix robots have taken over]], [[Film/IRobot robots have taken over]] or [[PowerRangersRPM robots have taken over]]. What was your plot about, again?
*** I'm proposing transforming a family-friendly (well, apart from the racism, that is...) romantic comedy series about a gentle, pop-culture-quoting robot into an ultra-gritty cyberpunk thriller, and your main objection is that ''it's been done before?'' Well, if it helps, maybe Newton Crosby could show up in the third act with a suit of powered armor...
** Dude, it's a comedy, not a cyber punk movie.
*** [[spoiler:DontExplainTheJoke!]]
** Oh look, it's someone turning something loveable from their childhood all grimdark. [[AustinPowers There's nothing worse than an aging hipster...]]
** Shouldn't this be in WildMassGuessing?

** So, let's see what science-fiction says about the future. Either [[{{Terminator}} robots have taken over]], [[CaptainPowerAndTheSoldiersOfTheFuture robots have taken over]], [[TheMatrix robots have taken over]], [[IRobot robots have taken over]] or [[PowerRangersRPM robots have taken over]]. What was your plot about, again?

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**** Actually, the S.A.I.N.T. robots were designed to transport nuclear weapons, hence "''Nuclear'' Transport." It doesn't necessarily mean they're nuclear powered. It's possible that the laser weapons are either a) far too heavy for humans to carry around or b) too dangerous due to heat or contamination of some sort. Also in the second movie, Johnny 5 tells Ben that his new battery is an "improvement on your design. Cut the bugs out." meaning that his original battery was inefficient.

** The military in movies, from the 60s on down, is almost ''proud'' of their nuclear deterrent force's lack of any such measure - which the Russkies might use to somehow thwart "Operation Gotcha Last" - right up to the moment that The Unthinkable Happens and There's Nothing We Can Do To Stop It. The only difference between this and all the other times is that (they believe) the robot's off to laser some Americans rather than bomb Moscow and start WW3.