In a future where most humans have moved underground to escape the pollution, one of the few pleasures left is a kind of narcotic in the form of chips which can be plugged directly into the brain. Lori, a female body guard steals a case of such chips and flees underground Los Angeles with Danner, a pleasure android so that they can smuggle the chips to New York. In pursuit is Plughead, a dangerous criminal so named because of the many sockets and ports which decorate his scalp so that he can test and use the chips that he is after.
Reviews
Although the cover art is reminiscent of a kooky social satire in the vein of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, Circuitry Man is not that. We see so many mega-budget films that are so uninspired, that it always brings a smile to my face to see a low-budget film that rises to the challenge and is actually entertaining. The characters are interesting, from Juice (a big woman who breaks easily) to Yo-Yo (who changes allegiances back and forth) to Plughead (I didn't recognize him from The Road Warrior.) and there's the mechanic and the big tough guy in the oxygen bar...It's by no means a classic, but it's fun and deserves respect for what it accomplishes, given what they had to work with.
circuitry man's only flaw was the obnoxious pleasure droid's failure to die.. other than that, i found it stunning and captivating. i fell instantly in love with the darkly beautiful, sadistic "plughead". as a huge fan of dark sci-fi (dark city, a.i., blade runner, the matrix), this was everything i could want in a movie.
After seeing this film, I did not want my money back. I wanted my TIME back. I wanted that hour and a half back in my life - it was the most amazing, hideous torture to know that I had squandered precious minutes of my life on this dreck. I am scarred for life, and ever since this "film" entered my life I have had trouble sleeping. I am trying to suppress the memories, really I am. . . but they make me want to burn things.
It's an okay film. No monsters, no aliens, no computer graphics. What makes this film interesting is it is able to convey a plot with a modest to say the least budget a scifi film. It reminds me of William Gibson and Jonathan Lethem's writing in style and noirish presentation. The only thing wrong with it is the stupid, sad, and moronic atempts at humor. Especially that polic officer assistant that is supposed to be a comic relief. Other than that, you have to give the filmmaker's credit.
