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Back when Radio Shack saved the day...the movie Short Circuit 2 — Parallax Forums

Back when Radio Shack saved the day...the movie Short Circuit 2

Too_Many_ToolsToo_Many_Tools Posts: 765
edited 2014-06-24 04:23 in General Discussion
One of my guilty pleasures is to watch old movies. ;<)

Short Circuit 2 (1988) was on recently...and in the movie our robotic hero Johnny 5 is at death's door but is saved by...a local Radio Shack store's contents...cute plot move.

FWIW...both the original Short CIrcuit and Short Circut 2 are well worth watching with the sound turned off so one can concentrate on the robot and his movements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Circuit_2

Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-06-21 07:50
    "Old movies"...from 1988...You are kidding me right?
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2014-06-21 07:57
    Durn whippersnappers!

    I saw the first Star Wars movie in the cinema shortly after the premiere.
    I even saw the PinchCliffe Grand Prix when it first made the rounds to the cinemas.

    Also;
    Five is ALIVE!

    Just had to say it...
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-06-21 08:16
    Gadgetman,

    You are not helping. Star Wars is a new crappy movie from 1977.

    I'm more of your Forbidden Planet,1956, kind of guy.

    Has anybody here ever actually seen a movie that is not in colour?

    Shame, there is an ocean of brilliant stories in those old monochromes. Lost forever because young'ns won't watch anything in black and white.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2014-06-21 08:42
    Heater. wrote: »
    Gadgetman,

    You are not helping. Star Wars is a new crappy movie from 1977.

    I'm more of your Forbidden Planet,1956, kind of guy.

    Has anybody here ever actually seen a movie that is not in colour?

    Shame, there is an ocean of brilliant stories in those old monochromes. Lost forever because young'ns won't watch anything in black and white.

    I think the studios are missing out on an opportunity or two here. Put them on CD's and market them before all the old farts who watched them as kids are gone.

    Colorize them (yes, I know, blasphemy for some) for the young'ns and market them to younger kids as gifts for gramps.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-06-21 10:22
    kwinn,

    Thank you for labeling me as an "old fart". Most charming.
    ...Put them on CD's and market them before all the old farts who watched them as kids are gone.
    Hmmm...now who is the old fart. CD's have been obsolete for a long while as have DVDs. Last I heard BlueRay was on the way out as well.

    Anyway you are missing the point. I have no desire to spend what is left of my life watching all those movies again.

    The tragedy is that decades of movies are sitting in basement vaults and rotting away. The studios will not release them as there is no market for it. They will not just open them for free due to the Micky Mouse copyright laws.

    It's half a century of human culture that will be lost to the world forever. Such a calamity has not happened since the burning down of the Library of Alexandria 2000 years ago.

    If I had my way they would all be up on YouTube or some such place. Maybe some curious kids would check them out from time to time.

    "Colorize" - yeah why not. But do it in such a way that the originals are available intact. Add explosions and car chases for all I care.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2014-06-21 13:42
    Has anybody here ever actually seen a movie that is not in colour?
    Every now and ten when I have trouble sleeping watch them on classic movie channels. There are some real winners some times.
  • SapphireSapphire Posts: 496
    edited 2014-06-21 14:19
    Heater. wrote: »
    Has anybody here ever actually seen a movie that is not in colour?

    Fritz Lang's Metropolis. No sound either. Stunning movie.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2014-06-21 15:47
    Heater. wrote: »
    kwinn,

    Thank you for labeling me as an "old fart". Most charming.

    Hmmm...now who is the old fart. CD's have been obsolete for a long while as have DVDs. Last I heard BlueRay was on the way out as well.

    Being a member of the old farts club myself that was a compliment. I meant DVD, not CD, and should probably have put BlueRay.
    Anyway you are missing the point. I have no desire to spend what is left of my life watching all those movies again.

    The tragedy is that decades of movies are sitting in basement vaults and rotting away. The studios will not release them as there is no market for it. They will not just open them for free due to the Micky Mouse copyright laws.

    It's half a century of human culture that will be lost to the world forever. Such a calamity has not happened since the burning down of the Library of Alexandria 2000 years ago.

    If I had my way they would all be up on YouTube or some such place. Maybe some curious kids would check them out from time to time.

    "Colorize" - yeah why not. But do it in such a way that the originals are available intact. Add explosions and car chases for all I care.

    Absolutely agree that the black and white originals should be preserved exactly as they were when created. An online archive would be ideal. It's a shame legal and copyright considerations are keeping that from happening. Another black mark for the legal system and politicians.

    A colorized version would be fine but I do not see any need for added explosions and car chases. Might as well produce an updated remake ;-)
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2014-06-22 04:37
    I'd love to see more of the old B/W movies...

    I have everything that's been released of Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, and a few war movies. But not much else.
    I found some Flash Gordon on DVD recently, that I've begun collecting.

    I'm also working on completing my Dr. Who collection.
    (Got everything from the First Doctor, and missing a couple of stories from the Second Doctor. Well, from what still exists... Bl**dy idiots at BBC)

    Another Great BBC show from the period is Adam Adamant Lives!
    (Which was also horribly mutilated by the BBC when they started 'cleaning up' their storage... )

    The first Star Wars movie wasn't bad, really.
    It was more... naive... And pure 'Space Opera'.
    Standalone, it was actually pretty decent. It's just when you tack on the rest of the series, that it gets dragged down in the mire.

    Remakes?
    Please no!
    Hollywood seems to be all about making remakes for no other reason than that 'the first one made money, lets do it again'...
    Please, the only time one should do a remake is when you have something significant to the story.

    Ever seen the movie 'The Heroes of Telemark' ?
    (Covers somewhat Operation Grouse, Freshman and Gunnerside, starring Kirk Douglas. Box office hit in 1966)
    Why not track down 'Kampen om tungtvannet' (La bataille de l'eau lourde — "The battle for heavy water"), the French-Norwegian movie from 1948, with most of the actual saboteurs playing themselves... And following the real story much more closely.

    Quentin Tarantino considered doing a remake, but decided that he couldn't improve on it.

    Another movie to watch out for is 'Suicide mission', about Captain Leif Larsen and his group operating out of Shetland.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Larsen
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049808/

    I have the 1962 Lawrence of Arabia laying about... Unfortunately, someone in my family didn't know the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray, so I haven't been able to see it, yet. (Not buying a Blu-Ray player because of just one film, even if it is awesome)
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2014-06-22 06:56
    I have Netflix DVD service and I've been catching up on a lot of those older movies; the most worthwhile ones have been converted and are readily available. I just saw Lawrence of Arabia for the first time a couple of months ago. I also recently viewed both versions of Scarface. Most people have forgotten about Howard Hughes' 1932 version, but the Criterion Collection DVD came with the alternate ending and the fascinating story of how that movie almost single-handedly destroyed the state film censorship boards and set the stage for the MPAA as it now exists. It's only within the last year that I got around to seeing the Godfather trilogy. A lot of young people would probably find it stilted and boring; the only technical effects in the entire movie are a couple of pan shots, but you don't realize how many cultural tropes came from there. And I saw it long ago but you can readily get Citizen Kane and see the film that invented half the techniques of modern film storytelling. (It's particularly effective to watch Citizen Kane after watching a couple of earlier movies, like Scarface and Metropolis, to see just how much absolutely new stuff it invented.)
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    edited 2014-06-22 21:32
    I've always thought that the Johnny 5 Robot platform would be an excellent robot kit. There are quite a few robots out there that are similar, but don't include all of the key features.

    As for black and white movies, there are many that should be watched by everyone (almost to the point of making them requirements for high school graduation). There is a new channel available to me locally (over the air digital) that shows a lot of B/W movies and we now regularly set up the DVR for upcoming movies that look interesting. So far, we have found quite a few that we liked so much that we copied the recorded TV file over to our DVD library on our NAS. Movies like Meet John Doe with Gary Cooper, Mr. Smith goes to Washington with Jimmy Stewart, and Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelly/Debbie Reynolds are well thought out, have a good plot, have actors that can actually act, and are clean enough for anyone to watch. Our daughter is 8 and one of her favorite movies in Singing in the Rain. (she also has been enjoying reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies)
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-06-23 01:31
    Andrew:
    ...many that should be watched by everyone (almost to the point of making them requirements for high school graduation).
    Yes indeed. Starting with "Inherit The Wind" with Spencer Tracy from 1960.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2014-06-23 18:25
    (Not buying a Blu-Ray player because of just one film, even if it is awesome)
    That is not the only reason one buys Blu Ray. If you do not have a smart TV, you can get a ton of apps on the Blu Ray player. Also, If you watched Avatar without it, try it with Blu Ray. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!! Not to mention audio quality is much better.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2014-06-24 04:23
    I have a smart TV...
    (Samsung... Finally got DLNA to work on it... Working on rearranging my 2TB+ library, renaming and moving everything to a networked storage)

    and Avatar is a good reason NOT to buy a Blu-ray player...
    (There's still 'package deals' out there with that bl**dy tech demonstrator included)
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