Sayonara, Mr.Roboto

October 1, 2006 4:46 PM

Help me identify a sad robot movie from the 80s.

I am trying to source a movie about sad star-crossed robot lovers from the 80s, and it ain't Rome-0 and Julie-8. Rome-0 & Julie-8 is a happy cartoon, but the show I remember was being live-action, and featured some themes to do with pursuit and a race against time: and at the end, their batteries run out and it's all very sad and makes you cry if you're 1. five and 2. me.

posted by Isabeau Sahen to media & arts (12 comments total)

Was it "Heartbeeps," starring Bernadette Peters and Andy Kaufman?
posted by TonyRobots at 4:47 PM on October 1, 2006

Because this movie was so poorly recieved at the box office, Andy Kaufman's "The Tony Clifton Story," a movie about the life and times of his alter-ego Tony Clifton, was scrapped by the movie studios.

Hahaha. If it is, 5 year old me has terrible taste. But it appears to be a comedy. Hmmmmm.
posted by Isabeau Sahen at 4:52 PM on October 1, 2006

Robot Stories?
posted by ifranzen at 5:03 PM on October 1, 2006

Er, that's not '80s. Not short circuit one or two is it? That was definitely '80s. Skim this page over and see if anything catches your eye.
posted by ifranzen at 5:06 PM on October 1, 2006

It's definitely Heartbeeps. There's a scary police robot that chases them, and they build a very cute baby robot out of spare parts who they struggle to keep charged, etc. I love that movie... *sniff*
posted by ulotrichous at 5:43 PM on October 1, 2006

Reminds me of *batteries not included.
posted by NortonDC at 6:35 PM on October 1, 2006

Maybe *batteries not included?
posted by spacelux at 6:37 PM on October 1, 2006

Was it "Heartbeeps," starring Bernadette Peters and Andy Kaufman?

This stirs memories ... was this the movie that brought some scorn upon Jerry Lewis, because it (a) was somehow associated with him and (b) had one or more scenes that seemed to make fun of mentally retarded/disabled people?
posted by jbickers at 7:13 PM on October 1, 2006

was this the movie that brought some scorn upon Jerry Lewis?

No, that was the film version of Vonnegut's Slapstick.
posted by Grangousier at 2:32 AM on October 2, 2006

Another vote for *batteries not included. Here's the wikipedia article, if that helps jogs your memory.

I never knew about the asterisk, btw.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:54 PM on October 2, 2006

*batteries not included is a wonderful movie, but it's definitely humanoid robots in love that I'm thinking of. I have Heart Beeps on my ziplist (netflix queue equivalent) and I will report back once I've watched it. Thanks!!
posted by Isabeau Sahen at 4:58 PM on October 7, 2006

Finally watched -- and it's definitely Heartbeeps. It's a terrible movie, and the emotional tenor is wholly different than I remember as a child, but there were several "freeze frame" moments that were immediately recognizable. THANKS!
posted by Isabeau Sahen at 10:16 AM on November 13, 2006