"Are you sure you want to answer this question, Dave?"

August 1, 2008 4:22 PM

I'm looking for examples of sci fi films that focus primarily on a conflict/relationship between a human and a self-aware computer/artificial intelligence (such as HAL in "2001," but NOT the computer in "War Games" because it wasn't self-aware.)

I'm more interested in computers or life forces living within the confines of reasonably possible technology, than I am in humanoid robots, techno-aliens, or "Terminator"-type stuff. Please send me all the movies that satisfy the above criteria! Thanks!

Oh, and bonus points if the computer has an end goal that is bad news for humans...

posted by np312 to media & arts (39 comments total)

The novel that led to the film Colossus: The Forbin Project is one of the earliest examples of the concept.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:25 PM on August 1 [1 favorite]

Oh, and there's this list.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:27 PM on August 1

How about Demon Seed which is based on a book by Dean Koontz?
posted by MCTDavid at 4:27 PM on August 1

I, Robot
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:31 PM on August 1

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein.

A revolutionary AI, no less.
posted by Netzapper at 4:32 PM on August 1

Not a film, but Valve Software's somewhat cinematic PC game, Portal, received rave reviews for its story of a sentient A.I.
posted by themadjuggler at 4:34 PM on August 1 [2 favorites]

Just to clarify: I'm not interested in any humanoid robots (so "Blade Runner," Spielberg's "AI" and "I, Robot" are out.) Just interested in computer AI or something that exists within technology we already have, or might have soon. Thanks! Keep them coming...
posted by np312 at 4:37 PM on August 1

Alphaville?
posted by minkll at 4:43 PM on August 1

Seconding Colossus: The Forbin Project - "I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied dead. The choice is yours: Obey me and live, or disobey and die."

Capital!
posted by wfrgms at 4:47 PM on August 1

Just interested in computer AI or something that exists within technology we already have, or might have soon. Thanks! Keep them coming...

Without spoiling it, I, Robot would certainly apply to your criteria.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:50 PM on August 1

Not a film, but there was that episode of the X-files
posted by Proginoskes at 4:52 PM on August 1

Demon Seed!

Man invents computer.

Computer gets intelligent.

Computer rapes Man's wife!!!

Aaaaah!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:01 PM on August 1

Event Horizon, a box-office flop but a movie I actually really like.

Also, not a movie (and it doesn't exactly have the ending you're looking for), but E.M. Forster's short story "The Machine Stops" is really worth reading. I love it.
posted by neblina_matinal at 5:02 PM on August 1

Resident Evil
posted by -harlequin- at 5:02 PM on August 1

Tron, too!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:06 PM on August 1

(it is arguable, however, that the "computer"/spaceship of Event Horizon was self-aware. that could lead to a huge philosophical discussion. The one in Forster's story isn't, but everyone should read it anyway).

Also, not a movie, but how about Battlestar Galactica?
posted by neblina_matinal at 5:06 PM on August 1

Wall-E (the ship's autopilot, clearly a tribute to HAL)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 5:07 PM on August 1

Event Horizon, a box-office flop but a movie I actually really like.

This movie significantly borrows its theme from Solaris, and the threat is an other-dimensional force, not necessarily a rogue A.I.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:11 PM on August 1

Seconding Event Horizon, which I also really liked. Solaris, though related, was somehow less compelling to me.
posted by whatzit at 5:23 PM on August 1

Cool Papa Bell kind of beat him to it with the posting of the Wikipedia list, but I'd be remiss in wifely duty if I didn't acknowledge Mr. F telling me to post Electric Dreams.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 5:24 PM on August 1

Seconding Alphaville. It predates 2001.
posted by shitcock at 5:29 PM on August 1

Electric Dreams
(you didn't necessarily qualify "good")
posted by mkultra at 5:29 PM on August 1

Alien. Not the Ripley/Ash conflict, but the Ripley/Mother conflict.
posted by Kafkaesque at 5:41 PM on August 1

There was also Paper Man, a 70's made for TV that might count as the first computer-ID-theft movie ever, oddly.
posted by Iosephus at 5:51 PM on August 1

Err, humanoid robots are probably easier to make than a sci-fi AI.

That said:

The collective machine intelligence in The Matrix

The collective machine intelligence in The Terminator

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Butlerian_Jihad event in Dune.

The Borg in Star Trek.

Any episode where Data has to fight someone.

KITT or KARR from Knight Rider.

Remember Virtuosity? Yeah, no one else does.

V'ger in Star Trek I

The police-bots in THX 1138

The ship in futurama

SAL 9000 from 2010

Master Control Program, the main villain of Tron

SETH: Universal Solider 2

The General, from The Prisoner

Max Headroom
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:00 PM on August 1

If you want comics then I have to mention Brainiac
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:01 PM on August 1

Id also argue the WOPR was self-aware. After all he taught himself that there's no way to win that game.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:02 PM on August 1 [1 favorite]

Oh also:

MU-TH-R 182 from Alien

Wintermute from Neuomancer

"AM" from 'I have no mouth and I must scream'

Kilg%re from DC comics

M-5 from Star Trek

The Machine

The unnamed computer in Event Horizon.

BOSS
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:49 PM on August 1

Dark Star
posted by Gungho at 8:28 PM on August 1

Logan's Run?
posted by reynaert at 10:01 PM on August 1

Maximum Overdrive
posted by Chuckles at 10:39 PM on August 1

It's TV, but the I Robot, You Jane episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer has Willow scan a demon into a computer.
posted by backwards guitar at 10:56 PM on August 1

If you'll accept the one errant computer game:
SHODAN from System Shock (1 and 2)
posted by slimepuppy at 4:04 AM on August 2

The Invisible Boy.
posted by cropshy at 5:44 AM on August 2

I know it is not a film, but The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect is an interesting read. And its online and free!
posted by MiggySawdust at 7:03 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]

If you're into anime, check out Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. One of the major subplots deals with the members of section 9 interacting with the Tachikomas, who are interlinked machines that develop self-awareness and both collective and individual personalities.
posted by phredgreen at 11:29 PM on August 2

Well heck, the first Ghost in the Shell manga/movie had the protagonist negotiating total brain-fusion with a sentient AI...
posted by anthill at 4:20 PM on August 3

A bit late to the party here, but Stealth is another example of this (and actually not as bad a movie as I expected).
posted by ashirys at 10:11 AM on August 5

Nobody mentioned Johny 5 from "Short Circuit"????
posted by achmorrison at 6:56 AM on August 29