Well, they’re already here…and have been for quite some time.
In sci-fi the robots are usually the comic relief, or they are the insane killing machines that people need to fear.
We have very memorable example of both. Can any robot come close to the comedic antics of C-3PO? What more memorable killing machines are there than the Terminator, or Hal-9000?
I personally have a soft spot for the robots in the Star Wars sequels.
I have seen interviews and read more than once that R2-D2 and C-3PO were modeled after Laurel and Hardy, the famous comedic duo from the 1920’s and 30’s. After watching C-3PO and R2’s antics on Tatooine it’s not hard to see that comparison.
The comedy that these two provided, especially C-3PO, broke up the tension and provided some really memorable moments. Of course there were times where George and company overused this comedic aspect to ridiculous and groan worthy lengths upon.
Is there anyone out there who doesn’t shake their head a little when R2 has to push C-3PO off of Jaba’s barge, and then to see them get picked up out of the desert sand just ahead of that same sail barge exploding into a million little bits?
And then there’s the whole C-3PO screaming as Luke hovers him around the Ewok village on his chair. Yeah, a little out-of-place and over the top. But who can say that they honestly have no love in their hearts for that awkward golden rod?
Of course all of this is old stuff right. Its been discussed to death.
I just got done watching Interstellar a little while ago. And it seems that no matter what anyone thought of the movie almost everyone loves Tars and Case. I can’t get enough of them and I love how different they are. Some of the best lines of dialogue in the movie are between the robots and humans.
I have heard some people compare them to R2 and C-3PO. I don’t see the resemblance, though. I personally I think that Tars and Case derive more inspiration from V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B from The Black Hole than anything else.
If you don’t know who these guys are, well here’s a primer.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/V.I.N.CENT
V.I.N.CENT (Vital Information Necessary CENTralized) is a wise cracking, philosophy quoting, sharp shooting bad ass in a small anti-gravity, R2-D2 sized package.
His side kick, that he doesn’t meet till about thirty minutes into the movie, is B.O.B. (Bio-Sanitation Battalion)
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/B.O.B.
V.I.N.CENT is an awesome character. His is very sure of himself and with good reason in context of the movie. When the crew’s ship the U.S.S. Palomino starts getting pulled into the black hole, the ship sustains damage that can only be repaired from the outside. V.I.N.CENT doesn’t skip a beat but immediately exits to conduct the repairs.
He has no problem letting other people and robots know that he is the best. He challenges the reigning sharp shooter aboard the U.S.S. Cygnus to a sharpshooting competition and wins. Then when Star loses it, V.I.N.CENT calmly responds, “If there’s anything I cannot stand, it’s a sore loser”. And he floats out of the laser range.
B.O.B. on the other hand is the beaten house wife of the U.S.S. Cygnus. He beat Star in a sharp shooting competition as well, years before the events of The Black Hole. Star fried a few circuits he was so mad. But after Star was returned to duty, he and a gang of his robot friends tracked down B.O.B., jumped him, and beat the crap out of him.
B.O.B. is the same model as V.I.N.CENT but his outer casing is bent out of shape, he has wires hanging out. He is older and in serious disrepair. He has lost all confidence and is scared of everyone. He is appropriately much quieter than V.I.N.CENT.
Now, I am not saying Case from Interstellar is the beaten house wife character that B.O.B is. However, before he meets up with Mathew McConaughey and the crew he had been on that space ship for who knows how long. He’s spent a lot of time by himself and so he has become more introspective than his wise cracking, bad joke telling, counterpart Tars. How else do you explain his response to Cooper asking him, “You don’t talk much do you?”
“Tars talks enough for both of us.”
The other robot this duo draws inspiration from is Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. The grand daddy of the sentient robot/AI figure, at least cinematically speaking. Robby and the Interstellar bots both have defensive and offensive capabilities. Robby can pilot certain vehicles which is showcased in his rather memorable introduction : as a dust train seen just past the distance and then he appears driving his little hover truck thingy.
Case and Tars are both capable of piloting their respective shuttles and vehicles. They are capable of analyzing soil and air, just like our Rovers that were sent to Mars in 1997.
Robby, Tars, and Case also serve as red herrings in their own respective narratives. Throughout both films you expecting them to have secret objectives, crossed wires, or some other such thing that will endanger the mission or the lives of the heroes. That they forge a relationship with the humans, without it descending into a Pinocchio complex, is something that sneaks up on the audience. Robbie and the Interstellar bots relate to their humans on an equal, no bullshit, level. In fact it is the humans, in movie and in the audience, that keep forgetting that they are in fact machines throughout both films to pleasing results.
I mean, who didn’t think when Case suddenly transforms and goes after Anne Hathaway on the water planet wasn’t the coolest fricking thing you’ve seen a robot do in a very long time.
The point of all this is, is that, at least to me, Tars and Case represent the culmination of almost four decades worth of science fiction literature and cinema and maybe even over fifty years of actual science and R&D from the real world. Or at least serve as the inspiration for more exploration into robotics and automation.
I think to say that Case and Tars is just a copy, or a rehash of other robots, be it Terminator, V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B., Robby the Robot, or R2-D2 and C-3PO is taking something away from just how much robotics and robots bring to the genre and movies in general.
I can see similarities between the various robots sure, but all of these robots have made a distinct mark in my mind. I hold them as completely separate and stand alone characters that bring their own brand of comic relief, operational expertise, sarcasm, fear, or just plain awesomeness to whatever movie they’re in.
Tars and Case stand among a pantheon of really awesome, innovative, and ground breaking Robots that have come before them, every bit as ground breaking as Robby the Robot and just as memorable as R2-D2.
Seeing them on-screen captured my imagination that things like this might actually exist some day, sooner rather than later. And why not?
The robots are coming, and with that they are becoming more recognizable as being plausible than not.
Who doesn’t want to have their own version of Tars, sitting on a porch somewhere looking out on a corn field with a Boston Dynamics CHEETAH, as the guard dog, lying on the wooden steps. We already have carpet cleaning droids, why not guard dogs and those to share memories and calm moments with?
Scherrer Madness 