Circuitry Man
{{Infobox film
| name = Circuitry Man
| image =
| caption =
| director = Steven Lovy
| producer = {{plainlist|
- Steven Reich
- John Schouweiler
}}
| writer = {{plainlist|
- Steven Lovy
- Robert Lovy
}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
}}
| cinematography = Jamie Thompson
| music = Deborah Holland
| editing = {{plainlist|
- Gregory Neri
- Jonas Thaler
}}
| studio = {{plainlist|
- IRS Media{{cite web|url=http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58444|title=Circuitry Man (1990)|work=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|accessdate=2017-12-09}}
- Synthetic Productions
}}
| distributor = Skouras Pictures
| released = {{film date|1990|05|25}} (Seattle International Film Festival)
October 31, 1990
| runtime = 93 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Circuitry Man is a 1990 American post apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Steven Lovy and starring Jim Metzler, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and Vernon Wells. It was followed by a sequel, Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II, in 1994.
Synopsis
In post-apocalyptic 2020, pollution has killed off the natural world and the population is forced to live underground. A woman attempts to smuggle a suitcase of contraband drug/chips from Los Angeles to the underground remnants of New York City, while eluding both police and gangsters. Along the way, she is aided by a romantic bio-mechanical pony-tailed android and pursued by Plughead, a villain with the ability to tap into people's minds.
Cast
- Jim Metzler as Danner
- Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Lori
- Lu Leonard as Juice
- Vernon Wells as Plughead
- Barbara Alyn Woods as Yoyo
- Dennis Christopher as Leech
- Steven Bottomley as Bartender
- Barney Burman as Cheater
- Andy Goldberg as Squid
- Garry Goodrow as Jugs
- Darren Lott as Jackie
Production
Circuitry Man was adapted from a student film Steven Lovy made while attending UCLA. Shooting began in July 1989 and took place in Los Angeles and Antelope Valley, California.
Reception
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "nothing if not derivative" but "consistently distinctive and funny".{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-31-ca-3233-story.html|title=MOVIE REVIEW : Pollution Apocalypse in 'Circuitry Man'|last=Thomas|first=Kevin|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1990-10-31|access-date=2017-12-09}} In The Psychotronic Video Guide, Michael Weldon described it as "a clever, sometimes funny, well-made science fiction adventure" that is more fun than Hardware or Total Recall, two science fiction films that were also released in 1990.{{cite book|title=The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film|last=Weldon|first=Michael|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|year=1996|isbn=9780312131494|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhjsnWfFoiAC&pg=PA108}} Tech Noir author Paul Meehan, discussing film noir in science fiction, wrote that the film attempts to overcome its low budget with gratuitous violence but called Wells "memorably nasty".{{cite book|title=Tech-Noir: The Fusion of Science Fiction and Film Noir|last=Meehan|first=Paul|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2017|isbn=9781476609737|page=197|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBFeCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197}}
References
{{reflist}}