I, Robot UMD
Isaac Asimov was a central figure in science fiction for five decades and his influence in this genre is still being felt today. Alex Proyas' 2004 film I, Robot was billed as being "suggested by Isaac Asimov's book."
Isaac Asimov was a central figure in science fiction for five decades and his influence in this genre is still being felt today. Alex Proyas' 2004 film I, Robot was billed as being "suggested by Isaac Asimov's book." What that means is that the film (loosely) incorporates certain elements from Asimovs’ short story collection published in 1950. Today these robot stories are best remembered as the source of the three laws of robotics, which decree that:
- A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Set in 2035, the use of robots as menial labour and servants is commonplace. Will Smith plays police detective Del Spooner, who, even though he has a mechanical arm, has an inherent distrust of Robots. When the eminent scientist that gave him his arm, Alfred Lanning, writer of the three laws, is killed, Spooner gets the call to investigate. He quickly comes to the conclusion that Alfred did not commit suicide but was in fact murdered. Even though it contravenes the laws of robotics mentioned above and despite the fact that there has never been a reported incident of robot crime, never mind murder, he believes a robot is the culprit.
Smith plays his usual street-smart, wisecracking character but this time with a hardened, cynical edge. He's eventually teamed up with Bridget Moynahans' rather frosty Dr Susan Calvin to aid him in his investigations. Whilst there certainly didn't seem to be any sexual tension between the two, there is a certain amount of quipping between them that works well. While the first chapter moves quite slowly, it develops into an intriguing thriller before picking up the pace with a vengeance with some action and effects right out of the top draw (all I’ll say is I want one of those Audis and one of those car parks at work!). Talking about Audis this film is a prime example of the increasing and blatant product placement sweeping across Hollywood (Fed-Ex, Audi, Converse, see if you can spot any more!). The CG used blends seamlessly with the action, of note are the new generation of robots, the NS-5s. Facially modelled on Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Serenity), their translucent shell, exposing their inner workings and changing facial expressions make them much more menacing than the boxey robots they are about to replace.
Asimov’s robot short stories dealt with the issue of man vs. machine. He developed the three laws, which whilst seeming water-tight are later shown to be open to a certain amount of ‘interpretation’ allowing robots to circumvent them sending us on a journey to the worlds described in The Matrix or The Terminator. In this respect the film stays true to Asimov’s original ideals and as a film, results in an excellent thriller with some eye-candy action thrown in to make it a Hollywood box-office hit.
I, Robot on UMD comes without all the extras associated with a DVD and has had its aspect changed from the original 2.35:1 on the widescreen DVD to 1.78:1 to better suit the display of the PSP. While this means that the film has been cropped, unless you go though the film scene by scene next to a TV displaying the DVD version, you’ll never notice the difference and it will in no way spoil your mobile viewing experience. Personally I was very impressed with the picture quality of the UMD and having watched it several times, it still surprises me every time I switch on the machine. Owning the DVD version as well I used freely available software to convert and compress the DVD version so that it was compatible with the PSP. The difference in quality of the sound, but mainly the picture was very evident, the UMD version having a much crisper and vibrant picture.
The soundtrack through the PSP speakers was surprisingly good, if a little tinny. If you’re in a quiet room then the speakers are adequate, if you’re on the move it’s a lot to ask of a device the size of the PSP to output cinema quality sound, and lets face it, most people will be listening through headphones anyway. With reports that the standard headphones supplied with the PSP have had their maximum output limited to conform with EU, I binned them in favour of my Sure E2C sound isolating headphones and the film sounded fantastic. Pumping the sound right into your ears certainly leads to an imersive experience and I imagine it'll sound equally as impressive through any half decent ear-pieces.
All in all a good film, well scripted, with a good blend of action, suspense and well integrated special effects. The quality of sound and picture will impress on the PSP and films like this certainly show that the machine is capable of far more than just games.
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