SHORT CIRCUIT [1986] [Blu-ray] [1986 / 2014] [Special Edition] [UK Release] Number Five is Alive!
An experimental military robot escapes after being struck by lightning and given human intelligence. Number 5 finds a home with madcap Stephanie Speck [Ally Sheedy] who believes the robot is an alien, but hot on the trail is scientists Newton Crosby [Steve Guttenberg] and his assistant who must get to their creation before the army does, who plan to put Number 5 out of service permanently.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1987 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominations: Saturn Award: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Best Science Fiction Film. 1987 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominations: Saturn Award: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Best Director for John Badham. 1987 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominations: Saturn Award: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Best Special Effects for Eric Allard and Syd Mead. 1987 BMI Film & TV Awards, USA: Win: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ BMI Film Music Award for David Shire. 1987 Jupiter Award, USA: Nominations: Jupiter Award: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Best International Actress for Ally Sheedy. 1987 Jupiter Award, USA: Nominations: Jupiter Award: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Best International Film for John Badham.
FILM FACT No.2: The ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ film was conceived after the producers distributed an educational video about a robot to various colleges. Studying other films with a prominent robot cast, like the Star Wars franchise series for inspiration, they decided to question human reactions to a “living” robot, on the premise that no one would initially believe its “sentience” meaning: In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience sensations. In different Asian religions, the word “sentience” has been used to translate a variety of concepts. In science fiction, the word “sentience” is sometimes used interchangeably with “sapience,” “self-awareness” or “consciousness.” According to the audio commentary, Number 5 was the most expensive part of the film, requiring several different versions to be made for different sequences. Almost everything else in the film was relatively inexpensive, allowing them to allocate as much money as they needed for the robot character. Number 5 was designed by Syd Mead, the “visual futurist” famous for his work on ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Tron.’ Syd Mead's design was greatly influenced by the sketches of Eric Allard, the Robotics Supervisor credited for the “realisation” of the robots. Director John Badham said Eric Allard was “the most valuable player” for the film. During Ally Sheedy’s impromptu news interviews on the movie, director John Badham makes a cameo appearance as the news cameraman. The sequence in the film depicting Number 5 watching the movie ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and imitating John Travolta's dance moves, is an in-joke, because ‘Saturday Night Fever’ was directed by John Badham. Most of the arm movements of Number 5 were controlled by a “telemetry suit” that carried on the puppeteer's upper torso. Each joint in the suit had a separate sensor, allowing the puppeteer's arm and hand movements to be transferred directly to the machine. Number 5 was also voiced in real-time by his puppeteer, that director John Badham believing that it provided a much more realistic interaction between the robot and the other actors than putting in his voice in post-production, although a few of his lines were re-dubbed later on.
Cast: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton, G.W. Bailey, Brian McNamara, Tim Blaney [Number 5 voice], Marvin J. McIntyre, John Garber, Penny Santon, Vernon Weddle, Barbara Tarbuck, Tom Lawrence, Fred Slyter, Billy Ray Sharkey, Robert Krantz, Jan Speck, Marguerite Happy, Howard Krick, Marjorie Card Hughes, Herb Smith, Jack Thompson, William Striglos, Mary Reckley, Shay McLean, Eleanor C. Heutschy and Sergio Kato (uncredited)
Director: John Badham
Producers: Dana Satler Hankins, David Foster, Dennis E. Jones, Gary Foster, Gregg Champion, John W. Hyde, Lawrence Turman and Mark Damon
Screenplay: Brent Maddock, Steven Seth Wilson and Jay Tarses (uncredited)
Composer: David Shire
Make-up and Hair Department: Tom Lucas (Make-up Artist) and Damon Grill (Hair stylist)
Cinematography: Nick McLean (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color by Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 98 minutes
Region: Region Free
Number of discs: 1
Studio: TriStar Pictures / Signal One Entertainment
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: With the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ [1986] we have the robot Number 5, who is one of a group of experimental military robots, undergoes a sudden transformation after being struck by lightning. He develops self-awareness, consciousness, and a fear of the reprogramming that awaits him back at the factory. With the help of a young woman, Number 5 tries to evade capture and convince his creator that he has truly become alive.
‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ opens with the demonstration of five seemingly unstoppable prototype robots intended for battlefield use, though more of an arms race deterrent against the Soviet Union, on the grounds of Nova Laboratories in Washington State. A bolt of lightning results in a massive power surge in robot Number 5; it begins behaving eccentrically and inadvertently it's taken outside the laboratory grounds and unwittingly abandoned several miles away.
Now inexplicably sentient, Number Five is Alive, who proclaims later on, that the curious robot begins exploring the countryside, eventually making its way to Astoria, Oregon, and home of Stephanie Speck [Ally Sheedy], a single woman who drives a lunch wagon (not an ice cream van, as others have suggested) and has a soft spot for stray animals. At first she thinks Number Five [voiced by Tim Blaney], is an extra-terrestrial, and then is disappointed to find that it's merely a product of the military, then is taken with it again because of its childlike insatiable thirst for knowledge. Number Five declares “Need input! Need input!” and Stephanie Speck obliges it with volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which in an amusing scene it uploads in a matter of minutes.
Meanwhile, back at the lab, frantic director Howard Marner [Austin Pendleton] dispatches programmer Newton Crosby [Steve Guttenberg] and an outrageous and not very PC and typical Asian Indian stereotype Ben Jabituya [Fisher Stevens] to retrieve Number Five before it kills somebody with its deadly laser arsenal. At the same time, trigger-happy head of security Skroeder [G.W. Bailey] is chomping at the bit to blow Number Five to smithereens.
Though Number Five is a cute anthropomorphic robot is obviously an homage to E.T. and ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ is most closely resembles earlier live action Disney comedies of the late-1950’s and early 1960’s, with movies like ‘The Absent-Minded Professor,’ ‘Moon Pilot’ and ‘Son of Flubber.’ Those films dealt with science-fictional concepts, often gently satirised the military and other institutions, featured nebbish scientists and leading ladies whose romantic rivals were brutish buffoons, offered cute animals in supporting parts, and so on.
All of these elements come into play here and there's even a three-legged mutt named Beasley and like the Disney sci-fi/fantasy comedies this is rife with imaginative and comical special effects. But it's also a high concept 1980s comedy so there's endless product placement, hilariously gratuitous mild swearing to ensure a PG rating, myriad pop culture reference, a very 1980s theme song “Who's Johnny” performed by El DeBarge, a Brat Pack star, and that icon of mindless 1980s comedies, the inimitable Steve Guttenberg.
Number Five, is largely the creation of Syd Mead and Eric Allard, seems patterned after the less anthropomorphic robots in the film ‘Gog’ [1954], a forgotten 1950s sci-fi film with a vaguely similar story. The character is almost lovable in its early scenes; its unfettered joy of discovery is infectious, and for a bunch of nuts and bolts, it's surprisingly expressive. Later though, after Number Five has consumed hours and hours of pop culture watching TV, he gradually becomes annoying instead of endearing, something like a geek at a sci-fi convention who incessantly quotes reams of dialogue from TV commercials, old George Raft films, and the Three Stooges shorts.
‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ was a modest hit upon its release in the summer of 1986. The picture grossed around $40 million in the U.S. and Canada alone on a budget of probably around one-quarter that amount. It spawned a much less, but enjoyable successful sequel and, rather surprisingly, is considered big enough commodities today that the remake rights were snapped up by Dimension Films and with this 2014 remastered Blu-ray upgrade, giving it a new lease of life for a whole new audience.
Though director John Badham's earlier film was ‘WarGames’ [1983], which now looks so out of date and very embarrassing, which also featured actress Ally Sheedy, and watching this upgraded 2014 Blu-ray release of ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ via the IMAGE Entertainment studio was an eye opening experience and a vast improvement over the original Blu-ray disc release. Watching it was a real 1980s flashback and viewers of my generation will thrill to see it all over again and is the most enjoyable romp.
‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ is, at heart, a comedy about what happens when a robot designed to replace a Special Forces soldier is struck by lightning, and starts to believe he is a living entity. Much of the rest of the film revolves around either Number 5's attempts to evade capture by the people who made him, or his attempts to convince the people he meets of the truly wonderful thing that has happened to him. Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg provide an excellent support cast that does a first rate job of interacting with the character. This was one of the first films to show human actors engaging in conversation with what was essentially a full-scale puppet, and it remains one of the best. With brilliant voice acting by Tim Blaney, Number 5 seems more human than some of the other actors in the film, especially G.W. Bailey.
‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ is that rare case when a robot character makes a film that outshines the rest of the cast in the film. On top of all that, the reason for this film being good is Number Five. Because Number Five is one of the greatest robot characters ever to be featured in a film, because it is hilarious, intelligent, and highly entertaining, because Number 5 can do anything. It is also quite interesting seeing Number 5 gain input and learns a lot about the world. It is not very common for a robot to steal the show and make a movie good just by itself, but this is one case where Number 5 happens and the film is rightly good because of it.
SHORT CIRCUIT MUSIC TRACK LIST
WHO’S JOHNNY (‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Theme) (Written by Péter Wolf and Ina Wolf) [Performed by El DeBarge]
The Marines’ Hymn (The U.S. Marine Song) (Composed by Jacques Offenbach and L. Z. Phillips) [Played by the US Marine Band]
YOU SHOULD BE DANCING (Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb) [Sung by the Bee Gees]
MORE THAN A WOMAN (Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb) [Sung by the Bee Gees]
COME AND FOLLOW ME (Number 5's Theme from ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’) (Written by David Shire, Will Jennings and Max Carl) [Performed by Max Carl and Marcella Detroit]
Colonel Bogey March (Written by Sir Malcolm Arnold)
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Blu-ray Image Quality – TriStar Pictures and Signal One Entertainment presents us the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ which was filmed in Panavision and processed by Technicolor. The 1080p encoded image, plus the 2.35:1 aspect ratio is a pleasant outstanding image with this 2014 Blu-ray upgrade. It's a good presentation and the visual aspect of the film was quite impressive and helped by Pacific Northwest locations where the filmmakers obviously had to contend with frequently overcast skies and lots of rain. But the image is sharp and detailed. Also, the grain evident sometimes causes flaws in darker scenes to be seen and that’s not too cool either. The colours look nice and bright and the flesh tones appear also very nice and sharp. This is an overall really nice decent image presentation.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – TriStar Pictures and Signal One Entertainment brings us the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ with a really decent 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience. For this upgraded 2014 Blu-ray release it has been remixed really well. The sound effects are loud and distinct, but never detract from the other audio portions, which is nice. The music has a rich, immersive quality and though not as expansive as some other recent mixes, it still sounds very good overall. The dialogue is present in fine form as well, with no volume problems or layering issues. So in the end, the results are still a very good presentation for this 1986 release and I know fans of this movie will likely be very pleased with the audio results presentation.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ Audio Commentary with John Badham and Steven Seth Wilson and Brant Maddock [Audio only] [2012] [1080p] [2.35:1] [98:32] With this featurette, we get to hear this audio commentary with Director John Badham and Screenwriters Steven Seth Wilson and Brent Maddock and are here to talk about the 1986 TriStar Pictures ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and as the film begins, the first to introduce themselves is Director John Badham and informs us sitting next to him is Screenwriters Steven Seth Wilson and Brent Maddock who inform us that they a both writers and they also inform us that the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ was their most successful film for a very long time and with the different special shots at the start of the with the creation of the robot which was designed and built by Syd Mead and Eric Allard and they all feel it is an interesting way to start a movie and to concentrate on the Number 5 robot, and they all this the sequences is really cool. They mention the first shot is of the outside scene in the film with the row of red poppies; well they inform us that they are actually plastic bought from a plastic flower shop, because they tried to grow real red poppies but they did not grow properly in time and so had to hurriedly buy up all of the plastic red poppies that were available, so obvious that shop did very well for one days business. But screenwriters Steven Seth Wilson and Brent Maddock were on the outside set when all the vehicles were dramatically blown up and they say they were worried how much it had all cost with the destruction of the vehicles and they say all the jeeps and tanks were very expensive. Now they all start talking about the design of the robots that were sketched on the scripts and combing with the help of Syd Mead (American industrial designer and neo-futurist concept artist) who was also involved with the Sci-fi/Action film ‘Blade Runner’ [1982] and after a week’s pressure from director John Badham they finally came up with the actual design of the five robots we see in the film and came close to the drawing of the designs of the robots on the script, but what they insisted that the robots had to have eye lids because if the sun shone on the lenses they would get a really terrible glare. They now talk about the computers that controlled the robots and they say that the computer equipment was very cutting edge in 1986 when the film was shot. They talks about the casting of the actors and especially the actor Fisher Stevens who plays the Indian character and they thought he was very funny and someone thought this actor using a stupid Indian accent would not work and ruin the movie and I totally agreed with that comment, but whenever Fisher Stevens was on the set saying his lines, all the crew would burst out laughing and I say to that comment as how totally pathetic was that. They all talk about how could they make Number 5 come alive, and they thought of the scenario of the story of Frankenstein and they say that is how they came up with the idea of the massive electrical storm and of course eventually the lightning strikes Number 5 in a massive way and of course escapes from the NOVA facility and out into the countryside. They all talk about Number 5’s long journey and talks about landing on the vehicle the actress Ally Sheedy is driving and they talk briefly about the actress that plays a loving animal person and talk about all the animals roaming about the house and outside the house and they also talk about how they found the house that the actress lives in and how the approached the owners of the house and wanting to film the outside only and was owned by an elderly couple and of course eventually they were persuaded to allow them to film the outside of the house because they would not cause too much disruption and of course they say the interior of the house was built on a sound stage. They all talk about the massive amount of female actors they interviewed and the majority of the female actors they did not find at all suitable, but then they interviewed Ally Sheedy they instantly found the actress was totally perfect for her character in the film. They now talk about the Number 5 robot on how it was being operated and the say there were actually five puppeteers operating certain parts of the robot. When we get to chapter 7, we see Number 5 jumping up and down as it had just seen a grasshopper and they say it was a total nightmare shooting that scene, because the robot had piano wires attached to it and they had several guys pulling on the piano wires so that we see Number 5 jumping up and down in that scene. At one point in the film the military turn off Number 6 and are taking the robot back to NOVA headquarters to dismantle the robot, but in the vehicle Number 5 turns itself on and re-assembles its faulty parts and reprograms itself. Now they talk about Eric Allard, the Robotics Supervisor credited for "realizing" the robots. John Badham named Eric Allard “the most valuable player” on the film and was also said that Eric Allard was the most inventive special effects person that John Badham has ever worked with and was amazed how he made Number 5 do all what it did with all of its amazing movements. Steven Seth Wilson and Brant Maddock say that when they submitted their script to the people at TriStar Pictures it was done in record time and they thought the script was really wonderful and wanted to go real fast in getting the film up and running so they can shoot the film, but Steven Seth Wilson and Brant Maddock also say that the only problem was with the special effects guys that had to learn very quickly to bring Number 5 alive in such a short space of time. They all now talk about when Number 5 is watching the television that was showing the film Saturday Night Fever and how they manipulated the robot and especially Number 5 dances with the actress All Sheedy and they praise the special effects puppeteers on how they operated Number 5. They talk about the scene when the nasty boyfriend turns up to hopefully steal Number 5 to get the reward and we get to view a great scene where Number 5 does something really nasty to the boyfriends red 1969 Pontiac GTO automobile and it is extremely funny and of course the nasty boyfriend is furious and starts shooting at Number 5, but the robot outwits the nasty boyfriend in such a brilliant spectacular way in fighting back. They all give great praise about the actor Steve Guttenberg who was very keen to play his character Newton Crosby in the film and also believed in the character very much. At one point they all start talking about the budget of the movie and they say it was $18,000,000 in 1986 and some of the budget went on the massive action sequences at the start of the movie with the exploding of the vehicles, and the rest of the budget, which was not much left, went on the people involved with the movie, including the director and the screenwriters, but they all say that the most expensive part of the budget went on the Number 5 robot which easily cost $1,000,00 and especially constructing the robot, but they also say movies today can easily cost up to $60,000,000 to make and the majority of the budget goes to the massive over the top money to pay for the actors and their greedy agents. They again talk about the robot Number 5 and how Number 5 proved to Newton Crosby who built the machine, that this robot is alive and it all comes down to the world’s worst joke told by Newton Crosby to Number 5 who at the end of the joke bursts out laughing and of course you will have to watch the movie to find out what the world’s worst joke was and see if you think it is hilariously funny. As we near the end of the film, we see Number 5 is being pursued by the military from NOVA headquarters and something really nasty to Number 5 and again you will have to watch the film to find out what the very dramatic scene is in the film and you think it is the end of Number 5, but eventually we get to see it did not really happen and again you will have to watch this movie and the very happy ending to the film and makes you get a great big smile on your face, and now we are at the end of the audio commentary, and they all say thank you for listening to us all through this movie and we have had a good time talking to you and if you find us at badhamcompany.com and you can send one of us a $20.00 bill for this audio commentary and we would be most appreciated, but failing that, thanks for being with us, and bye bye from us two, and thanks a lot and at that point this very specially audio commentary for the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ comes to an end. All in all, it is a very enjoyable and also very enjoyable listen, but ultimately, there is also a great deal of info and trivia shared with all three about how the film was made during this audio commentary, including the evolution of Fisher Stevens's Indian character, and the trio of participants provide some interesting insights into the making of the film, from filming the opening credits scene to fake flowers used in lieu of real ones, to the reasoning behind making the Ally Sheedy character an animal lover, and to filming in northern Oregon. The audio commentary track is one of the more laid-back and smooth commentaries out there, as the trio work very well together, but sadly this audio commentary track does have a few dead silent spots. But despite this, the audio commentary track with John Badham and Steven Seth Wilson and Brant Maddock flows effortlessly and I'm sure many fans of the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ will be totally delighted to spend just over 98 minutes with these contributing participants.
Special Feature: All Sheedy Interview [1986] 480i] [1.37:1] [2:17] With this featurette, it starts out with scenes from the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and the narrator is informing the background about the young female actress. But the narrator describes in detail All Sheedy’s character in the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and the story outline of the movie and also All Sheedy’s character interaction of her first encounter with Number 5. All Sheedy comments that she had a great deal of fun with the robot and then talks about her character Stephanie Speck and that the actress would like to appear in a sci-fi film and at the same time we get to view a few clips from ‘SHORT CIRCUIT.’ Once again, the narrator talks about the films that Ally Sheedy has appeared in and mentions the actress appeared with Sean Penn in the film ‘Bad Boys’ [1983] and also appeared in the films ‘The Breakfast Club’ [1985] and ‘St. Elmo's Fire’ [1985]. But was also get to view some behind-the-scene filming of ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and especially All Sheedy dancing with director John Badham and funny enough, Ally Sheedy appeared in John Badham film ‘War Games’ [1983] and we get a few brief words from John Badham praising the actress Ally Sheedy who is also a writer and a poet in her spare time and liked her character in ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ as she personally loves animals. As to her future career, Ally Sheedy says, “she wants to carry on with her work as an actress, taking classes and hopefully other good roles in other movies. At that point, this featurette comes to an end.
Special Feature: Steve Guttenberg Interview [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [2:23] With this featurette, we get to meet Steve Guttenberg on the set of ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and the narrator informs us od his past career, but now talks about his character Newton Crosby in ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and thinks Steve Guttenberg is the most versatile actor of his generation, but in ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ he portrays a genius scientist, who creates an amazing robot named Number 5 and then we get to meet Steve Guttenberg and he says he loves acting and loves to portray a character in any film he appears in and to give reality to that that character but who is of course are not real. Now the narrator talks about the other films that Steve Guttenberg has appeared in and mentions ‘Diner’ [1982], ‘Cocoon’ [1985] and The Police Academy movies, and at the same time we get to view clips from ‘SHORT CIRCUIT.’ Steve Guttenberg talks about working with the actress Ally Sheedy and says that the actress was very easy to work with and was a great deal of fun. On top of all that, we get to views some behind-the-scenes filming of ‘SHORT CIRCUIT,’ and Steve Guttenberg was extremely keen to work with the director John Badham, who Steve Guttenberg really found a joy to work with, as he felt John Badham has directed some great movies like ‘Saturday Night Fever’ [1977], ‘WarGames’ [1983] and ‘Blue Thunder’ [1983]. But in the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT,’ Steve Guttenberg’s character creates a high tech robot, but his biggest challenge would be to bring life to Number 5, but working with that robot, Steve Guttenberg comments, that working in a few scenes with the robot, Steve Guttenberg felt that Number 5 was not a machine, but simply a fellow player, and also felt working with Number 5 was really terrific, and it was also very easy working with Number 5, and Steve Guttenberg also comments, that his sole purpose is to please the audience, and hopes his work in ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ will do just that, and Steve Guttenberg also feels that if you are 7 years old or 89 years old, I think there is something in ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ for everybody, and at that point, this featurette comes to an end.
Special Feature: John Badhan Interview [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [2:06] With this featurette, we get to meet the director John Badham on location for the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and the narrator informs us that John Badham started out as a mailroom assistant at Universal Studios in Hollywood and then later on went onto to direct the following films like ‘Saturday Night Fever’ [1977], ‘Blue Thunder’ [1983] and ‘WarGames’ [1983], and at the same time we get to view a few clips from the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT.’ We also get to hear from John Badham and informs us that he is hav ing some real great fun directing the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and loves working with everyone and loves the scenes where there a lot of explosions, especially all the military equipment being blown up, but also wants all the actors to enjoy themselves on the set. The narrator says that John Badham is reunited with the actress All Sheedy and also really enjoyed working with the actor Steve Guttenberg, on top of all that, John Badham likes knowing a good script that he reads and that was with the script for the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and only after an hour of reading that script he says, “I think within an hour of finishing reading the script, I said lets go, and the last time I felt that about a script was for the films ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ‘WarGames.’ John Badham also informs us what it was like to work with the robot Number 5, and of course we get to view a few clips from ‘SHORT CIRCUIT,’ and at that point, this featurette comes to an end.
Special Feature: Syd Mead Interview [2012] [480i] [1.37:1] [17:34] With this featurette, we get to meet Syd Mead (American Industrial Designer and Neo-futurist Concept Artist), and has been described as “the artist who illustrates the future” and “one of the most influential concept artists and industrial designers of our time” and of course worked on the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT,’ and widely known for his designs for science-fiction films such as ‘Blade Runner’ [1982], ‘Aliens’ [1986] and ‘TRON’ [1982]. Syd Mead talks about working with director John Badham and wanted Syd Mead to fly to Tokyo in 1985 to visit The International Robot Exhibition (IREX) which is the largest robot trade fair in the world and it is an event that has been staged once every two years in Tokyo and to look at the latest creation of robots and to hopefully produce the Number 5 robot for the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT,’ that has a lot of emotions and he is asked how long did he come up with the design for the Number 5 robot that John Badham want it to be very articulate and eventually that is how the Number 5 robot was conceived, and when John Badham saw Syd Mead’s design that he really loved it. Now Syd Mead talks about his father who was a was a Baptist minister, who read him pulp magazines, such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, sparking his interest in science fiction and was a skilled in drawing at a young age and says, “by the time I was in high school I could draw the human figure, I could draw animals, and I had a sense of shading to show shape. I was really quite accomplished at that point with brush technique and so-forth and he described himself as being an “insular child,” but despite this, Syd Mead says that at an early age he was totally fascinated about rockets, imagination and fantasy. Now Syd Mead talks about how he came to work in Hollywood and started working on the following films ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ [1979], ‘he Spirit of '76’ [1990], ‘Timecop’ [1994], ‘Johnny Mnemonic’ [1995], ‘Mission: Impossible III’ [2006], ‘Tomorrowland’ [2015] and many more other famous films. Now Syd Mead talks about prior to working with those films I have mentioned, for 20 years he was a designer and also did Industrial designs and says working in movies he could combine the illustration skills and the design skills. Now Syd Mead wants to talk about what exactly he was involved with the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and goes into great detail of how Number 5 would be like in the film and the tasks the robot had to perform and also had to have a personality and also be able to dance with the actress Ally Sheedy and also had to be able to climb into the truck and we believe the robot was also able to drive the vehicle, but also very important, Number 5 had to be very mobile over certain types of outside terrains and at the same time we get to view Syd Mead’s first rough designs for a three wheel robot, but of course Syd Mead had lots of trials and errors and of course eventually came up with the actual design for the Number 5 robot we see in the 1986 movie, and of course Syd Mead feels his design was so good for Number 5, that it went onto the follow up movie ‘Short Circuit 2.’ One very interesting thing we get to hear, is that Number 5 ran on a car battery and was hidden between the traction wheels, and we also get to view the actual finished design for Number 5, and Syd Mead was equally impressed with the arm movements of Number 5 that were controlled by a “telemetry suit” that was carried on the puppeteer's upper torso, because each joint in the suit had a separate sensor, allowing the puppeteer's arm and hand movements to be transferred directly to the machine. Syd Mead also comments that he was very pleased the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ was a box office success, and especially for a film that the main character is a robot, that was also a very humorous story, lots of fun and again it did very well and also the film was a brave attempt, but most of all, you have to have a really good story. At that point, this featurette comes to an end.
Special Feature: Eric Allard Interview [2012] [480i] [1.37:1] [35:01] With this featurette, we get to meet Eric Allard (Special Effects Supervisor) in the same home as Syd Mead and is asked how he started in the movie business, and informs us that his uncle worked in the Art Department of Universal Pictures and was able to secure a job in the same studios as a carpenter for about two years and was very keen to get into the Special Effects Department, because he felt he could bring my unique blend of talent, creativity, experience, and commitment to excellence to challenging projects in film production, mechanical design. So eventually Eric Allard decided to leave Universal Pictures and really began his ultimate career in 1979 with the Disney science fiction film ‘The Black Hole’ [1979] although uncredited in the credits. From the late 1980’s Eric Allard worked on larger film projects such as ‘Mission: Impossible’ [1986], ‘Back to the Future II’ [1989] and ‘Alien: Resurrection’ [1997]. Eric Allard also worked on Blockbusters like ‘Spider-Man’ [2002] and ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ [2003]. Over the course of his career Eric Allard has worked with directors such as Tim Burton, Robert Zemeckis, Gore Verbinski, Brian De Palma and J.J. Abrams among others. Eric Allard also informs us that over a certain period he came in contact with the famous American film director and visual effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull and with one of his films Eric Allard built a small robot and John Badham saw the film Eric Allard worked on and John Badham contacted Eric Allard because John Badham was very impressed with that small robot and John Badham sent Eric Allard the script for ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ and asked him to call him back when he had read the script and give him his honest opinion on what he had read, and eventually Eric Allard met John Badham and told him he was very keen to work on the 1986 film, and Eric Allard really enjoyed the experience, especially actually building all the five robots, but most of all the Number 5 robot, but most of all, was very keen to work with John Badham and had a totally brilliant time with the whole experience, especially working with everyone with the film ‘SHOTY CIRCUIT,’ and of course we get to view a few clips from the film ‘SHOTY CIRCUIT.’ Eric Allard also talks about the long intricate process of how he finally built the Number 5 robot and especially from the final design of Syd Mead to what we see in the 1986 film and finally, Eric Allard says he was very proud of his work on the Number 5 robot.
Special Feature: The Creation of Number Five for ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [6:46] With this featurette, we get to view this retro feature that gives us interviews with Director John Badham and especially Eric Allard (Special Effects Supervisor). We also go behind-the-scene at the engineering works that built the parts for the Number 5 robit and we also view other departments that helped towards the construction of Number 5 and the arduous process of making the robot look just as the director wanted for the 1986 film.
Special Feature: Behind-the-Scene Footage [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [3:51] With this featurette, we get to view a brief glimpse behind-the-scenes, look at a handful of scenes, explores the film's on-set atmosphere, and shows the chemistry between the cast members. Such a shame the featurette it is far too short.
Special Feature: Trailer [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [1:50] With this featurette, we get to view the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT.’ This is a very rough looking trailer and must have been copied from an old VHS video tape source and is a candidate for the worst-looking trailer on Blu-ray so far: it's full frame and looks totally awful and should have been given the Raspberry Award.
Finally, the ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ [1986] film is an exceptional great deal of fun and definitely a nostalgia trip for those of us who remember the movie the first time round, only with a cleaner picture and a better understanding of the jokes. If you've never seen ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ before it might not have the same effect, but nevertheless it is still a very enjoyable comedy film and well worthy of your time. It falls slightly short of era-defining in the same way like the film ‘Back to the Future’ coming from a time when Steven Spielberg ruled the roost with his types of films it more than holds its own, and as the press release says, “it's a perfect gift for all ages.” When I saw the film’s original release in 1986, I fell in love with it and with this 2014 re-release, it brings back the total magic on why I have loved this film and despite its 1980's style of presentation, I personally feel it holds up really well and loved all of its 98 minutes and the extras were quite informative, but sadly some of the features were very lacking in a sparkling image, in fact I feel they were very lazy in not upgrading the images of the special features and the biggest gripe is the bog standard film trailer which is the worst I have ever viewed and should of not been included, as it was a total embarrassment. But despite that last comment, I am really pleased that the film ‘SHORT CIRCUIT’ has been added to my Blu-ray collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
