Circuitry Man

Last updated
Circuitry Man
Directed bySteven Lovy
Written by
  • Steven Lovy
  • Robert Lovy
Produced by
  • Steven Reich
  • John Schouweiler
Starring
CinematographyJamie Thompson
Edited by
  • Gregory Neri
  • Jonas Thaler
Music byDeborah Holland
Production
companies
Distributed by Skouras Pictures [1]
Release dates
  • May 25, 1990 (1990-05-25)
(Seattle International Film Festival)
October 31, 1990
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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.

Contents

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

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. [1]

Reception

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "nothing if not derivative" but "consistently distinctive and funny". [2] 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. [3] 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". [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Circuitry Man (1990)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  2. Thomas, Kevin (1990-10-31). "MOVIE REVIEW : Pollution Apocalypse in 'Circuitry Man'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2017-12-09.
  3. Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film. Macmillan Publishers. p. 108. ISBN   9780312131494.
  4. Meehan, Paul (2017). Tech-Noir: The Fusion of Science Fiction and Film Noir. McFarland & Company. p. 197. ISBN   9781476609737.