Nat, Cody, and Robert take a post-apocalyptic road trip with 1990’s CIRCUITRY MAN.
CIRCUITRY MAN is practically from another era of filmmaking. An era where B-movies would have high concepts and get regular theatrical releases, even if the budget wasn’t necessarily there to fulfill their vision. That era largely went away, outside the Midnight Madness program at TIFF and the like.
CIRCUITRY MAN is emblematic of that era, partly because it wears its influences on its sleeve. But, also partly because it’s neither the best nor worst of that type of film. It combines a post-apocalyptic dystopia resembling THX 1138, questions of what it means to be human courtesy of BLADE RUNNER, a long chase structure reminiscent of THE ROAD WARRIOR, a classic road movie structure, some crime elements familiar to noir, a little romance, and glimpses of Hollywood’s forays into cyberpunk to come.
CIRCUITRY MAN also does something these types of films were known for. Giving a talented character actor a chance to cut loose in a bigger role. In this case, the character actor is Vernon Wells and his character Plughead. The type of character that would have been right at home in ROBOCOP.
Is CIRCUITRY MAN some lost classic that needs to be rediscovered? No. But does it have some engaging ideas and a sense of fun? Surprisingly, for the three of us anyways, yes. In its low budget way, it foresees the future of Hollywood. CIRCUITRY MAN was never destined to be as polished and slick as what Hollywood would turn out, but it also isn’t pretending its B-movie ideas are high art.
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Time tracks:
0:00:00 – CIRCUITRY MAN Discussion
0:55:41- Next Movie and Outro
Next month, we shift gears to one of the biggest franchises even in movies with James Bond taking a trip to space in MOONRAKER. We hope you’ll join us.
