I, Robot

I saw Spiderman 2 today (very good) and one of the previews was about a movie called I, Robot. THen I realized that this movie is based off of Asimov's Robot Series. The preview gives a decent view on the movie, but I have a strange feeling it's going to be a bomb.

BTW, I'm ordering the Robot Series online soon enough, I just want to finish all the Foundation books (written by Asimov, not the other 3 authors). Has anyone read them, and are they as good as Foundation? I heard they both take place in the same universe and Foundation and the Robot series intertwine in one of the Foundation books.

[Oblivion437]

I, Robot is actually the name of one of my favorite Asimov book. It's a collection of short stories that chronicles, through varying perspectives, the evolution of robots from playthings and mute automatons to self-aware thinking machines that run whole regions of the world.

The book is philosophical, delving deep into what it means to be human, what control we have over fate, and all sorts of things like that.

It looks like the film is just going to be a half-assed paranoia film/thriller/action fest using the name to capitalize on an otherwise mediocre premise.

For paranoia there's much better fare, and the action genre has had superior entries in concept. If they'd stayed true to the novel (I'm not talking minor discrepancies here, it's obvious from the commercials alone that this thing isn't even on the radar) so named, they'd have produced something I'd be willing to spend money to see.

[Barry the Sprout]

The descriptions I've seen actually lead me to believe the film is based more around The Caves of Steel that around I Robot. Don't know if I've just caught the wrong end of the stick or if they just thought I Robot was a better name...

[Lauren]

Originally posted by Oblivion437: I, Robot is actually the name of one of my favorite Asimov book. It's a collection of short stories that chronicles, through varying perspectives, the evolution of robots from playthings and mute automatons to self-aware thinking machines that run whole regions of the world. The book is philosophical, delving deep into what it means to be human, what control we have over fate, and all sorts of things like that.

The book sounds really good Oblivion, I don't know why, but I'm feeling the urge to go to the library to get out that book rather then to wait and go see the movie

[Oblivion437]

I suggest you do, if you like being as pissed off about this as I am...

Honestly, the title is a point unto itself...

"I, Robot"

"I, Man"

A certain existential point of view is expressed so eloquently in just those two words that it can't even be properly related...

In that book, hell, Asimov even goes into veridic proof, logical understanding, faith, and Aristotlean understanding of how the whole education process works (Aristotle produced mankind's first study of the heuristic algorithm in the human mind, and he didn't quite know what he had) by using a robot that openly questions its existence. This he tackles with sheer genius in under 20 pages.

The book also is the earliest one I know of that created the whole destroying a robot's mind through logical paradox cliche, and it's been used quite a bit, and even made into a hilarious joke by Matt Groening (I have anti-paradox shielding -- Robo Santa) on Futurama...