3x3: stupidest computers, robot brains, or cybernetic organisms

[ChristienMurawski]

You underestimate kerzain at your own peril.

-xtien

[kerzain]

Have we covered Robocop’s ED-209 yet?

I wonder if it would have pulled out a buck knife and hacked the guy to death if the science team didn’t load live ammunition into the damn thing before the presentation in the board room.

[Andrew_Mayer]

@Zylon

Hey, idiot. Ash was very obviously malfunctioning when he did that. Trying to kill Ripley by force-feeding her a magazine was supposed to be crazy.

Rolled up magazine=Alien Sub-Mouth=Phallus=Metaphorical Rape

Subtext, baby.

[Kelly_Wand]

@TomChick

Well, my comment had added value stuff about Jason Bourne successully using a magazine, so I get extar points. It then had a smooth segue into a discussion of Lord of the Rings.

Seriously, though, it’s a disturbing scene. I remember being freaked out by it as a kid before I was even old enough to understand the ickiness of forced sodomy. It even ties in a bit to what the facehuggers do to their victims, so you have to wonder if it’s some byproduct of Ash having studied the alien.

I’m assuming it’s part of Dan O’Bannon’s script. It’s certainly more memorable than if Ash had simply tried to strangle her.

  -Tom

In this fictional future, there are still magazines. & in his defense, Ash is at least using Fangoria rather than TV Guide, which would have made him appear even stupider.

[ChristienMurawski]

@Kelly Wand

In this fictional future, there are still magazines. & in his defense, Ash is at least using Fangoria rather than TV Guide, which would have made him appear even stupider.

Something that I love is that I can actually hear Kelly Wand saying this as I read it. Such an awesome voice.

I have to see this film again now, because I remember really loving the awkwardness of this scene. And not even questioning it.

-xtien

[jellyfish]

@Robert Sharp

What’s Dark Star?

While it was released six years later, it explores many of the same themes as 2001: A Space Odyssey, such as disobedient artificial intelligence, the search for extra-terrestrial life, and the future of space travel.

The movie also ponders mans destruction of the environment and the nature of what constitutes intelligence, as in space vegetables are not considered intelligent, even if they can outsmart a crew member who apparently is not a real astronaut and got on board by accident.

Also, both movies have weird music typical of the period. While 2001 is a cult movie, Dark Star ended up as more of a niche movie despite its mellow pacing and easier to follow plot. The conversations with the planet busters are at least as mysterious and entertaining as those scenes with Hal. The ending is also very dark and fitting. This movie is definitely worth seeing if you can find it somewhere.

[Sebmojo]

@StGabe

Humans as batteries would get my #1. The moment they mentioned the “humans as batteries” thing is the moment I lost interest in The Matrix. Brains are about the most inefficient “machines” possible and consume a massive amount of energy for their output. If they’d said they were using human brains to power some massive neural network or something that would have been a lot better.

I read somewhere the neural network was actually their original idea but they decided it was a bit weird and abstract so they went with the battery idea.

I’ll see if I can find the reference.