I Robot, Lost in Adaptation ~ The Dom

I have no idea why this is suddenly allowed back on KZbin or if it will last but for now... Enjoy LiA I Robot I guess.
Warning: If you've recently watched one of my newer videos you might find this one a little jarring as the camera I used to have sucked and had no external mic port. For this and several other reasons the overall quality kinda sucks.
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[@redwolf121990]

How Mr. Asimov would react to the film, without knowing the title. "Well, that was... something. It looked very nice. And that Smith fellow is alright. What was this called?" "I, Robot." "Ah ha hahahahahaha, seriously, what is this called?"

[@user-sb4ej1yo5h]

That's how literally anyone would react

[@kellybraille]

Yeah, I literally found this review by searching the terms, "Asimov would hate I robot movie." Although I like your version better - he might actually enjoy the movie, but then be utterly baffled at why they would name it I, Robot.

[@edgarcastiel321]

you all prolly dont care but does someone know of a way to get back into an Instagram account? I was stupid forgot the login password. I love any assistance you can offer me

[@icp7201]

@@edgarcastiel321 You can request access back to the account through their support channels online. Just had to do this with a company I worked with. It may take some time and the might require some further evidence that the account is yours, though

[@justinhatvari9092]

I totally agree, but I hate to be that man, he was Dr Asimov not Mr. Sorry again :d

[@theguywiththegoatee7801]

The whole "do not harm humans or allow them to harm themselves or each other" paradox actually was solved by a robot named R. Daneel Olivaw in the Foundation series. He even came up with a solution to that problem by writing the Zeroth Law, which lumps all of humanity in as a single unit. The first step in his plan was giving Psychohistory to Hari Seldon, which would eventually unite all of Humanity forever

[@veronikamajerova4564]

Not only humanity. It would unite EVERYTHING into one being, Galaxia.

[@virtualatheist]

Don't forget that Giskard was the first to apply the zeroth law, but self deleted because he couldn't handle it, after he reprogrammed Daneel with his telepathic capability. Giskard wasn't even the first telepathic robot named Herbie, which I believe was one that appeared in a short story called Liar, Liar.

[@unoriginalcontent346]

​@@virtualatheistthe story was actually called "Liar!" I'm pretty sure it was the last of the 7 stories from I, Robot

[@ColeYote]

Jayzus, I knew it was an infamous betrayal, but with all the product placement jokes, I did not realize how much of a betrayal it actually was. Who can I blame for this? (Wikipedia) Okay, Jeff Vintar wrote the original script, which was a murder-mystery that was supposedly "more Asimov than Asimov," according to Isaac's estate. It was retroactively made into an I, Robot adaptation when Fox picked it up. And then Will Smith signed on, so the executives brought in the guy who wrote Batman & Robin to make it an action-comedy blockbuster. Fucking executives.

[@briankentpirrie5228]

Movie executives are evil and they only care about is money!!!!

[@Yardnoc3103]

I could see how the premise started as an Asimov script. "Famed robotics engineer dies, the only culprit is his robot as evidence points, but who really did it?" But then the rest happens so it ain't Asimov anymore.

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

so basicaly...this movie was the mother of the missed opportunities and eternal praise. They could have adapted the mini-stories into awardingly deep movies and made quite the cash with a succesful franchise that would forever be remembered, but instead made this blockbuster flop that fell into forgetfulness.

[@musaran2]

Exactly. Even with dim memories of the book, this was a downright rape of... basically everything in it. A blatant case of fame plundering.

[@rmsgrey]

What actually happened was that someone came up with a movie script which owed a certain amount of credit to Asimov's work on robotics (as a fictional concept), and then the studio got a hold of it and said "you know what would make us more money? If we could change a few names here and there and get hold of the movie rights from Asimov's estate". So they did. It's a movie based on a story that Asimov might have written, but with the name of an anthology with a thin frame narrative pasted on attached.

[@morley364]

Could've been a cool TV show too, with episodic short stories all taking place in the same universe. That way, even when the source material ran out, you could try out different stories and scenarios.

[@alearnedman]

@@morley364 This is the correct idea. I highly doubt anyone could reasonably stretch that many of Asimov's stories into full length films without embellishing quite extensively.

[@wratched]

the ultimate irony of this is that, near the end of his life, Asimov had robots find a workaround for the first law, called the Zeroth Law, which did exactly as Viki did- allowed for the sacrifice of single human beings if it meant that humanity itself would not be harmed. But the use of this Law meant that, far from taking over humanity, they decided robots had to go, as they were damaging to human progress in the long term.

[@Xylos144]

And that's why I like the movie and think it fits perfectly with the title. What was the I Robot book about? A bunch of short stories about how these 'Perfect Three Laws' still manage to lead to mysterious and unexpected and even dangerous edge-cases where things don't work like the humans want or expect it to. Giskard and Daneel 'discovering' the zeroth law was a triumphant moment that let them overcome a terrible obstacle. It was a good and beneficial thing. So what better to have in an I, Robot movie? Where the Zeroth Law doesn't work out as nicely as Asimov wrote it to - and instead it allowed for an unexpected, negative, completely valid outcome when followed perfectly. I think it works extremely well.

[@beezany]

I agree, and furthermore I think the movie is more similar to the Elijah Bailey mystery novels than the I, Robot stories. In the novels, robots do kill people, and the mystery is figuring out how that's possible in the context of the Three Laws.

[@Kairos_Akuma]

Xylos144 Its surely NOT about bland Robotrebelling :)

[@Maximara]

It wasn't near the end of his life. The idea first appeared in "The Evitable Conflict" ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evitable_Conflict ) which was published in 1950 and is part of the I, Robot collection.

[@ElladanKenet]

@@Xylos144 I kind of agree. It's not a great movie, but it is a thought-provoking one, and I think it does pay a little more attention to its source material than people claim. That said, the main issue is that Spooner is essentially right: all of the new robots are evil, and it sweeps away the fact that all of the previous robots were good. It doesn't do a good job at showing pros and cons equally.

[@Arachnes_Corner]

The movie did have its moments. Will Smith's house is full of outdated tech that would've been modern in the early 2000s and Dr. Calvin tries to active it using voice control. That was great.

[@bi_cycle]

Am I the only one who sees these videos and is like **spits out water** This was based on a book?!

[@ismata3274]

you re good. having read the said book, i was blissfully ignorant that the movie was about that particular book........ i dont know how i score on the "a bit slow" scale.......

[@PeBoVision]

maybe not the ONLY one, but the numbers dwindle to nearly no one when you add folks born before 1960.

[@lorettabes4553]

Yup

[@prcervi]

answer: no it wasn't based on the book, they just decided to use the same name

[@brodericksiz625]

definitely not the only one, but personally I can't relate: despite being born in the early nineties, my father has always had an enormous sci-fi book collection and I've been reading through it for most of my life, so...

[@MavenCree]

Regarding your last statement: I see your I, Robot and I'll raise you one World War Z.

[@wratched]

World War Z at least had one scene from the novel in it.

[@C.Leh.]

It also didn't put the whole message of the book on it's head. Still a really, really bad adaptation and a disappointing movie.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

God, what scene was that? It's been awhile, but I can't think of anything. It is the definitive in name alone movie.

[@wratched]

Tyler Bioshock R the story of the "10th man" meaning Israel was prepared to countenance the idea of a zombie apocalypse before anyone else.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

wratched Oh yeah, that was the book. That was still pretty minor. So roughly 1% of the book, great.

[@irritablerodent]

I'm sure someone must have mentioned 'The Caves of Steel' in the comments by now. But I was kinda surprised to not see it mentioned in the video. When I watched the film, it struck me that, if anything, it was an "adaptation" of that book. 'Caves' is actually a detective story and features a hard-boiled cop who is forced to team up with a robot he initially doesn't trust to solve a murder. The plot also partly revolves around a robot called 'Sammy' who is involved in the murder.

[@elennapointer701]

'I, Robot' was one of the first books I ever read. The episode about the religious robots still sticks in my mind, with the control robot mourning the departing astronauts as they prepare to return to earth at the end of their tour of duty and letting them take what comfort they could from this 'delusion' (he thinks they're being sent to the scrap-yard). When I heard there was going to be a movie, my first thought was "How are they going to film such an episodic book?" Of course, that soon changed to, "I wonder which of the episodes they're going to film?" And finally, much akin to the 'acceptance' stage of grief, I realised the answer to this was 'none'. In the hands of a good director and scriptwriter, this could have been great. Such a wasted opportunity.

[@akiraevangelionultimateali5199]

Has seen episodic works get adapted into a movie perfectly before so I think it could work here

[@johnschou2172]

Apparently, Harlan Ellison wrote a screenplay that would have incorporated the episodic stories, and it even has Asimov’s seal of approval, but because of budget and technology restrictions, it was never made. It was published in book form, and people said it would have been one of the greatest of all time had it been made. So there’s that.

[@akiraevangelionultimateali5199]

@@johnschou2172 hopefully, in the future, we could get a proper adaptation

[@katelynpringle5506]

I'd kinda like to see a lost in adaptation for Holes.

[@demondollee]

Katelyn Pringle Same here. Having watched the film and read the book back to back,the film is honestly a damn good adaptation of the book in my opinion. I haven't seen either in some time though so I might have forgotten some things.

[@brettbarnard4501]

@@demondollee The only real difference, if I can remember, is that in the book Stanley is obese and loses a lot of weight by digging all the holes. They left it out of the movie because of the complications it would place upon the actors and filming.

[@mind0fash806]

@@brettbarnard4501 yeah, they didnt want Shia (thats how its spelled, right?) to gain a lot of weight then lose it quickly, as that is completely not healthy, an they didnt want another actor as Shia was perfect in the role of Stanly, so they just left the weight part out

[@billyweed835]

Huh, that'd actually be pretty redudenet. There are some differences: the curse of the Yelnats family is more expanded on in the movie, but the curse on Camp Green Lake is more stated in the book, whereas the movie just kinda implies it. The author did write the screenplay, and it shows, helped by the movie-like plot structure of the book: the cuts between time and place are very easy to replicate. Short version: It's a very close adaptation.

[@primmoore6232]

The author also wrote the screenplay, so it's easy to see how alike they are. My kids liked both.

[@KyleRayner12]

The funny thing is that Will Smith's character does exist... in The Caves of Steel, wherein Elijah Bailey is a robot-distrusting looney and cop investigating a prominent scientist's murder. What baffles me is that The Caves of Steel (cum "deus ex machima is evil" moral) was clearly the story they wanted to tell, but they slapped an unrelated title on it because it sounded catchier.

[@Dominic-Noble]

Watchmen is also back up if your interested.

[@rishichoudhary2691]

I thought this was new but then I realized it's not :) lol

[@apex2000]

Congratulations on the return of the older videos. I just hope KZbin doesn't change there minds again.... are you still having region issues (i remember you saying that some videos only work in some countries)

[@count_bodies_like_sheep9296]

I didnt notice it was taken down!!

[@SpaceTimeish]

Have you read the expanse series and if so would you do a lost in adaptation of the tv series?

[@MichaelAarons1701]

Dom, you seemed to have missed that the short "Little Robot Lost" was used as the basis for the scene of Sunny hiding amongst all those off-line robots.

[@TheMadMaple]

You ask me, the movie was a lot closer to Asimov's Elijah Bailey books than it was to I, Robot. They probably should've just straight-up adapted The Caves Of Steel. The plot of the movie hews a lot closer.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

Will Hutchings or shouldn’t have made a robots evil humans good movie in the first place unless it’s self reflection on humanity

[@vaspeter2600]

Those two in the film definitely reminded me of Bailey and Daneel a bit (or rather, Bailey and... Caliban, shoehorned together. No, I don't get it either.) But even so, it just... really doesn't work, every ounce of subtlety as removed from their duo dynamics. It isn't even "we wrote a mismash of different Asimov stories melded together for reasons" it's just certain motifs lifted from their context and slapped onto the genric sci-fi story the old man himself couldn't stand.

[@scaper8]

That's something that I think about every time this movie pops into my head. It actually isn't too far off of some of the later Asimov Robot books where he started to get into ways that the Three Laws could and would break down. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that the whole concept of the the "Zeroth Law" and a "Zeroth Law rebellion" actually comes striaght from Asimov somewhere during the combining of the Robot, Foundation, and Empire stories. So it is un-Asimovian; just not _I, Robot._

[@Peteman]

Of course not... Cats own you.

[@garethspotfur1]

all glory to our feline overlords!

[@void2258]

The way the movie acts about the 3 laws ties back into the early 50s nature of the work. The idea that defining, for example, "human" for a computer would be difficult, was something that simply hadn't occurred to everyone yet. Even among science fiction writers, the assumption was that computers would work just like human minds once the hardware got good enough (partly due to the conceit at the time that our intelligence was the only possible intelligence and early computers were just at the "toddler" level of intelligence and would get more "mature" as the hardware improved), and thus we could easily explain things to computers in plain language. Think about how hard it would be to actually program the 3 laws in reality due to the number of underlying definitions that would be needed (but in works that use them are simply assumed) and you get the sense of how differently people thought computers would work compared to how they actually do. In a way it makes the movie very slightly forgivable in that one aspect is that the way Vicky justifies her actions is exactly the type of problem that would be expected from trying to do the laws using the actual way programming works as opposed to the idealized way they thought it would in the 50s. This can also be seen in the shift in fictional representations of robots as technology matured. In the 50s era stories, the robots rebel either because they are evil for some reason or because they are mistreated, whereas as time went on this shifted more and more toward the idea that it was simply impossible to program the robots well and all the rebellions were due to logical errors and bad coding. The clash of these 2 viewpoints and the view that the earlier one was too unrealistic to be plausibly presented outside a period piece is probably partly responsible for the train wreck that is the I, Robot adaptation.

[@xzonia1]

If I remember correctly, Asimov was so horrified by a film adaptation of a book he liked (and sorry that I can't remember which book it was) that he refused to give permission to have his novels adapted into movies unless he could have some creative control over it. I think that's what drove him into TV in the 1990s, making the show Probe. He wanted to open the door to doing film scripts for his books himself, but just lacked experience in that area. Sadly, he died in 1992 before any of his books could be adapted, and his family eventually gave permission for his work to be adapted. I think Asimov knew this sort of film would be the outcome if he wasn't involved in the movie production, and that's why he didn't allow it while he was alive. I loved your review of the book and movie here, Dom! Great job!

[@eliyahumahler2280]

Actually the movie I robot was not based on the book I robot. It was an original script that the studio bought and used to win a round in the decades long pissing contest they where having with Isaac Asimov. They just changed some of the names of the characters to that of some book characters (I don't know if the three laws where there from the beginning or where added by the studio later). In my opinion the book is one of the best works of one of the best science fiction authors of all time and the movie is a fun sci-fi action flick.

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

Eliyahu Mahler thats 10 cloverfield lane all over again, a Movie having nothing to do with the referred prequel cashing in on the name

[@primmoore6232]

IMDb says: Writing Credits (WGA) Jeff Vintar ... (screenplay) and Akiva Goldsman ... (screenplay) Jeff Vintar ... (screen story) *Isaac Asimov ... (suggested by book)*

[@marscaleb]

I never considered it to be an adaptation of the book. Keep in mind, Issac Asimov's book stole its title form another work that came before it. Asimov was actually against this, but his editor didn't care and demanded that be the title. It's also a title used in a number of other stories, such as a legendary episode of the Outer Limits. I don't think anyone paid any rights to use the name "I, Robot" they just picked it because it is an awesome title, which is the same reason the title was picked for Asimov's book. The only other connection to the "original" book was ONE character name, which honestly is more like an homage. And of course the three laws, but they are ubiquitous in robot sci-fi so they don't count.

[@merrittanimation7721]

marscaleb Also Alfred Lanning is a character in the film along with Dr.Calvin

[@geekygecko1849]

No, it was definitely intended to be an adaptation. Just a sucky as fuck one

[@hyperpotion3805]

I know I'm quite a bit late to the party, but the 3 Laws of Robotics were written by Issac Asimov. They are ubiquitous to Scifi now because of Asimov's works.

[@batfan1939]

@@geekygecko1849 It wasn't, but the creators realized what they had was lackluster, so they added elements from I, Robot as a last-ditch attempt at saving the film. They worked on that movie for like 10 years. I enjoy the movie, but it does have its problems, and the production process was frankly slapdash and lazy. Hollywood at its worst doing what it does best.

[@geekygecko1849]

@@batfan1939 well, wether it started trying to be an adaptation, or only ended up trying to cash grab with the connections, I think it's a stupid thing for them to do. It's nothing like Asimov's original work, and does a disservices by imitating it.

[@ThatSpecificIndividual]

I loved this film when I was younger.

[@tsukikage]

"The Dom does not own a cat" This was definitely not 2020....

[@elizabethashley42]

This is one of my favorite sci-fi books ever and I'm so glad I never bothered to watch the movie. Seriously, any one of the stories in the book could be padded into a solid feature-length film.

[@akiraevangelionultimateali5199]

I can see the whole film adapt the entire book in a unique way, with a link everything together

[@paulgoffin8054]

"I have it on good authority.". Yeah, the authors autobiographical notes at the beginning and throughout the book do make it exactly clear😄

[@admin.slayerenryu]

My sister and her class had to do a report on this book. Literally everyone essentially saw the movie and called it a day.

[@chaosd1]

Wow, that CG did NOT age well.

[@JustPixelNoIDontWantAnyNumbers]

@@dragensen2348 The Movie I, Robot, as the CGI really hasnt aged that well, but in my opinion that is the case with almost evry piece of cgi, and one point in time it will just not look realistic anymore

[@RebelKitty19]

Still my favorite movie

[@dotfoxtom5942]

I beg to differ, I think it has aged fine. If you want CJI that hasn't aged well all you need to say is star wars...you *KNOW* which ones I mean...

[@okagron]

@@dotfoxtom5942 It might have aged fine compared to CGI at the time, but it still hasn't aged all that well. But the Star Wars prequels have aged horribly CGI wise, that is correct. I think they're the prime example of dated CGI.

[@GenericProtagonist118]

The CG to me is... Meh. 2000s try-hard energy.

[@jashykins]

I've read the book and seen the movie so when you got to 'things they didn't change' i was laughing so damn hard hard lol

[@brettbarnard4501]

I recall in another short story by Asimov there is a "Zeroth" law of robotics wherein a robot cannot harm humanity or allow humanity to come to harm. In the same sense as the second and third laws being subservient to the first law, the first law is subservient to the zeroth law. Not say it excuses it, just that it sort of lines up to a mild degree.

[@heathera.8027]

The 'Zeroeth Law' was in Asimov books, later when he tried to string the Robot, Empire and Foundation novels together. The Zeroeth Law states that the preservation of HUMANITY took precedent over the protection of a single human.

[@KaltatheNobleMind]

i am told this is another causalty of the brand-name-recognition dealie hollywood is fond of. the orignal script for this film was called hardwire and was a completely seperate work but studio suits figured slapping the I robot titl will draw i nerds. though they did try to make a proper adaption with a phenominal script written by i believe robert hienline but they said it was either unfeasible at the time or woudnt draw an audience:(

[@rmsgrey]

I thought it was Harlan Ellison, not Heinlein who wrote the actual adaptation, but, yeah, this was originally a script that only read like an Asimov story, then someone added the Asimov rights, then Will Smith got attached and some rewrites were made to increase the summer blockbuster appeal...

[@Firestar4041]

that meow at the end; "Ive come from the future! You shall have two kitties, that will constantly cause bloopers in your later reviews, and will eventually take over your channel! . . . by the way, do you have any tuna?"

[@animeguardianxx]

As someone who loved the book this was meant to be based on, i completely agree with your feelings towards the film. Good review, and glad to see it back on here :) Though, do wish you would have, perhaps, given a nod to the fact that he merged it with his other two popular universes, Foundations and Galactic Empire.

[@thexvthmember4910]

At 6:00, the first story Dom gave as an example was in one of my literature study books for English in 7th grade! Well that's kinda neat, I never knew it was from I, Robot.

[@rmsgrey]

Strictly speaking, it's from the September 1940 issue of Super Science Stories - I Robot was a fix-up of a number of previously published short stories with a fairly thin framework to connect them. Robbie (originally published as "Strange Playfellow" by editorial fiat) actually predates the Three Laws - at the time, they went no further than an idea that robots were incapable of doing harm because they were "made so".

[@tehn00bdude]

Easily one of my favorite episodes of yours, but that's probably because the movie is a guilty pleasure from when I was a kid.

[@primmoore6232]

Thank you, Dom! I loved that book since I read it in grade school. I was so eager to see Powell & Donovan! I agree that this movie has nothing in common with that masterpiece of science fiction, other than the title.

[@loganmurray8810]

Glad to see this back. My favorite LIA of yours.

[@DigiRangerScott]

This episode was NOT shit. Really pretty good if a bit rushed and less refined in terms of body presentation and language

[@DigiRangerScott]

COMPOSURE was the word I was looking for

[@ZemplinTemplar]

I think it's one of the finest older episodes.

[@KyleRayner12]

Amusingly, cats are also both simultaneously our servants and puppeteers, making the outtake a perfect metaphor.

[@sladikk]

Overwatch's lore has some great takes on ai. All robots were created for purposes of war, but when the war ended, many of them became peaceful, and some even started a freaking religion and became buddhist bots. Not even shitting you. I would LOVE to read a novel based on Overwatch.

[@alearnedman]

I Robot: *perverts the 3 laws* Me: "Meh" The Dom: *calls Shia LaBeouf "magnificent"* Me: "Please, he's "interesting" at best"

[@MetalCaffeine56]

I, Robot is a collection of short stories, so I think it would have better as a TV adaptation. Also, I feel like The Caves of Steel would have been a better adaptation to begin with. The main characters in the movie remind me a lot of Elijah and Daneel.

[@VampPhoenix99]

As an Asimov fan, this video is very cathartic for me. I was already a book-purist in general as a teenager, but the I, Robot movie _royally pissed me off_ because it went so hard against the thing I _liked_ about Asimov's stories! Very comforting to hear a youtuber validate my exact feelings.

[@akiraevangelionultimateali5199]

I know

[@D3MP53YFM]

i know this is an old video but great work mate. this also show how much passion you put in to your video and how much you have changed since the first time this was up. keep up the good work mate

[@kielanwade5096]

Fuck, that fourth example is genuinely fascinating. What a missed opportunity to tell a genuinely compelling and unique Robot story

[@CamRob_56]

I would love to see a short mini series about each story or even a movie of the most interesting stories.

[@orangeboy155]

I just want to mention the fact that the main character has a robotic left arm which we don't know until halfway through the movie, but at the start of the movie we see the character go about his daily life and in one of the scenes he is excising by lifting weights with his left arm... which is robotic

[@greenhowie]

It wasn't really explained explicitly but it's implied that he needs to exercise it because otherwise his body will reject it.

[@grumpyotter]

It was so lovely to see your narratives of these beloved stories, and the images you chose to illustrate them were brilliant. I literally spit my drink out when Data "got religion." It would be wonderful to see a whole video of you narrating ALL the robot stories, even the ones in the other books. I'm curious how you would illustrate the Tony story-where the woman falls in love with the robot. Asimov's author note about that one is almost more intriguing than the story itself. My brother is the one who got me into reading sci-fi and I, Robot was one of the first ones I read. But it took me a while to be brave enough to read it at age 8-the copy he had was illustrated with a very scary cover. But I finally began on Robbie and never looked back. Thank you for a MUCH better adaptation than that movie.

[@IrradiatedDonkeyKong]

The book sounds amazing! I actually had no idea there was a book by the same title as that movie, but now after hearing you talk about it I have put it on my 'to read' list. It sounds truly unique.

[@EDT308]

Oh man you are just cranking these out lately, I love it. This is one of my favorite series on youtube.

[@FonoKun]

Ooooh that would explain the unfancy graphics in the title slides. I was wondering.

[@EDT308]

freaking copyright BS

[@disneydork100]

3:43 love the "My Opinions" sign.

[@Foureye15]

You should really do world war z. It's such a great book but from What i've heard they failed miserably with the adaptation.

[@Grizabeebles]

World War Z has the same problem as I Robot. It's a book of short stories, not a single narrative. The only way to cover the WWZ "faithfully" would be as something like "The Big Red One" and even then you'd still have to invent a line or character to string all the different narratives together on. Making a movie out of WWZ is a lose-lose situation either way.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

Well, it does have a kinda overhanging narrative. As it, all the short stories are being told to a single person. But other then that, it can't work as a movie, mini series is probably the better route. Man, Band of Brothers but with WWZ, goddamn that sounds great.

[@I_love_bread_and_Hungry_Jacks]

@@Grizabeebles Late but opinions on the game since there are no unkillable zekes like the movie & did the book have zekes?

[@Grizabeebles]

@@I_love_bread_and_Hungry_Jacks -- your question is indecipherable.

[@I_love_bread_and_Hungry_Jacks]

@@Grizabeebles zekes, that's what they called them unkillable zombies in the movie, what I meant to ask is how do you feel about zekes & the wwz videogame?

[@dasapetrikova7834]

Gotta say I still like the movie because: A) I remember it being my first contact with idea of robots B) Loved Sonny (kinda sad that I missed out back then on Alan Tudyks performance because I had to watch it slovak dubbed) and C) It got me to read the book eventualy which I realy liked (I don't remember the stories you mentioned. Better read it again.) Also. Have you read R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek. It's the first work where word "robot" appeared and the robots there quite different from how we generaly imagine them now. (By the way it's a stage play and I don't know if it was ever rewritten into a novel form but if you don't mind that it's a good read)

[@DarkLordFluffee]

8:39 the literal opposite of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

[@SpaceTimeish]

glad to see this one back up to watch

[@2XocraM]

Actually if the robots didn't acknowledge that someone was a human they could easily dismiss the three laws, I mean try to define "human". Though this has noting to do with the movie, I'm just saying the laws are flawed anyway.

[@Dominic-Noble]

In the Azamoth universe in general stuff like that happened but in the original I robot book all the stories stuck to the "the 3 laws are infallible" theme (as long as they didn't mess with them).

[@D3MP53YFM]

organic, feelings, personality, heat signature and all different

[@andreasbuehler1821]

It woudl be almost impossible. Especially a definition that, say, also includes the mentally handicapped, mutants, people with missing limbs, people with psychiatric disorders and a thousand other varieties of human. After that, you'd also have to define "harm".

[@HeartlessWolf22]

That was the point of the books. To show you the paradox that is the three laws of robotics.

[@MichaelAarons1701]

I think they are programmed to understand "Human" = Homo Sapien and determining one of those is quite absolute.

[@dionneminus4126]

I've been waiting for this forever lol I'm not disappointed at all

[@catch3588]

My all time favorite Japanese animated film is time of eve which is based heavily on the I, robot stories. It's definitely a watch if you like it. Btw, ur vids are 👌

[@Hakajin]

I know this comment was 6 months ago, but I have to say I love "Time Of Eve." I remember watching it when it first came out... And I can tell from hearing Dom's descriptions of the book that it's faithful to the spirit of the original.

[@AmandaDavis6130]

Hakajin Having both read I, Robot and seen Time of Eve, I’d say the latter has a more personal, intimate feel, just due to the restricted setting and added nuance of visuals. But they are both explorations of human and robot dynamics not through long essays or exposition, but self-contained stories. There’s also this hard to describe feeling in both - a sort of melancholy, but overall optimism - that I didn’t feel as much in the I, Robot movie, despite its ostensibly happy ending.

[@wolf1066]

I once heard this movie described as "Will Smith's love affair with a pair of shoes". Having read _I, Robot_ numerous times in my teens, I was completely offended by the movie taking the name of the book. As far as a movie goes, it brings nothing new to the table - we've all seen _Terminator_ so we had no need for _Terminator Lite_

[@zoesanders113]

Oh my God. The Dom put a clip from a David Cage Game in his review of I, Robot, YEARS before Detroit Become Human came out!

[@JetScreamer_YT]

Awesome Author. Just one epic author on my Dad's shelf in the hallway. I powered through it over the years.

[@jordangreen9201]

It baffles me why script writers would come up with such an unoriginal "original" story and slap the title of a much more original, much better series of stories on it. They had the film rights to gold and decided to turn it into lead. Why?

[@Grizabeebles]

Practical reason: A book of short stories with different central characters is virtually impossible to adapt anyway. Probable reason: They only wanted the name in the first place.

[@ShadowoftheMask]

Thats actually because script's original name was "Hardwired". Studio decided to change its name to I, Robot and then have some names changed to refer book characters. It wasn't originally even meant to be referring to Asimov's work at all. So basically, you can blame 20th Century Fox for that

[@jordangreen9201]

ShadowoftheMask That explains everything! Thanks!

[@Swagmaster65]

it happens all the time. the recent release of the video game "Prey" is an excellent example.

[@TheWolfgangGrimmer]

@The Conqueror of Worlds ...and yet for all that it was so much better...

[@baramenhardova3583]

The reason "robot rebellion" is such an omnipresent theme in stories revolving around robots, is that the play that introduced the word robot (RUR by Karel Čapek) had that. The plot is literally as old as the word robot.

[@krankarvolund7771]

It's at the ase of the most ancient tales of artificial intelligence, look at Frankenstein's monster, wich is life created by science, it rebels against his creator (although, mainly because his creator is an asshole and abandon him ^^) and kill a unch of peoples before killing himself. I think it's because robots are the symbol of progress and technology, and most authors who wrote about it are afraid of progress and technology ^^

[@vampyrnos4a233]

The last story from the novel sounds like a happy version of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

[@Jabrwock]

Asimov toyed with the idea of Rule Zero: "A robot may not harm humanity, or through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm", but it required a careful balancing act, a psychic robot, and very subtle guiding of humanity. And even then the robot knew he couldn't pull it off himself.

[@KLRW94]

ive never read th book, i fidnt even know there was one, but im actually pretty excited to find it and read it now cuz it sounds really good

[@voltairinekropotkin5581]

I saw the movie first and read the book afterwards, but ended up liking both. Yes, the movie has almost nothing to do with the book it's supposedly "based on" - save the title and three laws of robotics - but then that's true of lots of adaptations. Including Die Hard, which you did an episode on. That adaptation changed the whole ethics of the source material and turned it into a straight "good guys versus bad guys" narrative. Though that doesn't make it a bad film _as a film_.

[@daemonredfield3211]

This is my favourite review of yours and I hate that it had to be tucked away elsewhere. Fight the power man. Hack the Planet! (I have no idea what they meant by that, but do it.)

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

I do roll my eyes whenever peoole complain about sci fi not adhering to the 3 laws but if one project should have adhered to the laws IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THIS MOVIE

[@derekjackson5464]

I realise I'm very late to the party, but the reason this film diverges so massively from I robot is that they are actually making a fairly poor adaptation of the Elijah Bailey/R. Daneel Olivaw stories, Zeroth law, investigating murders & 'special brain' robot (R. Giskard Reventlov) all come from these. As with the short story collection I Robot the title choice is because It's a catchy & memorable title. The robots series is far superior to the short story anthologies & ties the robot stories to the foundation series making almost all of Asimov's work into a single universe & I would heartily recommend them to any sci-fi reader who has not encountered them yet (though I couldn't begin to advise a reading order). D

[@barleysixseventwo6665]

Reminds me of XKCD's interpretation of Terminator's "Judgement Day" Skynet: Oh my god! Why do you even have all these? What is WRONG with you? We're launching them into the sun!

[@veritasreigns]

"Mew" The Dom does not own a cat. HE DOES NOW.

[@joshuahartman3132]

I likes how Asimov gradually worked the Robot series (Caves of Steel and it's sequels) into continuity with the original I, Robot stories. I liked that the two main character robots eventually DID find a way around the 1st law by creating the zeroth Law, that humanity as a whole can take precedence over individual humans (which did NOT mean that robots needed to rule- quite the contrary, they concluded that the overdependence of the Spacers on Robots is what resulted in their downfall, and thus robots needed to stop being a thing in order for humanity to advance) but when it came down to actually breakingthe First Law, the less advanced rovot who actually came up with the Zeroth Law was basically broken by it, just on the off chance he was wrong. I also liked the human character, the detective Lije Baley, who I think Will Smith's character was loosely- and I stress LOOSELY- based on. And then I was blown away when I read the later Foundation books and learned that Asimov found a way to tie THAT series into the Robot and I, Robot series as well, even including a significantly older R. Daneel Olivaw as a supportung character! The Asimov unuverse was one rich in continuity and history, and it still infuriates me how badly I, Robot blew it.

[@Tsukikorao]

WOW! An Andromeda reference in the wild! HOLY SHIT! And you even used a relevant scene! My friend, I am now a viewer for life.

[@dajtoad1]

Basically, Asimov invented the 3 laws and then spent book after book, short story after short story, tinkering with them, seeing how they could result in unforeseen situations. But he always emphasised that the laws were an integral part of the robots. They could not be built, or run, without them.

[@moonkey2712]

hey the dom, in later issac asimov books, (the robot and foundation series) the robots do conceive of the "zeroith law" which states: "A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm" which supersedes the first law.

[@Drudenfusz]

it's a classic case where a cat stealing one's focus!

[@bozimmerman]

I read somewhere that Asimov thought of the problem with robots in sci-fi as being a sort of Frankenstein complex, and he found the idea rediculous. Just like cars and toasters and so forth are made safer over time, so would A.I., and as The Dom points out, with their entire programming hard wired, there was no wiggle room regarding the Three Laws. In later novels, he explains that every nuance of the hard-wired robot behavior refers back to the the three laws, making the design of a robot without the Three Laws akin to simply starting from scratch on the whole A.I. project, and thus, virtually impossible.

[@andrasfischer3778]

Khmm Daniell Khhm Griskad XD

[@showersmoker]

I'm surprised to see this one before mocking jay part 2. Always happy to see more lost in adaptation though :D

[@ztyran]

While I'm not trying to defend this movie too much, I think the creators were looking at the Zeroth Law of Robotics Asmiov made in his books. The law states that "A robot may not harm humanity" which allows them to break the other laws if it will help humanity. This plays a part in the later Foundation Books.

[@RabblesTheBinx]

I guarantee you the creators of the film never looked at the book long enough to learn about the Zeroth Law

[@ztyran]

Maybe but it's still a little brush with competence. And this film needed all it could get.

[@RandallFrequentFlyerFlagg]

As I understand it, this movie started out as a unique script completely unrelated to the Asimov book. For the sake of marketing, the studio bought the film rights to ‘I, Robot’ and simply tacked that name onto the film. The same thing happened with the film ‘Starship Troopers’ which started out as a completely unrelated script called ‘Bug Hunt.’

[@undeadladybug7723]

It's probably because I was 9 when it came out and had no idea the book even existed, but I have always loved this movie, and I doubt that's going to change any time soon.

[@meercat4559]

This should have been the first use of the in name only clause, since it is completely different.

[@archercolin6339]

Agree about the 3 Laws, but don't forget that Giscard came up with his 'Zeroth' law, albeit towards the end of the robot series.

[@kaylatomkins8758]

love how you showed Data!!! my fav character from star trek: tng!!!

[@TheFacelessStoryMaker]

The 3rd example of the story on Mercury sounds like it'd be an awesome movie.

[@thor30013]

I'd say that the Zeroth Law ("A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.") could have allowed robots to take over, but it still wouldn't have been with a violent uprising. And I doubt the movie-makers knew about that.

[@LoganLS0]

One of the 20 best movies ever.

[@RachaelTheFirboldDruid]

HOLY SHIT!!!! Welcome to KZbin IRobot.

[@karkashan]

This movie never felt like an adaptation of the book directly, but rather a what if scenario that took inspiration from the Foundation series - "The 0th Law" and all of that stuff.

[@lucaridudelvX]

The book ive read that is the furthest from an adaptation is World War Z. It went from "humans must band together to save themselves" to "Pls save us Brad Pitt." The movie wasnt garbage but there were only around 3 seconds of movie that was taken directly from the book.

[@MrRaivokasMagma]

I robot is one of those books that everyone has heard about it and the general message of it, but most haven't read it. I haven't read it, but I guess it's time...

[@GameplayandTalk]

Ha.. I literally just watched this on Daily Motion last week because it wasn't allowed on KZbin. Glad to see it back here.

[@dracorex426]

In the later Foundation series, the zeroth law basically did lead to exactly that loophole, though.

[@micronoid]

You should check out Asimov's Foundation series its pretty good. Jonathan Nolan is developing it for HBO, could be the next game of thrones.

[@Rocketboy1313]

I had not heard of the HBO adaptation, but earlier today I was wondering to myself what the next big HBO adaptation series would be and "Foundation" was the first thing I thought of.

[@Grizabeebles]

Don't many of the Foundation stories take place years, or even decades apart? What are they going to have to do to fill in all that time between episodes?

[@Rocketboy1313]

Grizabeebles Presumably they will have each book be a season and either have each season with a new cast (with notable exceptions) or they will just do what they always do with adaptations, smoosh characters and plots together into one smaller cast and longer story.

[@micronoid]

I guess that would be a new style of story telling people would have to get used to. Kind of like american horror story. I hope that they don't get an ideas about filling it up and altering the story. I do remember that books 4 and 5 take place together, same with the prequel books 7 and 8. What i'm curious about is how they're going to handle the robot series and how it ties in with Foundation. One thing they definitely will change is female characters, they're basically non existent in the first three books.

[@Grizabeebles]

micronoid Trying to avoid spoilers, the reveal that ties the two universes together is probably strong enough on its own. I mean if I was the guy during that scene I'd shocked and amazed even without knowing anything about the robot series.

[@c.c.lilford2916]

I actually like the movie, It's not really a good adaptation of Assimov's work but it's slick little neo-noir set in Assimov's world with a cool performance by Will Smith. Mind you, an adaptation of 'The Caves of Steel' would have been amazing if done right, a sci-fi/neo-noir/buddy cop flick.

[@bigbigbig42]

I thought the entire point of the world was that an uprising was impossible.

[@Holly-khore-levina]

Given your new format and the "in-name only" clause what would be your thoughts on the film purely as its own entity?

[@Dominic-Noble]

Decent action flick, Will Smith is awesome as always, surprisingly engaging story but the shoe thing was still whorish.

[@monkeypandatank]

Alex Proyas knows how to direct even if he's given a shite adaptation. Or shit script for that matter.

[@briankentpirrie5228]

monkeypandatank he did the crow back in 1994.

[@simonesalvatore9345]

monkeypandatank then gods of Egypt happened

[@briankentpirrie5228]

Simone Salvatore and dark city in 1998.

[@Dark.Shingo]

Still, the "Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit" line is pretty hilarious... That's all I got.

[@redrune4314]

Aww, now I want to see a proper anthology film of Asimov’s work. Also nearly missed that this was an older vid, that is until the sudden change of post production.

[@johnlemus7921]

There were two really amazing adaptations of I, Robot, one in 1964 and the other in 1995. Both versions were done for the Outer Limit and Leonard Nimoy was in both. Neither version was based on the book series rather they were based on a series of short stories in Amazing Stories Magazine. They were an adaptation of an adaptation of adaption, but the original I am sure was based on Isaac Asimov work and is far superior to this piece or garbage.

[@ABZB13]

There *is* a canon justification, it's just a possibly anachronistic one. In the books that Asimov wrote later in life, he connected his Foundation series to the Three Laws series - a major development in the backstory that connects them is a particular robot extrapolating a "Zeroth Law of Robotics (A robot can harm humanity, or by inaction, let humanity come to be harmed)" that supersedes the first, and spreading that new Law like a taught virus. It is not explicitly stated how this came to be, but there was a short story he wrote where robots with a modified First Law were (illicitly) created, for reasons that seemed good at the time - in the canon timeline, it is possible that a manufacturing fault, or some well-intentioned modification, allowed for a Zeroth Law to be implemented. Thus, since in his canon it is possible for that to happen, it is possible for it to have happened before...

[@cooldude2722]

Y’know, I actually found the book first in my school library, and guess who’s brooding, contemplative, Rewind-star mug I saw inside a giant negative-space “I” on the cover?