Netflix's original new sci-fi action film Outside the Wire is poised for release on the platform Friday, January 15th. Anthony Mackie stars in the film as Leo, a futuristic android and expert drone pilot given the most dangerous mission of his life when paired with a new partner and sent to a hot warzone behind enemy lines.
Directed by Mikael Häfström, the film joins a long line of cinematic android stories, which often differ from that of cyborg lore. In most cases, androids are humanlike robots while cyborgs tend to be half-human-half-robot entities. For a clearer distinction among the best of the bunch, these cyborgs are the best to check out.
Maria/Futura - Metropolis (1927)
Since Fritz Lang's groundbreaking sci-fi spectacle Metropolis inspired the rest of this list in some form or fashion, the 1927 masterwork is a perfect place to start.
The film is set in a future dystopia in which income inequality is getting worse by the day. As the workers and city organizers fight for power, a terrifying robot doppelganger of Maria (The Machine Man) is one of the very first cinematic robots of all-time, and one of the first with a human likeness.
David - A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Based on the short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldis, Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence features one of the most heartbreaking cinematic androids of all time.
Haley Joel Osment plays David, a lifelike robot in a distant and dystopic future who wants nothing more than to become a real boy. On his Pinocchio-like quest, the "mecha" David encounters a slew of unsavory characters en route to finding his adoptive mother, Monica (Frances O'Connor).
Gort - The Day The Earth Stood Still (1954)
The only thing more alarming than an alien invasion is one involving a humanoid extraterrestrial robot. Such is the case with iconic robot Gort from the 1954 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Directed by Robert Wise, the film imagines a Cold War-era alien invasion on Earth from a friendly alien-race led by the diplomatic Klaatu. While Klaatu is kind and curious, his mute robotic sidekick Gort is anything but, making for a hilarious counterpoint between the two characters.
David - Prometheus (2012)
Along the same lines as Ash, Bishop, and Call (all alphabetical, mind you) in the Alien franchise, David (Michael Fassbender) from Prometheus and its follow-up Alien: Covenant is one of the most devious and duplicitous cinematic androids ever conceived.
David is so lifelike that is hard to determine his artificiality. He uses his humanlike qualities to trick the crew of the USCSS Covenant space vessel for his own grand ambition, which could lead to the end of human civilization.
The Gunslinger - Westworld (1973)
In both Westworld and its 1976 follow-up Futureworld, Yul Brynner plays The Gunslinger, a cowboy robot who goes haywire during a computer malfunction and attempts to murder the human guests attending his fantastical theme park. Ed Harris plays a version of the same character in the HBO hit series.
Written and directed by Michael Crichton, Westworld centers on two patrons (James Brolin, Peter Benjamin) who fight for survival when the chief robot host at the adult-themed attraction goes on a kill-crazy rampage.
Police - THX 1138 (1971)
Before unleashing the Star Wars saga on the universe, George Lucas wrote and directed THX 1138, a stark sci-fi depiction of a future dystopia in which android police officers and regulated drugs control the minds of the growing population on Earth.
The film is inspired by the aforementioned Metropolis, and in turn, inspired Star Wars a few years later. What makes these androids so memorable is the lack of personality and the bleak uniformity as they work in tandem to keep humanity in check.
Ash - Alien (1979)
With all due respect to Bishop and Call of Aliens and Alien: Resurrection, Ian Holm's Ash has one of the greatest robotic reveals in cinematic history.
As if the Nostromo crew didn't have enough to worry about with the slimy facehuggers and drooling Xenomorphs, the leader Ash turns out to be an evil android out to capture the alien monster aboard the ship and keep safe for study. The conniving android motif is continued throughout the series.
Alex Murphy - RoboCop (1987)
Despite the underwhelming 2014 remake, Paul Verhoeven's original RoboCop features one of the most brutal and badass androids ever committed to celluloid.
After being murdered while on assignment in post-apocalyptic Detroit, Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is brought back to life as a humanoid robot and exacts bloody revenge on the bosses who set him up to fail. While there's some confusion as to RoboCop's true nature, he rides both sides of the android/cyborg fence.
Roy Batty - Blade Runner (1982)
Since debate is still being waged over whether or not Deckard is a replicant, the number one android in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner goes to Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer).
Set in dystopic L.A., Blade Runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is tasked with finding as many replicants as possible. His search leads him to Roy Batty, an android with as close to a soul as non-humanly possible. As Roy waxes poetic and philosophical about the beauty on Earth, Deckard takes no prisoners in an epic confrontation for the ages.
T-Series - The Terminator Franchise (1984-)
Rather than rank all of the various Terminator models, consider this one all-encompassing salute to the entire franchise. Whether it's Arnold's iconic T-800 prototype or T-2: Judgment Day's T-1000, these are the best cinematic androids of all time.
One of the brilliant aspects of the franchise is James Cameron's decision to make The Terminator a scary killer in the first film and a likable protagonist in the sequel. Through this evolution, Cameron is able to show the human qualities of the robot as he learns how to harnass compassion, sympathy, empathy, and even love.