The Three Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Such are the rules put forth by author Isaac Asimov in his collection of short stories. Each of the nine stories that make up the original work challenges these rules, and presents a mystery of sorts to figure out how they went wrong. Though I am not a huge fan of Asimov’s work (which is by no means a testament to the quality of the man’s work, it’s just personal taste on my part), I have read it and have seen several attempts to film it. Most succeed on some level, but few truly capture the spirit of the original work.

When I first heard about the big screen adaptation of “I,Robot”, I was intrigued. I wondered if there was a chance that someone might finally… get it right. The news that Alex Proyas was set to direct it certainly gave me hope that the film would be at the very least, a visual treat. Proyas did such a great job with “The Crow” a few years back, which still stands as a favorite movie of mine. But then, the bombshell… The film would star Will Smith… hmmmmm…

Keeping in mind that I do recognize the box office draw that Smiith has become and that I do enjoy his films immensely (with the exception of the ultra-horrible “Wild Wild West”), I just couldn’t imagine “I,Robot” as a big summer action blockbuster. The main story I was familiar with is a much quieter, rather psychological piece. That said, I avoided it at the theatre. What I didn’t think to do was simply to disassociate the movie totally from the original work and go see it anyway. That was a big mistake on my part.

When Fox’s first release came out last year, I popped in the DVD to finally check it out and I was shocked to that I ended up loving it. That’s right, I loved it. It was big, it was loud, and the special effects were for the most part, terrific. Again, I had to disassociate the original work completely from what I was seeing, and let the eye-candy commence. After it was over, all I could think was that I wish I had seen it in the theatre. Thankfully, I finally made the plunge late last year and added a big screen TV to our house, so at least I got to see it in 65” of glorious widescreen. But still, there’s something to be said about a 75’ theatre screen.

What surprised me the most about the film was that I had to agree with a comment co-worker of mine made the day the DVD arrived. He was surprised that I hadn’t seen it, and at the time I was still very hesitant. My co-worker is a big sci-fi guy and he was prepared to hate the film when he first saw it. But he said to me (quote), “It wasn’t as mind-numbingly stupid as I expected it to be.” (end quote) I looked at him rather incredulously, but he assured me that was how he felt. Now that I have seen it for myself, let me tell you that he was 100% correct. In spite of the big budget action pretense, it’s not at all mind-numbingly stupid. The storyline, which involved the investigation of a murder supposedly committed by a robot, was as solid as it was entertaining.

Granted, Will Smith didn’t really stretch his acting muscles as he played the same kind of smart-alecky cop he’s known for, but he still did a good enough job so as not to distract from the entire movie. And I would like to give a special nod to Alan Tudyk (who was great as ‘Wash’ in ‘Firefly”), for his performance as the robot in question, ‘Sonny.’ Much like Andy Serkis’ role as Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, you never get to really ‘see’ Tudyk. He provides the voice for the robot in question, but his physical performance also provided the animation reference for the CGI artists who created Sonny.

I can finally start to comment a little more on the visual aspects of some of these DVD releases, since I added the big screen, and I have to say the DVD release of “I, Robot” appears technically flawless in its presentation. The picture is always sharp, and the colors especially vibrant.

I had mentioned in my previous review that I had expected more in the way of special features, since it was such a special effects driven film, but there was only a commentary by director Proyas and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (which was fairly interesting) and a ‘Making of…’ featurette which was way too short, coming in just over ten minutes. But now Fox is following it up with a new 2-disc Collector’s Edition as part of it’s ‘All-Access’ series. This new release makes up for all of that in spades.

They have carried over the commentary and the featurette from the first release, but have added two additional commentaries. The first by composer Marco Beltrami and then another by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos.

Once you hit the 2nd disc, be prepared to click your way through a somewhat aggravating menu, but be amazed by the unbelievable amount of extra features. There is a production diary that runs over an hour and a half (but is broken up into nine chapters). From there, you can then access another “CGI and Design” (which is broken up into five chapters), and “Sentient Machines.” After you’ve made your way through these (and made your third bowl of popcorn and third trip to the bathroom), you’ll find four featurettes that focus on the Three Laws, which include interviews with Asimov’s daughter Robyn and his editor Jennifer Brehl.

Not that we’re done… oh noooo…. Continuing on, you get to watch featurettes on each of the three different effects houses that worked on the film (Digital Domain, WETA and Rainmaker). They are fairly short, but really well produced. Then if you still have time, check out the couple of deleted scenes two different looks at an alternate ending.

I told you they made up for it in spades…..

It’s not often that my original perception of an upcoming film is wrong, but I love it when I am. “I,Robot”, while not the best movie ever, surprised me by being much, much better than I expected. (And it wasn’t mind-numbingly stupid…)

Directed by: Alex Proyas
Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk
Extras: Commentary by director Alex Proyas and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, Commentary by production designer Patrick Tatopolous, editor Richard Learoyd, visual effects supervisor John Nelson, associate producer John Kilkenny, animation supervisor Andrew Jones, and visual effects supervisor Brian Van't Hul, Commentary by composer Marco Beltrami with isolated score, Comprehensive four-hour interactive tour, "Days Out of Days" production diaries, CGI and design featurettes, "Sentient Machines" (robotic behavior, "Three Laws Safe": conversations about sci-fi and robots, "The Filmmakers' Toolbox" (VFX how-to clues), Deleted scenes and alternate ending. Includes Movie Money Ticket good for up to $7.50 off theatrical admission to see Fantastic 4 (offer valid 7/1/05 to 7/23/05)
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 5/24/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Website

We'll give I, Robot: Collector's Edition an A.