The Invisible Boy (5)

I'm a bit confused because on the DVD was printed the title The Forbidden Planet, but when it began, it turned out to the The Invisible Boy. I grew up watching Disneyland-ish B-scifi-horror and I hoped that this would be of that ilk. Probably this was one of them - a film for young kids who are into computers, space, robots would love this, I can see that I would have loved it. It's a 5, but really only for nostalgic reasons.

In the space age of the late fifties, cars had fins and unbelievably spongy suspension, moms wore makeup for dinner and dads taught their sons maths. But this kids father was a scientist who let the "most powerful computer in the universe" teach his son. The kid learned to fix the Robbie The Robot and after some childish hijinks (the lowest part of the film including invisibility) the story really develops. The computer reprograms Robbie, to help it get into the safety of space aboard a rocket. The computer has also been lying and making itself so smart, that it has become sentient and is fighting for survival of itself, by implanting controllers into humans. It must be stopped!

Luckily for humanity, Robbie The Robot cares too much for the kid and can't torture him to make his father give the computer control of atomic power. After some reprogramming, Robbie is back to normal, and the family is reunited and the computer conquered.

This is a classic. Of course the effects are bad, the story at times childish and the science unbelievable, but the charm and naivety are the best part. And just think, in 50 years time we'll back on the Terminator and Matrix in the same way. Wonderful, I can't wait for it.