''Circuitry Man'' is a 1990 American

post apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by Steven Lovy and starring

Jim Metzler Jim Metzler (born June 23, 1951) is an American actor, best known for guest-appearances on popular TV series. In 1983, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role in the 1982 film ''Tex''. Filmography Films *''Squeeze Play!' ...

Dana Wheeler-Nicholson Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (born October 9, 1960) is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in the films '' Fletch'' (1985), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''Fast Food Nation'' (2006) and '' Parkland'' (2013). She is also known for her role ...

and

Vernon Wells Vernon Michael Wells III (born December 8, 1978) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the New York Yankees. Wells ...

. It was followed by a sequel, '' Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II'', in 1994.

Synopsis

In a post-apocalyptic future, pollution has killed off the natural world and the population is forced to live underground. A woman attempts to smuggle a suitcase of contraband drug/chips from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to the underground remnants of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, while eluding both police and gangsters. Along the way, she is aided by a romantic bio-mechanical pony-tailed android and pursued by Plughead, a villain with the ability to tap into people's minds.

Cast

as Danner *

as Lori *

Lu Leonard Lu Leonard (born Mary Lou Price; June 5, 1926 – May 14, 2004) was an American actress, the daughter of Hal Price. Career She began acting in 1953 as Theodosia in the ''Life of Riley'' television sitcom. Her first major appearance was as the ...

as Juice *

as Plughead *

Barbara Alyn Woods Barbara Alyn Woods (born ) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in television series ''One Tree Hill'' and ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''. She is the mother of actresses Natalie Alyn Lind, Emily Alyn Lind, and Alyvia Alyn Lind. Car ...

as Yoyo *

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990) and ''Django Unchained'' (2012) ...

as Leech *

Steven Bottomley Steven Mark Bottomley (born 15 February 1965) is an English professional golfer. Career Bottomley spent eight seasons on the European Tour. His best season was in 1995, due in large part to his finish at the 1995 Open, where he finished 64th o ...

as Bartender *

Barney Burman Barney Burman is an American makeup artist and character actor. He was part of the team that won an Academy Award in 2009 for Best Make-up, on the film ''Star Trek''. Career After being introduced to Hollywood make-up through his parents, Burman ...

as Cheater * Andy Goldberg as Squid *

Garry Goodrow Garry Goodrow (November 4, 1933 – July 22, 2014) was an American actor known for his role in the original stage production of the Obie Award-winning play ''The Connection'' (1959) and its 1961 film version, and as one of the original memb ...

as Jugs * Darren Lott as Jackie

Production

''Circuitry Man'' was adapted from a student film Steven Lovy made while attending UCLA. Shooting began in July 1989 and took place in

and

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County, California, and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated between the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona, and the ...

, California.

Reception

Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called it "nothing if not derivative" but "consistently distinctive and funny". In '' The Psychotronic Video Guide'', Michael Weldon described it as "a clever, sometimes funny, well-made science fiction adventure" that is more fun than '' Hardware'' or '' Total Recall'', two science fiction films that were also released in 1990. ''Tech Noir'' author Paul Meehan, discussing film noir in science fiction, wrote that the film attempts to overcome its low budget with gratuitous violence but called Wells "memorably nasty".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0099271 1990 films 1990s science fiction action films American independent films Cyberpunk films American post-apocalyptic films American science fiction action films Films set in the future I.R.S. Media films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films