Resistance Is Futile! The Top 5 AI Related Movies to Watch Before the Great Robot Rebellion

Is there anything out there not to be deathly afraid of? Between the next government-manufactured pandemic, impending nuclear destruction, and the Earth bursting into flames-  thanks to my contribution to climate change – it’s daunting to consider.

If the Chinese and Russians don’t kill us, something else will inevitably happen, right? Now the big fear is Artificial Intelligence becoming self-aware, taking over our lives, and perhaps even ending them!

Even Elon Musk is wigged out by AI, although I’m not sure I trust a man who decries the dangers of something he is actively working to create.

The ‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton quit his job at Google stating:

“It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things.”

But don’t worry; we’ve got one of our best on the case: Vice President Kamala Harris. Uncle Joe has appointed Kamala as his AI Czar.

I’m not entirely sure Kamala could connect Bluetooth headphones to a device, so it might be time to go ahead and assume the end is nigh. But, while we wait for the robots to eradicate us from this blue orb, we might as well enjoy a few AI-themed movies. So, without further ado – here are my Top 5 artificial intelligence-themed movies and television shows.

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#5: The Matrix – 1999

My love for Keanu Reeves goes back to his days in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Thanks to The Matrix, I sported for some time two long fake leather duster coats and slicked my hair back while wearing ridiculously tiny framed sunglasses.

It wasn’t a great fashion timeframe for me, but we must all own our poor life decisions from time to time. The Matrix birthed the wonderful phrase “red-pilled,” which indicates an awakening from the programming forced into the minds of the masses.

Keanu’s character, Mr. Anderson, is “The One,” according to Lawrence Fishburne’s character Morpheus—the One who can destroy the machines that created an artificial reality so they could feed off humans. 

I joined the Air Force shortly after this movie came out, and my first boss was keen to say to me daily, “Airman Anderson, your kind is like a virus.” So if you don’t get the reference, watch this movie tonight. 

#4: Westworld – 1973

You can’t have a Top 10 list of any movies without having one on the list that includes the great Yul Brynner. This movie has been made into an HBO TV series, but I prefer the movie.

A brilliant mix of technological modernity and the wild west, this movie follows the story of a future when humans can attend a fantasy amusement park filled with androids and storylines meant to take them away from their current reality. Think of the popular computer game The Sims, but much cooler. 

The movie explores many interesting ethical themes, such as our proposed ability to lose our humanity and moral compass when faced with what appears to be a fantasy world. But unfortunately, many of us have already fallen victim to this trap.

Could Tik Tok, Instagram, and Snapchat be our Westworlds? Time will tell.

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#3: Short Circuit – 1986

Recently my husband and I forced our six and four-year-old to watch a classic from our childhood; Short Circuit. Starring Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg, this movie follows the life of ‘Johnny 5’, a robot created by Steve Guttenberg’s character.

Johnny 5 was built with other robots to help the United States military during Cold War operations, which is generally the theme for most movies in the 1980s. A lighting strike awakens Johnny 5, much like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, and he escapes the facility to find refuge with Ally Sheedy’s character.

Learning how to be alive through pop culture references like The Three Stooges and John Wayne flicks, Johnny 5 captures the hearts of both main characters. My kids didn’t appreciate the movie, but I know you will.

My favorite character is Steve Guttenberg’s character’s friend Ben Jabituya, who spends the entire movie using a thick exaggerated Indian accent. 

#2: Battlestar Galactica – 2004

My husband might disagree, but I prefer the 2004 reboot of the classic television show Battlestar Galactica which initially came out in 1978. Starring Edward James Olmos as the steadfast leader of the last living humans in the universe, he and his rag-tag armada of spaceships race to a mythical planet named Earth to survive and evade the sentient androids of their own creation – The Cylons.

The storyline grips you as you try to unravel the mystery behind the Cylons and their updated race of androids built to look like humans. As the show progresses, you learn that any of the cast could be sleeper agent Cylons without their knowledge…just waiting to be activated. 

Perhaps the Vice President is a Cylon; it could explain her word salad speeches and awkward, almost manufactured laugh… So say we all?

#1: The Terminator – 1984

If you are one of my avid readers, you know that Sarah Connor is my spirit animal, and I try my best to live a life she’d be proud of. The Terminator starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton and is by far the best of the entire Terminator franchise.

In this movie, Sarah Connor, played by the fantastic Linda Hamilton, learns she is the target of a robot from the future known as The Terminator. She will become the mother of the freedom fighter John Connor who fights the machines in the future who have become, you guessed it – self-aware and bent on killing humans.

Sarah decides to trust a man from the future sent to protect her, Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn, who famously tells her, “Come with me if you want to live.” Easy decision if you ask me; young Michael Biehn was quite the looker. 

When Elon Musk inadvertently creates our version of Skynet, I feel confident with the number of times I’ve watched all The Terminator franchise movies that include Linda Hamilton’s character that I’ll survive. The rest of you…I’m not so sure.