Short Circuit (1986) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by Nick Mullen 4

  “They’d call me Johnny 600 if they knew the truth.” - Johnny 5

  Great line

• Review by Chrosso ★★★★ 2

  The original Wall-E.

• Review by 🔪 Leighton Trent 🩸 ★★★ 2

  I went thirty-five years without meeting Johnny 5 and that was thirty-five years too long.

  This is the best kind of escapist 80's comfort food for us big kids at heart, even if Ally Sheedy was kinda at an eleven on the Hysterical Scale the entire running time.

• Review by matt lynch ★★★

  honestly, destroying the malfunctioning autonomous military drone is probably a good idea.

• Review by DirkH ★★ 7

  So, wow, this did not age well at all.

  Couple of observations:

  - Ally Sheedy can't act.

  - Steve Guttenberg can't act.

  - Fisher Stevens does not come from India. Judging by his accent here, I doubt he has ever been there or even met an Indian.

  - Number 5 has practially the same accent as Stevens.

  - The weird eighties racism is.......weird.

  - Number 5 looks like a guy doing a number 2.

  
  I totally get why I didn't like it that much back in the day.

• Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★½ 2

  ....................................................................................................................................
  Film #14 of the March Madness 80s Sci-Fi Movie Challenge!
  letterboxd.com/naughty/list/march-madness-80s-sci-fi-movie-challenge/
  ....................................................................................................................................

  Basically a light hearted Sci-Fi film that is accessible and equally enjoyable to kids of all ages even us old duffers who are a just a big kid at heart! Johnny Five is not only alive he's comical!

  Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg and Fisher Stevens were all terrific in their roles but the real scene stealer was Johnny Five (Tim Blaney)

  Loved the nod given to Saturday Night Fever!

  Sometimes Sci-Fi doesn't have to blow your mind with complex mind boggling plots.. when plain ole escapism and laughter will do!

• Review by Asset ★★★★½ 2

  This movie is a masterpiece and people need to realize it!

  (Ok, maybe I gave this movie some nostalgia points.)

• Review by Ziglet_mir ★★★ 2

  An adorable summer vacation film of yesteryear, Short Circuit, stars Ally Sheedy affectively against-type, teaming up with a goofy scientist (Guttenberg) and one of the more lovable robots who have crossed the silver screen. I'll admit I had forgotten about how sloppy the final act is, as if someone figured they had to shoehorn a main relationship and tons of action in one fell swoop. With that said, all the hijinks and jokes put together by the ensemble are top shelf and I found myself smiling like an idiot more times than I could count. Overall, it's flawed fun hanging out with Ally Sheedy.

  Viewed on Amazon Prime.

• Review by Blair Russell 🎃👻🦇🕸️🪦 ★★★ 6

  This is yet another movie hard to find via legal streaming. Last night this and its sequel (reviewed by me in 2018 and that is much easier to stream) played on HDNet Movies so I took that opportunity. Those that do want to stream-at least in the United States must use Fandango at Home, i.e. the former Vudu. Thus, it was easier to use watch it on cable. Note that this movie’s sequel was watched more by me (and my sisters) as a kid than this. It may have been at least 30 years since this was viewed, no kidding.

  It's a Frankenstein’s monster scenario-an allusion stated as text in the sequel-only accidental as a robotics firm builds robots as…

• Review by Dan Abel ★★★½ 8

  "Number 5...is alive!"

  "This little fart of a robot is beginning to give me the red ass!" - Whatever that means.

  S.A.I.N.T. Number 5 is a weapon made for military use. A robot that's recharging via a generator when lightning strikes the equipment and he's "born." He wakes up and is convinced he is alive, so he escapes the facility with the company who created his series, Nova Robotics, in pursuit. Heading that chase is his designer, Newton Crosby and his assistant Ben who hopes to capture him before the military does. Along the way the robot meets a young woman with an ice cream truck who learns that he is indeed alive. Number 5 is on the run for…

• Review by Joe Lynch ★★½ 3

  This...did not age well.

• Review by David James 🍩 ★★★★ 10

  "Hey laser lips, your mama was a snowblower!"

  Last week I bought my son a Johnny 5 Lego kit for Christmas, but he snuck into my bedroom when I was showing it to his mom. Obviously, he was beyond intrigued by the cool little robot on the box, so I promised we'd build it together. But then I thought.. I want to get him hyped more than he has been for the handful of Lego sets we've already built, including a remote control robot that's actually larger and more impressive on paper than this one. But it's no Johnny 5. And I've gotta say, after rewatching this movie for the first time since the VHS era with my six year…