Android

Plot synopsis:
In the year 2036 a human-looking android named Max 404 (Don Keith Opper), and his creator, Doctor Daniel (Klaus Kinski), reside aboard a remote space station. Although Max is a machine he has growing interest in all things human, especially sex, and is caught by Daniel watching a sexual instruction video. After Daniel admonishes him, Max eavesdrops on the doctor's report that Max's growing insubordinate behavior could lead to mutiny similar to an incident back on Earth known as the "Munich Revolution" after which androids were outlawed. It is then revealed that Daniel is illegally working on another android, Cassandra One (Kendra Kirchner), a female who he believes will be a superior machine.
Next Max receives a distress call from a ship that seeks repairs. Upon hearing the pilot's female voice, he excitedly permits them to land, not realizing that the ship is a prison transport and that the pilot, Maggie (Brie Howard), and her associates, Keller (Norbert Weisser) and Mendes (Crofton Hardester), the latter her lover, are escaped fugitives. Once aboard the station, the convicts settle in, posing as the transport's crew who were previously killed during the prison break. Daniel becomes infuriated when he learns Max allowed the ship to land and demands they leave immediately, but he quickly changes his mind when he meets the attractive Maggie and invites her to have dinner with him in his personal garden.
Maggie joins Daniel but the dinner goes wrong when a jealous Max pranks the doctor with some embarrassing mischief, such as ball-bearings in the wine bottle and cutting the doctor's orchids. Daniel then pointedly asks Maggie if she would link up with his female android in an attempt to transfer sexual experiences to the machine. Maggie learns she would need to be sexually stimulated by the doctor during the procedure and she declines the offer. Daniel becomes frustrated and demands Maggie help him, but she makes a hasty exit. Daniel returns to the lab and angrily reports in his log, (again overheard by Max), that once Cassandra is ready he will be deactivating Max.
While the criminals work on the ship, a TerraPol police cruiser arrives, having detected a still-active transponder on their ship, and contacts Max to inform them of their presence. Max denies that the fugitives are on board, even though he checks the crew's identity to confirm they are indeed escaped convicts. When the police demand permission to land, Max destroys their ship with a laser.
Max later tells Maggie that he knows she is a fugitive, but has saved her from the police, and asks that she take him with her when she leaves the station. Maggie is unsure of what to do, but later sneaks away from Mendes and meets Max in the lab for an intimate encounter. However, the two are interrupted when Cassandra activates and Maggie becomes horrified when she intuits that Max is also an android.
Maggie returns to her quarters, but she is confronted by a furious Mendes, who demands to know where she wandered off to. When he notices her disheveled appearance and unbuttoned shirt, he begins to beat her. Keller interrupts and tries to stop Mendes, but he is knocked unconscious. Mendes then attacks Maggie in her quarters. Later, when Keller awakens, he sees Maggie is dead and believes Mendes has killed her. He searches for him and finds him in a room of spare android parts. Mendes states there are enough parts to build an android of their own, but Keller attacks him from behind. The two struggle, but Keller is overpowered and Mendes kills him with a blow to the head.
Eventually Max arrives, suitcase in hand, to Maggie's quarters, but finds her dead. He sadly returns to Daniel's lab, where the doctor is already aware of the murder and has locked Mendes in the guest lounge. Daniel has Max sit in a chair and opens a panel on the back of his head to reprogram him for a new task, during which he tells Max that murder must be punished and Mendes is to blame. Daniel sends Max out to kill Mendes, and in the meantime, more police ships arrive to forcefully board the station.
After killing Mendes, Max goes to Maggie's room, touches her lifeless body, and finds a flashlight Dr. Daniel said he had earlier misplaced. He now realizes that it was Daniel had killed Maggie, not Mendes. Max returns to the lab. There Daniel has made sexual advances to Cassandra, who has resisted him and is holding him at bay. Daniel asks Max to hold Cassandra for him. After refusing to obey his orders, Daniel begins to struggle with the two androids and they rip his head off, revealing that Daniel himself is an android. Cassandra then disposes of Daniel's head in a trash chute and begins to reprogram Max. She tells Max they are not meant to obey the whims of men. There are other androids on earth in hiding and she wants to join them. She has a plan.
When the police arrive at the lab, Cassandra thanks them for coming to their rescue. Max is now dressed in a lab coat and posing as Dr. Daniel and Cassandra as his assistant. She takes Max by the arm and the two are escorted out by the police, who say they will be taking them back to Earth.

Tags: tragedy, cult, murder, violence, plot twist

Review:
This movie is not for those who only like those big Hollywood "sci-fi" films.
This film is a good example of both, but I have to say it was a bit 'darker' than it felt like it should have been.The music is classic analog synthesized fun, and the setting is very cool-looking, typical of any early eighties sci-fi movie but with a certain complexity and detail that makes it seem solid and believable.The acting is absolutely phenomenal.
I generally complain a lot about bad, hard-to-believe acting in movies but in this case I have no complaints; there was nothing to distract me from the story.
I half-believed that Max was played by a real android (he is credited as "Himself".
But, to the story's credit, it did have a couple of nice twists and I think I like the ending.Overall I think it was worth seeing: much better than most of the junk that comes on at 2 AM!.
Craggy old Klaus Kinski lives with his awkward assistant Max on a space station, developing a female android.
Max spends his time playing old arcade games and researching the human condition - (I heard somewhere that the external shots of the space station were done by creating a model station from a display case which used to house watches or jewelry!) Into this scenario comes band of escaped convicts on a space ship badly damaged during their escape ...There is humour in this film but it is of a very dark shade.
Take a predictable android sci-fi plot, a coming of age story, some cops & robbers, and a pinch of "Bride of Frankenstein".
What you end up with is interesting, engaging, and unique in spite of its obvious flaws.Android Max and his scientist master are living in a remote space station when they are joined by a trio of fugitives - a beauty, a beast, and a brain.
Meanwhile, the scientist is working on a new and improved replacement for Max, a model which just happens to also be a gorgeous blond woman.The plot lines are cliché and full of holes, the ending is a bit of a cheat, and the special effects are weak.
Max himself is one of the most intelligently scripted and well acted android characters to ever appear on screen.
You'll be disappointed if you're looking for action or deep meanings, but if you allow yourself to take an interest in Max you may find yourself thinking about him long after the film has ended..
but so was Dark Star!I have to say that I strangely enjoyed this low budget attempt at a sci-fi movie.
Despite its constraints it had plenty of great ideas and one thing I like: A weird atmosphere!If you don't mind low budgetness and like weird movies (like me) then I strongly suggest this...
1st watched 12/20/2009 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Aaron Lipstadt): Surprisingly interesting yet cheaply made early 80's sci-fi film.
This is far from being a perfect film and I still can't believe I ended up liking it, but it appealed to me by the time the movie ended.
The story is about an android project in the near future being done in space and being terminated due to a funds issue and the failure of a similar project on Earth that turned into a disaster.
The scientist played by Klaus Kinski receives the news but is overheard by his creation Max 404(which the movie never reveals who acts this part--which is definitely strange).
Some wanted space criminals then arrive on the scene and Max lets them board the ship and then plans to escape with them back to Earth to avoid his termination.
Max's replacement is suppose to be a female Android named Claudia, since the scientist really doesn't want the project ending either -- he just wants a different android to play with.
The androids in this movie have obvious human feelings that get in the way very often which makes the movie interesting and sways their decisions consistently.
There is some titillation added to the movie which doesn't really fit, especially in a PG-rated movie(how it got this rating I'll never know) and it's obviously a low-budget film and for these reasons this is definitely one of my few guilty pleasures.
"Android" is somewhere between a cheesy film and a proper movie.
The look isn't exactly on the level of "Star Wars", but those early 80s space films are both visually and plot-wise superior to any (semi-)cheesy 90s or 00s sci-fi movies.
I think most of the budget of this New World sci-fi film probably went toward Klaus Kinski.
It is rare to get a movie which has the insight into the human condition and handles it from a totally new perspective.Max, the android, longs to understand human relationships.Klaus Kinski is excellent and the twists in the plot are unforseen.
At extremely low budget, this film surprised me pretty enough.I mean, you got an scientific space station, inside we got an archetype of mad scientist (Kinski), well to call Kinski a mad scientist is somewhat a compliment...
And there are no stupid teenagers here.Circumstances brought a three people gang on a station, with them is a lovely young woman Maggie (Brie Howard), and because of her Max started to develop emotions - Love!
Now, you just need to watch the film to see what will happen with Maggie and Max..Actors did a great job, especially Kinski and Don Keith Opper (Max), it is also good to see young Norbert Weisser in the film.
The plot gives you a specific humor and to say that Max is actually one of the most lively, human like nature android ever to appear on screen on the beginning of the 80s.
In an era when people automatically associated the Science-Fiction genre with either hideous invincible creatures ("Alien") or adventurous fantasy (the "Star Wars"-trilogy), this movie actually attempts to make a character-study/drama using exclusively Sci-Fi characters.
The always amazing Klaus Kinski gives a perplexing performance as a mysterious scientist, illegally constructing androids in a space-station far far away.
Dr. Daniel is continuously preoccupied with his work whilst his android assistant Max 404 plays videogames and secretly craves to learn more about being a human.
The good doctor finally sees an opportunity to research the possibility of a female android and Max discovers emotions he didn't even know existed.
Kinski is, as said, genius is his familiar role of eccentric and slightly offbeat scientist, but Don Opper (who also co-wrote the film) is at least equally astounding as Max 404.
Thanks to a talented crew (among them, James Cameron as a design consultant), the results are some pretty damn good sets and production value.Top billed Klaus Kinski dials down his eccentricity for a low keyed turn as a mad scientist named Dr. Daniel, working on an illegal android program on a space station.
His loyal assistant is Max 404 (Don Keith Opper, who also co-wrote the script), a cutting edge android.
The limited supporting cast is all solid: Brie Howard as the fetching Maggie, Norbert Weisser as the cunning Keller, Crofton Hardester as the brutal, intense Mendes, and Kendra Kirchner as the sexy Cassandra, Dr. Daniels' latest experiment.Visuals, special effects, and makeup are well done, and the effective electronic score by Don Preston is supplemented by tunes from James Brown and Django Reinhardt."Android" is the most sober and least cheesy of the science fiction features cranked out by New World during this time, and really deserves another look.Seven out of 10..
It relies not on special effects but on good writing and acting, with the script quickly worked to match the constraints of the set.
Here the story is subtle with a few clever twists and turns, and touches on serious intellectual issues like what it means to be human, the nature of free will and choice, good and evil in the face of the posthuman malleable notion of self, and (the actors relished this) how we should face a tradeoff between being likable and being competent.
Sure the sets are cheesy, and the plot is thin, but the twist at the end makes it worth watching.
"Android" was co-written by its star (and producer's son?) Don Opper, who plays an android in the throes of sexual awakening on a space station manned by Klaus Kinski in a blue sweater; he looks like he just popped by on a morning walk to the store.
Klaus Kinski plays some sort of "mad scientist" on a remote space station doing some illegal research with androids.
His most successful experiment is Max, an almost-human android who works as Daniel's assistant...
Kinski and Don Opper as Max come off the best.
(In fact, Opper is so convincing as an android that Max is listed in the closing credits as being played by "Himself".).
K. Dick Sci-Fi short story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", this movie is somewhat slow, but enjoyable.
As the robot, Max, he's sensitive, naive...and thoroughly likable.He was Charlie McFadden in the four 'Critters' films.He wasn't bad in 'City Limits', either.Klaus Kinski is a favorite of mine, too, so I always check out his films.
He's excellent in off-beat films like 'Fitzcarraldo', 'Nosferatu' or 'Aguirre: The Wrath of God'.Watch 'Android' for a thoroughly pleasant evening's entertainment..
You know that a movie is bad when the sets and props look terribly cheesy, and the acting job being very substandard.
What's really bad is the music, being the worst I've heard in a sci-fi film, so don't press "stop" during the end credits.
Don Keith Opper (credited only under his android name) plays the title character as a rebellious nerd, which is an interesting take but doesn't always work.
The script has some horribly clunky lines in it, but the story is pretty intriguing once you get into it, a kind of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (or METROPOLIS, which Max 404 actually watches at one point) tale with BLADE RUNNER style commentary on what it is to be human.
Sure the acting is worse than a z grade horror movie and Max 404 is the wimpiest android of them all but I was drawn to finish it out.
The plot concerns an android who wants to be human and some space convicts that land on the orbiting space station.
It was in the early 80's and there wasn't so much technology out there, I loved this movie the way it was, I loved the sound tracks and I was looking for the Android soundtrack on record or CD, never find it, so if you have it, I like to buy it from you, (if reasonable).
I like the characters, the story and I watched a few time before I bought the video tape..
I read the other comments, so here's my view.This is in my opinion a bit of a cult movie.I liked the story, music, and the sets were OK for a Sci-Fi movie.There was a nice thread running through with 'Max' keen to be human.The twist at the end just rounded it off for me.One I've watched a few times now and will watch again.Give it a try..
One thing low budget science fiction movies can be redeemed by is original and thought provoking ideas.
Androids automatons that are created from biological materials and resemble humansfrom Fritz Land's 1927 classic Metropolis to Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece Blade Runner, the notion of artificial life becoming more human than human has long been an interesting and somewhat neglected aspect of science fiction genre within film (personally, I think the main interest in this type of technology is put forth by men wanting to create their ideal woman and perform whatever sick, twisted desires lie within their perverted, depraved soulsI mean a woman who will do whatever you want, whenever you want and not complain about you leaving the toilet seat up?
Free will is certainly a wonderful thing, but it shouldn't get in the way of having a good time).Android (1983), directed by Aaron Lipstadt, whose primary work afterwards has been on TV shows like Miami Vice, The Equalizer, and Quantum Leap to name a few, stars the talented, but entirely creepy and obtusely intense Klaus Kinksi (Crawlspace) along with Brie Howard (Tapeheads), Norbert Weisser (Midnight Express), Crofton Hardester (The Devastators), and Don Keith Opper (Critters) as Max 404.
Not only did Don have a starring role in the film, but he also wrote it The film mainly takes place on a fairly deserted deep space research station, once bustling with life, but now home only to Dr. Daniel (Kinski) and his android companion/man servant Max 404.
Dr. Daniel has been feverishly working on a new prototype droid, one much more advanced than Max (all this work is done in secret out in space as due to a past incident on Earth involving rebellious androids and the killing of many humans, androids have been outlawedat least that's the gist of what I got).
Dr, Daniel sees this as a prime opportunity as he's been needing a compatible female (no, nonot what you're thinking) to use in some weird way to juice up his newest android, one with female characteristics..some sort of biological jumpstartand one of the three escaped prisoners just happens to fit the bill.
There's a certain pathos to Max, one of a being forced into existence, now trying to find his place in a society that sees him as less than what he is...I have to say, this film pleasantly surprised me, as it was better than I thought.
His efforts to develop human characteristics come out in interesting and quirky ways, much like that of a child trying to emulate what he observes through interaction with his elders.
Kinski's role seemed less than I thought it would be, as his character seemed secondary to the rest, especially since he seems to be used a lot in the promotion of the film.
I liked the little bits of humor, along with a smattering of originality, as it seemed to 'humanize' the film, stretching it beyond just a standard science fiction type thriller to something more.
It's a sin that it took me this long to see ANDROID, shot on Roger Corman sets, with CRITTERS series regular Don Opper as an android due for destruction once his creator(the man, the myth, the legend, Klaus Kinski)is able to successfully complete a new model, female Cassandra.
On board a space station, Dr. Daniel(Kinski) is told his project would no longer be funded.
This space station is the setting for the film as Max 400(Opper)so badly wants to go to Earth and experience the culture he has only seen through video and heard from audio, presented on computer screens.
Max meets Maggie(Brie Howard), a tough female prisoner, finally introduced to an earthling woman, and, perhaps, sex.
Working with very little budget, I think ANDROID is an amazing example of creativity and imagination.
First, while simple in it's execution, the story I found surprisingly fascinating, focusing on how an android evolves thanks in part to human contact, and the desire, despite having programming, to understand what it is like to be homosapien.
Like ANDROID's director mentions in the audio commentary, Max is very much a Pinnochio, in that he wishes to be human, and upon discovering Daniel's decision to terminate him, we sympathize with the android.
Opper, I thought, was a revelation(a far cry from his eccentric local yokel in the CRITTERS movies)as the android, his various reactions to the humans and how he responds to Maggie, especially, I felt provides some of the film's best scenes.
I would say that ANDROID, thanks to the Anchor Bay release, has potential for rediscovery..it's a bit different than what you are accustomed to in regards to a Roger Corman type of sci-fi movie, which, truth be told, may be a good thing..
Just remembering the good parts like Alien and Star Wars and Star Trek, we shouldn't forget the more dubious operators were putting stuff like this together.So the plot line is a made scientist and his android assistant are on a remote space station when three convicts bring a stolen ship to their location.
Because neither the scientist or the android have seen a woman in some time, they all make plays for the female convict despite her awful dental work.
In fact, most of the actors in this film have awful dental work.So after some boring slow action and a lot of character actions that make not a lick of sense, we get to the "shock" ending.
Dr. Daniel and his quirky assistant, illegally working on a new type of android on a space station.
We find out quickly that the assistant, Max, is an android himself, who is trying to find out what it is like to be human.
Unfortunately he gets it all just slightly wrong.When two men, and a woman, escaped prisoners, enter the space station both Max and Dr. Daniel are delighted.
Dr. Daniel because he wants to use the woman to complete his latest invention, Max because he's never seen a woman before.Those ideas could have made for quite a good movie, and it certainly has its moments, but I felt left out for some reason.
Brie Howard does her best to give some character to the female prisoner, but her lines in the script are just too bland to work with.
It doesn't really work when there is no one to sympathize with, no one to connect to.This is an understandable problem when you centre a movie around android characters.
When they act human, you don't see them as convincing androids, when they act like robots, you feel detached from them, and can't relate to them as persons.
A classic like Blade runner cleverly works around this, by creating androids that act and feel exactly like humans.