Short Circuit

Short Circuit Movie Poster

Short Circuit was a science fiction comedy released in 1986.  The film starred Ally Sheedy as Stephanie Speck and Steve Guttenberg as Dr. Newton Crosby.  The movie received mostly positive reviews, and was successful enough at the box office to warrant a sequel.  Short Circuit 2 was released in 1988.

In this movie, a series of robots have been built as military prototypes to improve the US position in the cold war.  One of the robots, referred to as “Number 5”, is hit by lighting, which causes a power surge that affects the robot’s internal systems.  Unclear on its directive, Number 5 escapes the lab and ends up running into Stephanie Speck (Sheedy), who believes Number 5 to be an extraterrestrial in need of human learning, which he calls “input”.  Number 5 begins to take on a whimsical personality, and when Stephanie realizes that he is indeed a weapon, she calls the lab to pick him up.

After Number 5 is captured, Stephanie realizes that it was a mistake, and that Number 5 has taken on sentience.  After a series of comical and adventurous escapes, Number 5, now calling himself “Johnny 5”, escapes the lab and gets away from the Army.  Ultimately, Johnny 5 runs off with Stephanie and her friend, to live peacefully in Montana.