RT Recommends: Our Favorite Droids in the Movies

Critics Consensus: A curious, not always seamless, amalgamation of Kubrick's chilly bleakness and Spielberg's warm-hearted optimism, A.I. is, in a word, fascinating.

Synopsis: A robotic boy, the first programmed to love, David is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Critics Consensus: Although its reach occasionally exceeds its grasp, After Yang yields rich rewards for those willing to settle into its low-key wavelength.

Synopsis: When his young daughter's beloved companion -- an android named Yang -- malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja

Directed By: Kogonada

Critics Consensus: A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.

Synopsis: In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright

Directed By: Ridley Scott

Critics Consensus: Exuberant and eye-popping, Avengers: Age of Ultron serves as an overstuffed but mostly satisfying sequel, reuniting its predecessor's unwieldy cast with a few new additions and a worthy foe.

Synopsis: When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) jump-starts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo)... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans

Directed By: Joss Whedon

Critics Consensus: Bicentennial Man is ruined by a bad script and ends up being dull and mawkish.

Synopsis: Richard Martin (Sam Neill) buys a gift, a new NDR-114 robot. The product is named Andrew (Robin Williams) by the youngest of the family's children.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robin Williams, Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Oliver Platt

Directed By: Chris Columbus

Critics Consensus: Visually stunning and narratively satisfying, Blade Runner 2049 deepens and expands its predecessor's story while standing as an impressive filmmaking achievement in its own right.

Synopsis: Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Critics Consensus: A fiendishly clever contraption that doesn't rest on the laurels of its twists, Companion thrillingly puts the demented into domestic bliss.

Synopsis: New Line Cinema--the studio that brought you "The Notebook"--and the unhinged creators of "Barbarian" cordially invite you to experience a new kind of love story.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri

Directed By: Drew Hancock

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Daryl (Barret Oliver) is a normal 10-year-old boy in many ways. However, unbeknown to his foster parents and friends, Daryl is actually a government-created robot... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mary Beth Hurt, Michael McKean, Barret Oliver, Kathryn Walker

Directed By: Simon Wincer

Critics Consensus: Dark, sinister, but ultimately even more involving than A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back defies viewer expectations and takes the series to heightened emotional levels.

Synopsis: The adventure continues in this "Star Wars" sequel. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) face... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams

Directed By: Irvin Kershner

Critics Consensus: Ex Machina leans heavier on ideas than effects, but it's still a visually polished piece of work -- and an uncommonly engaging sci-fi feature.

Synopsis: Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) a programmer at a huge Internet company, wins a contest that enables him to spend a week at the private estate... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno

Directed By: Alex Garland

Critics Consensus: Ghost in the Shell boasts cool visuals and a compelling central performance from Scarlett Johansson, but the end result lacks the magic of the movie's classic source material.

Synopsis: In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt

Directed By: Rupert Sanders

Critics Consensus: Bearing only the slightest resemblance to Isaac Asimov's short stories, I, Robot is still a summer blockbuster that manages to make viewers think -- if only a little.

Synopsis: In 2035, highly intelligent robots fill public service positions throughout the world, operating under three rules to keep humans safe. Despite his dark history with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell

Directed By: Alex Proyas

Critics Consensus: M3gan 2.0 swaps the original's horror software for a more action-leaning programming that doesn't prove to be an upgrade, although the quippy A.I. remains an amusing mascot of slay.

Synopsis: Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous (and impeccably choreographed) rampage and was subsequently destroyed, M3GAN's... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis

Directed By: Gerard Johnstone

Critics Consensus: A visually awe-inspiring science fiction classic from the silent era.

Synopsis: In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Directed By: Fritz Lang

Critics Consensus: Led by a brilliant performance from star Frank Langella, Robot & Frank works as both a quirky indie drama and as a smart, thoughtful meditation on aging.

Synopsis: An aging, cantankerous ex-cat burglar finds his zest for life renewed when he trains his robotic caretaker to help him commit heists.

Starring: Frank Langella, Peter Sarsgaard, Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler

Directed By: Jake Schreier

Critics Consensus: Rocky IV inflates the action to absurd heights, but it ultimately rings hollow thanks to a story that hits the same basic beats as the first three entries in the franchise.

Synopsis: Heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa trains in Siberia for a match against the Soviet fighter who killed Apollo Creed. In front of a ferocious Russian crowd,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers

Directed By: Sylvester Stallone

Critics Consensus: Amiable and good-natured but also shallow and predictable, Short Circuit is hardly as deep or emotionally resonant as E.T. -- though Johnny Five makes for a charming robot protagonist.

Synopsis: After a lightning bolt gives it human emotions and intelligence, a military robot escapes and finds refuge at the home of an animal-loving pacifist (Ally... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton

Directed By: John Badham

Critics Consensus: In exchanging the chilling satire of the original into mindless camp, this remake has itself become Stepford-ized.

Synopsis: After enduring setbacks in her television career, executive Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) relocates with her family from New York City to the Connecticut suburb of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Glenn Close

Directed By: Frank Oz

Critics Consensus: T2 features thrilling action sequences and eye-popping visual effects, but what takes this sci-fi action landmark to the next level is the depth of the human (and cyborg) characters.

Synopsis: In this sequel set eleven years after "The Terminator," young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the key to civilization's victory over a future robot uprising, is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick

Directed By: James Cameron

Critics Consensus: Wall-E's stellar visuals testify once again to Pixar's ingenuity, while its charming star will captivate younger viewers -- and its timely story offers thought-provoking subtext.

Synopsis: WALL-E, short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class, is the last robot left on Earth. He spends his days tidying up the planet, one piece... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard

Directed By: Andrew Stanton

Critics Consensus: Yul Brynner gives a memorable performance as a robotic cowboy in this amusing sci-fi/western hybrid.

Synopsis: Westworld is a futuristic theme park where paying guests can pretend to be gunslingers in an artificial Wild West populated by androids. After paying a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Norman Bartold

Directed By: Michael Crichton

Critics Consensus: A simple tale told with great sophistication, The Wild Robot is wondrous entertainment that dazzles the eye while filling your heart to the brim.

Synopsis: The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot--ROZZUM unit 7134, "Roz" for short -- that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy

Directed By: Christopher Sanders