Movie robots through the years

From ‘2001’ to ‘Terminator’: The evolution of the big-screen robot

By S. James Snyder, Special to Metromix

As long as there have been movies, there have been filmmakers fascinated with envisioning future technologies. And few concepts are more compelling and cinematic than robots. Almost human, sometimes benevolent, often deadly—the depiction of robots on screen seems to shift with each film.

No franchise has been more preoccupied with robots than “Terminator,” and with “Terminator Salvation” readying for a May 21 release, we set out to trace the evolution of the movie robot.