Films by season & age - Machine Magic (Ages 8-12)

Seasons are a great way to explore different ideas through watching a group of films. Why not try watching all the films in a season and make some time for discussion. Topics and discussion points are included.

Maybe it’s the possibilities of what they might be able to do – maybe it’s the way they seem so similar to us, and yet so very different. Either way, movie lovers down the years have always been drawn to stories about robots - both friendly and otherwise. Here at FilmClub, we’re no exception. And so we wanted to bring you this season devoted to the “machine men” that film-makers have immortalised on screen. Here, the movies range from those like The Day The Earth Stood Still, made back in the 1950s when robots looked like a stack of clunking silver boxes, all the way through to the recent Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – where, come to think of it, they still look like a stack of clunking silver boxes! But while Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker’s Guide might be miserable at his robotic lot, we’re confident our season of robot movies will put a smile on your face from start to finish.

TALKING POINTS

Why do you think people are so often fearful of robots? Are you nervous about them in any way – or do you just they’ll always be harmless? Can you imagine a movie in which every single part was played by a robot? What do you think the story would be?

SUGGESTED PAIR

For a glimpse at how film-makers of different generations saw robots, why not team up the futuristic and still-dazzling silent classic Metropolis with the recent animated hit Robots?