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  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

50 Greatest Human Robot Friendships

Features
By Simon Kinnear published 4 March 2013

Man and machine, together in electric dreams

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2046 (2004)

The Robot: An unnamed female android (Faye Wong) serving aboard a train travelling out of the mysterious world of 2046.

The Human: Tak (Takuya Kimura), a Japanese man trying to escape from the memory of a doomed love affair.

The Friendship: Tak soon falls in love with the android but, however intimate they get, he soon realises that she is in love with someone else. So friends it is.

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Astro Boy (2009)

The Robot: Astro Boy (voiced by Freddie Highmore), a robotic replica of inventor Dr Tenma's dead son who is rejected by his 'father.'

The Human: Cora (Kristen Bell), a runaway kid living in a junkyard outside Metro City.

The Friendship: The two bond over the fact that their parents neglect them, and Cora helps Astro wage a robot revolution against Metro City's oppressive regime.

Spaceballs (1987)

The Robot: Dot Matrix (voiced by Joan Rivers), a shrewish female C3PO clone whose role is to protect the virginity of Princess Vespa.

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The Human: Druiish princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga), a spoiled brat for whom not even owning a Mercedes-Benz spaceship is enough to keep her happy.

The Friendship: A mixed bag. While Dot might pander to nearly Vespa's every desire, her 'virgin alarm' stops the Princess getting everything she might desire.

Return To Oz (1985)

The Robot: A rotund, moustachioed mechanical man who works as the Royal Army of Oz, but needs winding up simply to speak or think.

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The Human: Dorothy Gale (Fairuza Balk), the one-time heroine of Oz who finds herself back in the magical land to discover everything has gone to pot in her absence.

The Friendship: Although Tik-Tok isn't supposed to feel any emotions, he is remarkably attached to Dorothy.

The Black Hole (1979)

The Robot: V.I.N.CENT - or Vital Information Necessary CENTralized - an urbane, floating helper aboard the USS Palomino.

The Human: Dr Kate McCrae (Yvette Mimieux), a scientist on the way back from deep space exploration when she discovers her father's old ship, the Cygnus, resting impossibly next to a black hole.

The Friendship: Kate has powers of extra sensory perception, allowing her to communicate with V.I.N.CENT by telepathy.

*batteries not included (1987)

The Robots: The Fix-Its, miniature robotic spaceships with a penchant for tidying up any mess they find.

The Human: Frank and Faye Riley (Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy), the elderly owners of a cafe under threat of demolition.

The Friendship: The Rileys keep the Fix-Its safe while the female one gives birth to baby robot spaceships. In return, the Fix-Its help to keep the Rileys' property developer enemies at bay.

Treasure Planet (2002)

The Robot: B.E.N. (Martin Short) - or Bio Electronic Navigator - a robot marooned on the titular planet with his memory wiped.

The Human: Jim Hawkins (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a pirate-loving teenager whose chance discovery of a treasure map sees him making a journey to the stars.

The Friendship: Quid pro quo - Jim finds the missing part of B.E.N.'s brain; in turn, B.E.N. is able to warn Jim of the imminent destruction of Treasure Planet.

Bicentennial Man (1999)

The Robot: Andrew (Robin Williams), a maintenance robot who discovers that he is developing sentience and emotions.

The Human: Richard Martin (Sam Neill), Andrew's first owner who protects the robot from being scrapped and pays for his face to be upgraded into a more human form.

The Friendship: Martin has such respect for Andrew that he accepts the robot's desire to be freed, and Andrew reciprocates by paying his last respect to his old master on Martin's deathbed.

Lost In Space (1998)

The Robot: An unnamed robot (voiced by Dick Tufeld) who is an integral part of the Robinson family's crew, but is reprogrammed to cause mayhem by the amoral Dr Zachary Smith.

The Human: Will Robinson (Jack Johnson), the youngest child of the family, who has a keen interest in all things robotic.

The Friendship: Despite the robot's forced betrayal, he is still incredibly close to the boy, determined to warn him whenever there is "Danger, Will Robinson!"

Heavy Metal (1981)

The Robot: A robot pilot (voiced by John Candy) abducts a mad professor, but soon becomes besotted with his other kidnap victim.

The Human: Gloria, a busty secretary accidentally kidnapped by the robot.

The Friendship: An unlikely sexual relationship blossoms into marriage, although Gloria admits that she's scared she'll catch him screwing a toaster.

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