There were some gorgeously odd sci-fi ideas bumping around 1970s/1980s film minds back in those days. I remember Demon Seed for example. Although I didn't see D.A.R.Y.L at the time, it must have inspired other bigger budget movies, the brilliant Short Circuit and the delightful Batteries Not Included come to mind. I hadn't seen those movies at the time either. Here in Western Australia a lot of credible movies, in those days, tended to pass us by. I am so glad things went to dvd, and the internet now has us catching up, one way or another. D.A.R.Y.L is such a wonderfully crafted movie. There is a shot, for example, of the lead reflected in the sheen of a table in one frame. It is just so clever, and so typical of the movie overall. In brackets above it says this movie is Australian. If so I'm really chuffed (pleased). This movie has been so elegantly crafted. Any age can enjoy it for that reason alone. It's just so easy to watch. The flight scenes are amazing. The whole movie is a wonderful feel-good experience. But it is the crafting .... the framing, the panning, the editing, the location selection, the graphic design touches, the casting, the respect for childcare ... the list goes on, that really impressed me. OK, the science is dubious, and convenient and ambitious, the incentive of the bad guys massively contrived and only believable because this is a 1985 movie, and the computers are 1980s' 'generation', but, what the hell, so what. It's a movie. The story is simple, yet the dedication to the vision around it is easily worth a 10 from me. Set in the U.S.A, D.A.R.Y.L is a massive credit to Hollywood and the filmmakers responsible.
Review of D.A.R.Y.L.
