Robots in films

I, Robot, starring Will Smith, went to the top of the US box office in 2004.

The film, inspired by author Isaac Asimov, involves a detective in 2035 who suspects a robot has committed murder - despite assurances it is impossible for them to hurt humans.

In The Matrix trilogy (1999 to 2003), a machine enslaves humanity, using people as batteries to power its mainframe.

Steven Spielberg's AI: Artificial Intelligence (2002) is the story of sensitive robots being abused by brutal, selfish human masters.

In The Terminator (1984), a computer network nukes the human race in order to achieve supremacy. This network then manufactures intelligent robots called Terminators which are programmed to annihilate any human survivors.

George Lucas made robots mans' best friends in Star Wars (1977) with C-3PO and R2-D2.

HAL, the supercomputer that rebels against its human handlers in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), is a cheeky reference to the computer firm IBM. The letters H, A and L, precede I, B and M in the alphabet.