Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is more than an exploration of a kid with a robot "brain", there's a subtle message here of what it's like being a kid when you're a little different than everyone else.People treat you oddly, sometimes even fearfully, inquisitively, or with rude insensitivity …so you learn to fit in by acting like everyone else (even though deep down your just like everyone else).This movie's message is about acceptance of our wunderkinds, our Asperger kids, our Autistic savants and anyone who sees the world a bit differently; underneath it all a kid is still a kid.As a somewhat inquisitive bookworm when I was young, I could relate with Daryl, as dealing with other kids was always a little awkward; still I wanted the love, friendship & commeratory just like everyone else.Not a perfect film, but a decent one with high ideals & a nice happy ending.

Barret Oliver stars as robot boy D.A.R.Y.L. or Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform. It also stars Mary Beth Hurt, Michael McKean, Danny Corkill, and Josef Sommer.It was directed by Simon Wincer. The story begins with an intense chase through hairpin mountain roads as a helicopter chases after a racing automobile and the driver of the car shoves a young boy out of the door. The child is rescued and is adopted by Joyce and Andy Richardson, a well-meaning, childless couple. It is only after the Richardsons have adopted Daryl and find that the child can't stop hitting home runs that they realize their adopted son is, in fact, a robot. The Richardsons decide to take Daryl back home -- home being a top security research facility where scientists Dr. Jeffrey Stewart and Ellen Lamb have "given birth" to the boy robot. Once at the research facility, the Richardsons realize that government forces are determined to destroy Daryl and anyone who knows about him.Of course,we know how the film ends.Too bad that the movie fails at everything - the implausibility of the script,the special effects, acting and many more.It is just guilty of just being a guilty pleasure especially today when people know more about technology as compared to the 80's.

I cant help feeling that Daryl could well have been a young Jason Bourne. Synopsis: A military experiment lab loses its super enhanced human subject to the outside world who is now suffering from amnesia while the military hunts him down. Sounds familiar? Daryl got there first but thinking about it, there is no reason why the Bourne trilogy cannot be seen as unofficial sequels to Daryl. But enough of that. I remember loving this film when I first saw it 20 years ago so when I watched it again I expected to find it dated and perhaps much of the magic gone. The opposite happened. I was spellbound. It is somewhat dated but that simply adds to the charm as the 80s was the epitome of childhood innocence, wonder and mischief before the internet age came along. What elevates this film above most children's films is the abundance of heart, soul and values of friendship. All the actors play their part with natural aplomb and it has to be said that Barrat who plays the boy robot with human emotions, was played to perfection. Mckean plays the foster father delightfully (although has a frightening resemblance to ex UK Prime Minister Tony Blair). The film is sprinkled with humour throughout particularly with Turtle teaching Daryl how to behave and how to deal with adults! There is no action in the first three quarters of the movie (apart from a brief car chase at the start). Instead we are invested in the characters and relationships so that we truly care about them by the time the thrilling final act kicks into gear. And boy, is the last act so exciting, with perhaps the best car chase I have seen in any children's film and a climactic action finale that I can only conclude Die Hard 2 stole from! Daryl is an under rated 80s classic.

Not since Buster Keaton's "Seven Chances" has there been a re-telling of the life of Jesus this compelling... or this outrageous!! This Messiah is represented here in D.A.R.Y.L. (not "played" so much as "portrayed" by Barrett Oliver, who could have been the next Olivier had he bought a vowel.) After escaping from the top secret government laboratories (just like in Matthew 12.24), D.A.R.Y.L. meets a new family and friends, including Turtle (not "played" so much as "not-played" by Barrett Oliver, but by someone else) and his sister the trollop (inspired by Mary Magdalene and possibly, if the bathroom graffiti is to be believed, Simon Peter.) It is here that D.A.R.Y.L. is subject to various earthly temptations (video games, breaking windows with baseballs, piano lessons, scenes opposite Michael McKean) and is ultimately brought back to the top secret government laboratories (just like in Matthew 24.48.) and subsequently smuggled out by his new family, utilizing the "temptations" he had learned while in their presence. And thus, the story ends, yet begins again, like the waters of the Great Flood, like the parting of the Dead Sea, like Jonah and the Whale, the Circle of Life.I think. Honestly, I don't pay much attention in church, unless they make an announcement about the availability of donuts. Circular. The Great Circle of Life. No?Okay.