Wow! Such a good movie.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Was this really a great movie? Not by any means, yet it was an unexpected low-budget semi Sci-Fi gem that entertained. I found it so entertaining I rated it a 8. Lately I've seen too many big budget films well plotted and well acted but not very engaging, entertaining or remotely interesting. All the actors in Automatic made the most out of the roles they could, even if some ended up a little over the top. Penny Johnson who went on to play the president's wife in 24 is aggravating even silly but in a good way, Daphne Ashbrook gets a little aggravating too at moments later into the movie, but is so charming it is all forgivable. She is far prettier than the girl next door and someone you will have warm sentiments for. Many familiar faces like John Glover, Jeff Kober and even Jeffrey Sams who still seems to be permanently regulated to small roles, but it is Olivier Gruner in a leading role that is the surprise. As J296 he really develops the role as he changes from a robot with no emotions into a "real" human being. I must say the surprise in his acting "turn" actually is more charming than just looking at Daphne and strengthens the entertainment value of the movie. Thought Olivier would grow and develop his acting and be a much bigger star based on this film. I was ready for Automatic II with a bigger budget to see if they could pull off what worked about the film again, but that film was never forthcoming. I don't know if the film ever was released in theaters in the US or went straight to video but I was ready for Automatic II. Its about time this movie is put back in rotation for viewing on cable TV. HBO and Showtime have great original shows making them worth the subscription but they both really need to crank up the numbers of actual movies viewable each month to match the number of movies you used to be able to view on Starz each month. It would be nice if they would periodically go a little farther back and re-run an entertaining and engaging film like this after several years. It has been at least five years since I've seen it but each time I see the actor, I think about this film.

Olivier Gruner finally finds the one role he excels at, a robot who protects a woman from her boss/rapist who the corporation then decide to send an army to kill both her and the robot to avoid bad press and save face with stock holders, making Gruner the only one who can protect her and save the day. Automatic is a solid reason why one can't write off straight to video science fiction. Automatic is well directed, well made and has moments of true atmosphere. The movie also has some good ideas such as how robots are intertwined with humans and how the robot in question weren't trying to take over the world and rather provide confused responses to human nature. This is a movie where the bad guys are human and the hero is a robot who deals in black and white morals because it's the way he's been programmed. It also has that Blade Runner vibe of how the corporations are the evils of society and on its own level it succeeds rather well. This is easily the best thing you'll ever see from Olivier Gruner and aside from the bad acting from the cast (John Glover and Gruner aside...) the film works in both categories its been sold as. My only complaint was that it didn't feature more robot's responses toward issues regarding human nature but it is an Olivier Gruner movie. His best one by the way.* * * out of 4-(Good)

For a low-budget action/sci-fi film, this is a really good movie. Of course the acting is rather crappy as you'd expect from Gruener, but the action is good and so are the sci-fi elements. I have seen a few of Gruener's movies and this one is by far his best in my opinion. One thing that really impressed me in this movie were the guns that were used. They had lcd type screens on them that allowed the holder to see around corners - a few years after this movie was made the military looked into actually using a similar system on their rifles.I highly recommend any fan of action/sci-fi movies to rent this one as it is actually better than some of the big-budget action movies these days.

Although it is obviously "low-budget," this film combines "standard" action sequences with surprisingly well-done reflections on the plight of sentient "artificial life forms." I recommend it for its "science fiction" themes, and for those strictly seeking an "action-thriller" it's not lacking in explosions, shootings, and other mayhem either.:)