Short Circuit

Short Circuit (1986) is a sci-fi comedy you can watch online on iFILM. A military robot called Number 5 takes a lightning strike and suddenly starts to feel, think, and want a life of its own.

After bolting from the lab, the machine lands on the doorstep of Stephanie, an animal lover who mistakes her visitor for an alien and sets about teaching it the ways of Earth. Meanwhile the robot's creator, Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), races to find the runaway before the army does, since the brass see Number 5 as nothing more than expensive hardware. The robot, for its part, devours books, TV, and anything else it can get its grippers on. No combat on its mind. It just wants to stay alive.

Directed by John Badham (WarGames) and co-starring Ally Sheedy and Fisher Stevens, this is warm-hearted 1980s science fiction with a charming hero, the catchphrase "Number 5 is alive!", and a sequel that followed a couple of years later. Stream Short Circuit (1986) online on iFILM.