{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Circuitry Man | image = | caption = | director = Steven Lovy | producer = {{plainlist| * Steven Reich * John Schouweiler }}<!-- producer only, not exec prod --> | writer = {{plainlist| * Steven Lovy * Robert Lovy }} | starring = {{plainlist| * Jim Metzler * Dana Wheeler-Nicholson * Lu Leonard * Vernon Wells * Barbara Alyn Woods * Dennis Christopher }} | cinematography = Jamie Thompson | music = Deborah Holland | editing = {{plainlist| * Gregory Neri * Jonas Thaler }} | studio = {{plainlist| * IRS Media<ref name=afi>{{cite web|url=http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58444|title=Circuitry Man (1990)|work=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|accessdate=2017-12-09|archive-date=2017-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209152342/http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58444|url-status=live}}</ref> * Synthetic Productions<ref name=afi/> }} | distributor = Skouras Pictures<ref name=afi/> | released = {{film date|1990|05|25}} (Seattle International Film Festival)<br />October 31, 1990 | runtime = 93 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''Circuitry Man''''' is a 1990 American post apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Steven Lovy and starring Jim Metzler, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and Vernon Wells. It was followed by a sequel, ''Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II'', in 1994.
== Synopsis == In post-apocalyptic 2020, pollution has killed off the natural world and the population is forced to live underground. A woman attempts to smuggle a suitcase of contraband drug/chips from Los Angeles to the underground remnants of New York City, while eluding both police and gangsters. Along the way, she is aided by a romantic bio-mechanical pony-tailed android and pursued by Plughead, a villain with the ability to tap into people's minds.
== Cast == * Jim Metzler as Danner * Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Lori * Lu Leonard as Juice * Vernon Wells as Plughead * Barbara Alyn Woods as Yoyo * Dennis Christopher as Leech * Steven Bottomley as Bartender * Barney Burman as Cheater * Andy Goldberg as Squid * Garry Goodrow as Jugs * Darren Lott as Jackie
== Production == ''Circuitry Man'' was adapted from a student film Steven Lovy made while attending UCLA. Shooting began in July 1989 and took place in Los Angeles and Antelope Valley, California.<ref name=afi/>
== Reception == Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "nothing if not derivative" but "consistently distinctive and funny".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-31-ca-3233-story.html|title=MOVIE REVIEW : Pollution Apocalypse in 'Circuitry Man'|last=Thomas|first=Kevin|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1990-10-31|access-date=2017-12-09|archive-date=2021-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625061417/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-31-ca-3233-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''The Psychotronic Video Guide'', Michael Weldon described it as "a clever, sometimes funny, well-made science fiction adventure" that is more fun than ''Hardware'' or ''Total Recall'', two science fiction films that were also released in 1990.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Psychotronic Video Guide To Film|last=Weldon|first=Michael|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|year=1996|isbn=9780312131494|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhjsnWfFoiAC&pg=PA108}}</ref> ''Tech Noir'' author Paul Meehan, discussing film noir in science fiction, wrote that the film attempts to overcome its low budget with gratuitous violence but called Wells "memorably nasty".<ref>{{cite book|title=Tech-Noir: The Fusion of Science Fiction and Film Noir|last=Meehan|first=Paul|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2017|isbn=9781476609737|page=197|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBFeCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title|0099271}}
Category:1990 films Category:1990 science fiction action films Category:American independent films Category:Cyberpunk films Category:American post-apocalyptic films Category:American science fiction action films Category:Films set in the future Category:I.R.S. Media films Category:1990 English-language films Category:1990 American films Category:1990 science fiction films Category:English-language science fiction action films