A wonderfully quirky futuristic Frankenstein tale that has mad scientist Klaus Kinski looking for a spark rather than a brain to breath life into his female creation. The film works like a low budget companion piece to Blade Runner, dealing as it does with similar themes of android rebellion, just on a much smaller scale (and budget).
A limited cast, with only five major roles, and a shoestring budget, results in a film far more focused on character than action. Don Keith Opper plays android Max 404 as a Pinocchio like figure who dreams of being human. It’s Max and his relationships with the other characters that gives the film its heart, particularly Brie Howard as one of the three criminals using the space station to lay low who Max becomes infatuated with and of course Kinski as his creator, Dr. Daniel.
Kinski is on fine form as the lecherous Daniel, displaying his gift for comedy during the dinner scene, with that wonderfully expressive face saying far more than the dialogue he delivers. While all the films performances are good it’s Kinski and Opper that stand out.
Somewhat dated in its effects and its “futuristic” technology (the digital watches and Max’s video game must have seemed advanced at the time) the film holds up thanks to good writing and strong performances.
It’s surprising that neither director Aaron Lipstadt nor writer/star Opper went on to greater success, instead forging careers in TV. In fact the man who went on to bigger things was the films design consultant and future king of the world, James Cameron.
