Rob Surgery
Cadet
Hi,
I am compiling a list of English language movies that feature robotic surgery, and I wonder if any of you can think of any films I should include on my list?
I am a sociologist at Brunel University London and I am doing a project on the relationship between robotic surgery and society. As part of this I am interested in how robotic surgery is represented in popular culture. So I want to analyse as many films as I can that feature robots conducting surgery. Many of the films I have found so far have only a small surgery scene (sometimes under a minute) so it is not easy to find them with internet searching.
If you can think of any examples it would be great if you could reply below, and if you are happy to write a short description of what happens that would be really appreciated. I am interested in films here, not TV shows or books. I am interested in both high profile and obscure movies. Many of the examples I have so far are from science fiction movies. I am keen to get more of these, but I am also really keen to know about any films set in the current day that feature robotic surgery as an everyday part of contemporary living (one of this things I find interesting is that films tend to use robotic surgery to show something is futuristic, even though robotic surgery has been used in hospital for over two decades).
Eventually I hope to write a paper based on the analysis for an academic journal. It will be open access, so available for anyone to read.
Below is the list I have so far (including notes on plot/robot use).
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks,
Neil Stephens, Brunel University London
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Fantastic Voyage (1966): Submarine miniaturised with hero surgeons on board and injected into patient to navigate to brain to successfully remove blood clot
Silent Running (1972): Maintenance drone reprogrammed to successfully operate on injured leg of hero last survivor on spacecraft
Logan’s Run (1976): Logan undergoes robotic laser surgery on his face
Star Wars: Episode V - Empire Strikes (1980): Autonomous humanoid 2-1B surgical robot successfully attaches robotic arm to hero Luke Skywalker
Terminator (1984): Villain autonomous Terminator robot uses scalpel to successfully remove and fix its own forearm and eye
Total Recall (1990): Handheld guided robotic extractor akin to a single port endoscopic robot used to successfully remove tracking device from hero Douglas Quaid’s nose
5th Element (1997): The character Leeloo is reconstructed from cells within a bed-like tube with protective cover and robotic arms that assemble the entire body slice by slice followed by a tissue processing procedure.
Starship Troopers (1997): Two-armed autonomous robot successfully reconstructs deep wound on hero Johnny Rico’s thigh with robot and patient submerged in liquid filled tank
Star Trek: First Contact (1996): Villainous autonomous collective cyborg race the Borg capture and assimilate entire species through surgical intervention that transforms the assimilated individuals into more Borg cyborgs. They successfully assimilate over one hundred mostly human crew members of hero starship Enterprise.
Matrix (1999): Two handed manually operated device with internal visualisation is used to remove an electronic tracking bug from lead hero Neo
Minority Report (2002): Bespoke eye surgery robot controlled by backstreet surgeon using visualisation technology successfully performs double eye transplant on hero John Anderton
Die Another Day (2002): Hero James Bond is scanned and undergoes a blood test by autonomously operating robot to confirm his identity. Filming used Intuitive Surgical’s original Da Vinci system.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005): Autonomous humanoid 2-1B surgical robot conducts multiple procedures on heavily injured villain Aniken Skywalker/Darth Vader including adding robotic prosthetics
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): Villainous autonomous robot known as ‘The Doctor’ - a six legged, two armed, spider-like robot - ordered to remove hero Sam Witwicky’s brain with arm-mounted circular saw to extract information. Sam escapes before an incision is made
Prometheus (2012): Patient directed but autonomously functioning operating table mounted robotic arms know as a Medpod conducts open surgery to successfully remove villain alien growing inside hero Elizabeth Shaw’s abdomen
Elysium (2013): Patient directed but autonomously functioning scanning, diagnosis, and contactless healing device used multiple times by heroes, villains and incidental characters
Ender’s Game (2013): Fully autonomous robot conducts unsuccessful neurosurgery on antagonistic supporting character Bonzo Madrid who sustained fatal injuries in a fight with hero Ender Wiggin. Filmed using the Raven II surgical robotics system.
Transcendence (2014): Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert Will Caster uploads his own mind into the internet to produce a human/computer AI sentient being that develops a secret underground base including tens of three-armed robotic surgical operating tables that inject nanotechnology into patients to both cure their disease, enhance them with superhuman strength and stamina, and integrate them into a collective AI. The first procedure shown heals a man’s injuries following a beating, and the second gives sight to a man born blind. Many other characters receive similar surgery but the operations are not depicted.
Spectre (2015): Seat mounted two armed robot programmed by villain Ernst Blofeld to drill into unanaesthetised hero James Bond’s lateral fusiform gyrus to destroy his memory of faces. The procedure is conducted unsuccessfully.
It has also been suggested to me I should look for robotic surgery scenes in Ghost in the Shell, X-Men: Origins, Terminator 2, Moon and I, Robot.
I am compiling a list of English language movies that feature robotic surgery, and I wonder if any of you can think of any films I should include on my list?
I am a sociologist at Brunel University London and I am doing a project on the relationship between robotic surgery and society. As part of this I am interested in how robotic surgery is represented in popular culture. So I want to analyse as many films as I can that feature robots conducting surgery. Many of the films I have found so far have only a small surgery scene (sometimes under a minute) so it is not easy to find them with internet searching.
If you can think of any examples it would be great if you could reply below, and if you are happy to write a short description of what happens that would be really appreciated. I am interested in films here, not TV shows or books. I am interested in both high profile and obscure movies. Many of the examples I have so far are from science fiction movies. I am keen to get more of these, but I am also really keen to know about any films set in the current day that feature robotic surgery as an everyday part of contemporary living (one of this things I find interesting is that films tend to use robotic surgery to show something is futuristic, even though robotic surgery has been used in hospital for over two decades).
Eventually I hope to write a paper based on the analysis for an academic journal. It will be open access, so available for anyone to read.
Below is the list I have so far (including notes on plot/robot use).
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks,
Neil Stephens, Brunel University London
---------
Fantastic Voyage (1966): Submarine miniaturised with hero surgeons on board and injected into patient to navigate to brain to successfully remove blood clot
Silent Running (1972): Maintenance drone reprogrammed to successfully operate on injured leg of hero last survivor on spacecraft
Logan’s Run (1976): Logan undergoes robotic laser surgery on his face
Star Wars: Episode V - Empire Strikes (1980): Autonomous humanoid 2-1B surgical robot successfully attaches robotic arm to hero Luke Skywalker
Terminator (1984): Villain autonomous Terminator robot uses scalpel to successfully remove and fix its own forearm and eye
Total Recall (1990): Handheld guided robotic extractor akin to a single port endoscopic robot used to successfully remove tracking device from hero Douglas Quaid’s nose
5th Element (1997): The character Leeloo is reconstructed from cells within a bed-like tube with protective cover and robotic arms that assemble the entire body slice by slice followed by a tissue processing procedure.
Starship Troopers (1997): Two-armed autonomous robot successfully reconstructs deep wound on hero Johnny Rico’s thigh with robot and patient submerged in liquid filled tank
Star Trek: First Contact (1996): Villainous autonomous collective cyborg race the Borg capture and assimilate entire species through surgical intervention that transforms the assimilated individuals into more Borg cyborgs. They successfully assimilate over one hundred mostly human crew members of hero starship Enterprise.
Matrix (1999): Two handed manually operated device with internal visualisation is used to remove an electronic tracking bug from lead hero Neo
Minority Report (2002): Bespoke eye surgery robot controlled by backstreet surgeon using visualisation technology successfully performs double eye transplant on hero John Anderton
Die Another Day (2002): Hero James Bond is scanned and undergoes a blood test by autonomously operating robot to confirm his identity. Filming used Intuitive Surgical’s original Da Vinci system.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005): Autonomous humanoid 2-1B surgical robot conducts multiple procedures on heavily injured villain Aniken Skywalker/Darth Vader including adding robotic prosthetics
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): Villainous autonomous robot known as ‘The Doctor’ - a six legged, two armed, spider-like robot - ordered to remove hero Sam Witwicky’s brain with arm-mounted circular saw to extract information. Sam escapes before an incision is made
Prometheus (2012): Patient directed but autonomously functioning operating table mounted robotic arms know as a Medpod conducts open surgery to successfully remove villain alien growing inside hero Elizabeth Shaw’s abdomen
Elysium (2013): Patient directed but autonomously functioning scanning, diagnosis, and contactless healing device used multiple times by heroes, villains and incidental characters
Ender’s Game (2013): Fully autonomous robot conducts unsuccessful neurosurgery on antagonistic supporting character Bonzo Madrid who sustained fatal injuries in a fight with hero Ender Wiggin. Filmed using the Raven II surgical robotics system.
Transcendence (2014): Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert Will Caster uploads his own mind into the internet to produce a human/computer AI sentient being that develops a secret underground base including tens of three-armed robotic surgical operating tables that inject nanotechnology into patients to both cure their disease, enhance them with superhuman strength and stamina, and integrate them into a collective AI. The first procedure shown heals a man’s injuries following a beating, and the second gives sight to a man born blind. Many other characters receive similar surgery but the operations are not depicted.
Spectre (2015): Seat mounted two armed robot programmed by villain Ernst Blofeld to drill into unanaesthetised hero James Bond’s lateral fusiform gyrus to destroy his memory of faces. The procedure is conducted unsuccessfully.
It has also been suggested to me I should look for robotic surgery scenes in Ghost in the Shell, X-Men: Origins, Terminator 2, Moon and I, Robot.