TOYS

TOYS. Barry Levinson, dir. USA: Biltmore Pictures / 20th Century Fox (prod. and release), 1992. Ferdinando Scarfiotti, prod. designer. Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson, script (with Levinson co-prod.). Robin Williams, stars. **¢+A relatively mundane fantasy film important for portions something like O. S. Card's Ender's Game meets WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY—with a touch of two of THE TERMINATOR and DR. STRANGELOVE (all listed under Fiction or Drama). See for a fantasy factory set in green fields, and for robots: including a female robot passing for a human woman (cf. and strongly contrast METROPOLIS), the threat of computer-assisted military takeover, surveillance, VR, and highly mechanized (and electronic toys) both benign and highly threatening (including small war machines. See under Fiction, S. Lem's "The Upside-Down Evolution".