The obscure 1962 B-movie "Creation of the Humanoids" is one of the few movies to deal sympathetically with intelligent machines; it's the story of empathetic robots who carry out a plan to save humanity. In its sympathetic treatment of robots, it may be the key cinematic predecessor to Steven Spielberg's upcoming "A.I." Inspired by a Brian Aliss short story, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" (you can read it here), "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" represents the collaboration of two master filmmakers: Stanley Kubrick, who spent several years developing the project, and Spielberg, whom Kubrick asked to direct it. After Kubrick's death, Spielberg wrote the screenplay himself and modeled the visual design on storyboards Kubrick had supervised. "Creation of the Humanoids" seems to contain several of "A.I.'s" themes: This slow-paced, funny, intellectually complex film shows robots capable of love and sex, robots oppressed by human hate groups and robots who are morally superior to humans.

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The earliest cinematic robot is Maria, from "Metropolis" (1926), Fritz Lang's classic dystopian vision of the future. Lustful mad scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) creates Maria (Brigitte Helm) to reflect his vision of the perfect submissive woman. But Maria rebels against her creator and provokes a worker revolt that threatens to destroy the entire city. Sexually aggressive and a threat to humanity, Maria embodies the male fear of uncontrollable women and machines. At the end, she is burned at the stake as a kind of witch.

The anti-technological themes continued in James Whale's 1931 "Frankenstein," which combines Gothic horror and science fiction with a monstrous created-by-science artificial human that goes violently berserk. A few years later, evil mechanical men appeared in the Flash Gordon science fiction serials that pit the hero against the high-tech Ming the Merciless.

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Although a killer alien robot -- Gort -- incinerates dozens of Army men in "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Robert Wise's 1951 classic is actually a harbinger of the new docile robot of the '50s. Reflecting writer Isaac Asimov's laws of robotic obedience, "Forbidden Planet" stars Robby the Robot -- superior to humans, yet their benevolent and tireless servant. Prototype of the cute, lovable robot and the first robot celebrity, Robby inspired decades of meek, servile machines like Huey, Dewey and Louie in "Silent Running," C-3PO and R2D2 in the "Star Wars" movies, Johnny No. 5 in the "Short Circuit" films and, most recently, Andrew (played by Robin Williams) in "Bicentennial Man," recently adapted from an Asimov story.

With the dawning of the computer age, artificial intelligence temporarily replaces robotics as an object of technological terror. "Forbidden Planet" imagines an evil supercomputer as big as a house, with the power to materialize murderous monsters from the human id. "The Invisible Boy," which also stars Robby the Robot, envisions a colossal supercomputer that plans to exterminate all organic life in the universe. Cruel, emotionless, world-controlling computers also show up in "The Colossus of New York" and "Colossus: The Forbin Project."

Kubrick's vision of artificial intelligence gone awry, in "2001: A Space Odyssey," conceives a more human, highly emotional computer. HAL suffers a nervous breakdown and murders several humans before being unplugged; humanity survives its technology in the symbolic spiritualism of the Star Child. Fears of out-of-control A.I. achieve hysterical expression in "Demon Seed," a movie that combines "2001" with "Rosemary's Baby." Mad scientist Dr. Harris creates Proteus IV, the greatest artificial brain ever. Wanting to be fruitful and multiply, the typically male supercomputer electronically rapes Harris' estranged wife, Susan, who gives birth to a supersmart, metallic cherub -- the robotic evil twin to "2001's" Star Child.

Androids -- human-looking robots endowed with artificial intelligence -- emerge in 1973's "Westworld," which centers on an Old West theme park, populated with animal and humanoid robots. Purposefully mocking Asimov's laws of obedience, the robots -- led by gunslinger Yul Brynner -- run amok in this bizarre extension of Disneyland. "Westworld's" sequel, "Futureworld," goes further: The androids design and produce more sophisticated robots, who break out of the vacation resort to destroy and replace humans in the real world -- the ultimate robot threat.

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