Atreyu_II
I am fascinated by the 80's. It was a unique generation like we'll never see again. Its culture, its dressing styles and hairstyles, its charm, its lifestyle, its very imaginative and creative TV commercials like we don't see nowadays...The 80's was also one of music's gold generations and brought us some of the best movies of all time, such as "The Neverending Story", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Uncle Buck", "Romancing the Stone", "The Jewel of the Nile", "Herbie Goes Bananas", "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)", "Frankenweenie", "Missunderstood" and "D.A.R.Y.L." itself, without forgetting that it brought us classic TV series such as "Knight Rider", "Family Ties", "MacGyver" and "Miami Vice"."D.A.R.Y.L." is, in my opinion, a very cute little movie. More than that: it is a forgotten film and I'm a bit shocked with its quite low rating! It's too underrated, yet a pretty good movie.This film stars one of the greatest child actors of all time, Barret Oliver. In fact, Barret Oliver is absolutely amazing in this movie and portrays an incredible character: Daryl. In fact, Barret Oliver won a well deserved prize of recognition for his performance in "D.A.R.Y.L." - the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, an honor also won by Noah Hathaway in "The Neverending Story" and Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense" and "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (just to name a few examples).Daryl is actually D.A.R.Y.L., an acronym for "Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform". Daryl looks very human, despite being a machine. Daryl, however, is the most sophisticated and advanced robot ever created, like a miracle come true.Daryl is blessed with an extraordinary intelligence and amazing abilities. Plus, he's nice, friendly, sweet, cute, lovable and liked by many. He's the kind of boy any parents would like to have as a son and the kind of boy any boy would like to be. Daryl is so different and unique that he can light up an entire room.However, speaking of Daryl's unbelievable abilities, let's see. At school he is even wiser than teachers. He can play baseball like no one else. He can interact with ATM machines and play video games in a way beyond our imagination. He can do house duties in a way that not even housemaids can. He can even pilot a SR-71 Blackbird in the most amazing way possible (this plane scene is just as impressing as those seen in "Top Gun") and is equally blessed with incredible driving skills.Daryl is also a blessing for the Richardsons and gives them a new sense for life. The Foxs (their neighbors) are also very fond of Daryl, even Daryl's hilarious and cheat friend Turtle. By the way, I hope nobody named their kids Turtle in real life, lol. As if being Turtle wasn't enough, he's Fox too, lol.Sherie Lee (Turtle's sister) is pretty. It's funny how her brother really annoys her whenever he keeps calling her certain names. She's well portrayed by Amy Linker. The silly kid Turtle is greatly played by Danny Corkill. Other talents include Mary Beth Hurt as Joyce Richardson, Michael McKean as Andy Richardson, Josef Sommer as the friendly scientist Dr. Jeffrey Stewart, Kathryn Walker as Dr. Ellen Lamb, the actors who portray the Fox couple and others.It's an interesting movie with a heartwarming story. In general, this is a simple and calm movie, being often funny and light-hearted. It also has some action (without overdoing it), drama, emotional and touching moments, fun and entertainment. The concept and the idea of the movie is interesting and the movie is well made, being film-making of quality.The ending is dramatic at first, but turns out to be a happy and fair ending. Daryl is repaired, brought back to life and returns to the Richardsons after a challenging and dangerous journey to escape to the cruelty of the United States Air Force, with generals determined to destroy Daryl and won't allow anyone to free Daryl. Our story has a happy ending.I haven't talked about the soundtrack yet. I like very much the piano solo numbers and Teddy Pendergrass's song "Somewhere I Belong", which can be described as beautiful, nostalgic, relaxing, happy, sad, emotional and fits perfectly in the movie's final scene. The rest of the soundtrack is good too.Despite the fact that "D.A.R.Y.L." can be considered a science fiction movie, it isn't totally fictitious. In my opinion, there's very few of "true" science fiction in this film. For me, this is more of a drama told through a simple but good story with a bit of sci-fi as well, in a combination that works out very well. It has also interesting stuff about artificial intelligence, a very classic sense of humor, nice special effects and a great direction by Simon Wencer. The phrase «A machine becomes human when you can't tell the difference anymore» is very valuable. Should be kept in mind and never forgotten.Overall, this is another great, nostalgic and charming movie from the 80's. Another favorite of mine from that magical decade.This should definitely be on Top 250.
nordic2004
For me, there is simply nothing not to like about this film. It is well scripted, the parts fit together seamlessly and logically, and everything is justly proportioned--that is, everything's in good balance.And the best part of it is that the acting is never overdone. The main characters are really human and believable, and Barret Oliver's acting is totally natural and spontaneous.So even though one has to suspend disbelief in the science fiction impossibility of the story (a mere machine could never actually become a human brain), it's really worth doing so, just for the fun of it. Just accept the basic premise of the plot for the sake of the story, and then relax and enjoy a heart-warming display of what are real human values in a world where these are sometimes sadly lacking, and a thought-provoking consideration of what it means to be 'a real person.'
