| | | | D.A.R.Y.L.
(1985) |
helicopter blasts over the camera fast and low, threading it's way down a huge gorge between mountain-sides and D.A.R.Y.L starts off with a bang.
We're right in the middle of a car chase with an older man and a little boy. The helicopter buzzes above as the car twists rapidly down a winding road mountain track. The old man pulls over momentarily, telling the child to get out and run. As the boy runs through the woods, the man driving the car continues the chase. We then see his car hurling over the side of a cliff and exploding.
Soon after the boy is found by campers. He has no memory of who he is or why this is happening to him. All he knows is that his name is Daryl. Eventually, he is taken and placed with a loving foster family. They have no children of their own and soon fall in love with him.
He helps his foster mother clean. He never makes a mess. He never argues with them. He is the perfect child. Daryl strikes up a friendship with the neighbor, a boy called Turtle. Shortly after they become best friends. Turtle is the normal everyday trouble-maker, while Daryl behaves perfectly.
Daryl also can do other things, things not thought possible for a child. As they continue searching for who he is, they realize how different he is from everyone.
Right as Daryl is becoming comfortable with his new situation, an old couple come knocking on the door. They say they have proof that they are in fact Daryls real family! It's a tearful goodbye for Daryl's best friend and foster parents as he is taken away.
This is where the climax of the film begins.
We find out here that Daryl is actually a "Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform". He was created by the government in an experiment to create the perfect soldier.
When they see that Daryl has begun to fully develop human emotions and feelings, the scientists that took him away from his foster family start to regret their decision. Soon after, they regret it even more when the government decides to shut down the project and terminate Daryl.
Soon they are helping him to escape again...
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D.A.R.Y.L echos the mood of the time in a storyline that reveals the wonder and fear of the electronics revolution that had been going on.
Remember that in 1985, the ordinary person only had access to a personal computer for the very first time. It had been only a few short years since the advent of the digital watch and calculator. It was a very exciting time where technology was moving at an incredible rate.
The idea of an electronically enhanced human developed by the military was probably very plausible and worrying to the average person.
Of course, we now know that the government had access to technology that frankly wasn't that far in advance of everyone else and no robot boys were produced, but D.A.R.Y.L, along with movies like "WarGames" are a facinating time capsule of that time and the paranoia of what the military would have been up to with all this wonderful new technology of the early 80's.
Even though some of the plot is cliche'd and predictable, D.A.R.Y.L. is a likeable wholesome movie. It's about growing up, belonging and friendship. It might be a weaker plot relative of hits, like E.T." and "Starman", but the film is still enjoyable.
As an aside, it was also particularly nice to see Josef Sommer playing the good doctor. Often given bad guys to play (because he does a great job of it) Josef brought a warmth, humanity and depth to this role that could have been so cliched.
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Dr. Lamb comments: "General, a machine becomes a human when you can't tell the difference anymore." This summarizes the famous Turing Test devised by Alan Turing, a founder of modern computer theory. 
The video game that D.A.R.Y.L. plays is "Pole Position".
On the back cover of the DARYL tie-in novel, there is a still from a missing/cut scene in the movie. The still shows Turtle being bullied in the school library. This scene is described in the book which ends with DARYL sorting the bully out. This scene is cut from the UK version but I'm not sure about other countries. -Thanks to Stefan Andrews
Barrett Oliver was so successful a child actor that (apparently) he realized what directors thought of child actors. Whatever the reason, Barrett Oliver walked away from acting and not only didn't look back, he never told anyone. He simply stopped taking scripts and did something else. (He was seen at a photography exhibition by one who recognized him behind beard and glasses.) The myth that he killed himself was probably based on his playing Bastian in "The Neverending Story." In it's sequel, Bastian was played by Jonathan Brandis, who did kill himself. -Thanks to Daniel Davis
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During Daryl and the doctor's car chase, they're supposed to be somewhere in Northern Virginia. However, they're clearly in Orlando, Florida. In one shot, a billboard for RonJon's Surf Shop is clearly visible; in another, on the freeway, you can read the exit sign for Orange Blossom Trail (this is on Interstate 4).
Factual Error: Towards the end of the movie, Daryl escapes from the bad guys by stealing an SR-71 Blackbird, which at the time was the most advanced, spyplane in the world. While the cockpits and sensors on the airplane were classified at the time, the following was not: - The airplanes are guarded by MPs carrying loaded M-16 rifles; - It takes 28 hours to pre-flight the airplane, and a dozen technicians are working on it constantly during that time; - The fuel tanks are empty until 20 minutes before takeoff; the pilot is already in the cockpit when fuel is added; - At the time, the Blackbird cost $30 million, not $100 million like the "general" says; - The red and white "helmet" worn by Daryl was only used during low-altitude test flights in the 1960s; SR-71 crews wear full pressure suits due to the high temperatures and altitudes the airplane encounters; - The SR71 was based in California (Beale AFB), not northern Virginia; - And finally, there is no "self-destruct" on ANY Air Force airplane.
When DARYL is flying the SR-71, his Mach meter reads 2.25, well above the speed of sound. He is shown flying around 1-2000 feet above ground level. The sonic boom from a plane at that altitude would be noticed in the town below.
The game Daryl plays with Turtle and his sister is Pole Position. The speed at which he plays the game is not possible to achieve. It is a safe bet that the console it was played on couldn't even handle the game at that speed.
When Daryl and the Doctor are running from the police and switching drivers, when they lose control of the car and spin around, you can see through the rear window that it is obviously an adult driving and a child in the passenger seat, not an adult and a child switching seats.
In the scene where DARYL is on the full-body scanner, there is a "reversed film" error. When Josef Sommer and Kathryn Walker are shown operating the machine through the window (DARYL'S p.o.v.), for some reason, the film is reversed. You can tell this when Kathryn Walker turns her head and the inertia movement of her hair flicking around is blatantly reversed. Whoops!
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|  |  |  | | D.A.R.Y.L.
Locations |
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Bizzarely, production and shooting of D.A.R.Y.L was split between the the USA and England!
Studio sets were constructed at Pinewood studios west of London and exteriors were shot on location in Orlando, Florida and the communities of Dillsboro and Brevard in North Carolina, USA.
Airport scenes were shot on location at Kissimmee Gateway Airport, near Orlando, FL. Built in 1942, Kissimmee Airport is only 8 mils from the attractions of Orlando and has grown greatly since filming.
Although many sources have stated that Alpes-Maritimes, France was used, we don't know which scenes. Also, the credits make no mention of it.
Can you help? Do you know any of the filming locations used for D.A.R.Y.L., particularly Daryl's foster home, the lab? [Please send them in]
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The soundtrack had only one track listing at the credits. It is unknown if a soundtrack was ever produced.
"SOMEWHERE I BELONG" by Teddy Pendergrass
Courtesy of Elektra/Asylum Records
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