The Invisible Boy (1957) User Reviews (60)

Intriguing scene!

[will7370 · 6/10 · 5 November 2005]

I think the most intriguing scene in this whole film is when we find out that Robby the Robot is really SUPPOSED to be the same one constructed by Dr. Edward Morbius on Altair-4 (in the movie Forbidden Planet). Supposedly, at the end of that movie, the United Planets' StarCruiser C-57D returns to earth with Robby the Robot and Altaira Morbius. Somehow, a professor from the 20th century travels forward in time to the 24th century in a time machine, witnesses the landing of the C-57D StarCruiser at Chicago Spaceport, takes a black and white photo of it, then somehow persuades Robby to come back with him to the 20th century. The robot then somehow ends up being dismantled and (in the movie The Invisible Boy) we find him lying in pieces covered with dust on a shelf. The boy Timmie (with the help of computer induced hypnotic instruction) then reassembles Robby.

Quite an ingenious plot device, tying the two movies together.

Nightmare revisited

[robin-414 · 6/10 · 15 January 2006]

I feel compelled to add my two pennyworth, as the shade of this movie has been with me for most of my life. One of the most terrifying things I ever saw on TV, and I think I was only four, so this was back in 1959, was a clip from The Invisible Boy. I had no idea what a robot was, and so my introduction to the concept was this most impressive creation, 'Robby'. They must have been very generous with the footage, because I saw the whole kite sequence and the aftermath. I must have been watching through my fingers for most of the time, because when the kid is talking to Robby, he is on the top of a stepladder, and for a long time, I didn't even realise that the robot had a proper body, I thought it was just a great big glass head. Also, I thought that the chap announcing the clip had said Robin the Robot, and, I thought, hey, that's my name, so there was a scary identification thing happening there, too. I only remember that this sequence played on my mind - big giant glass head and a small boy - I was plagued by the notion that Robby the Robot might, one day, come lurching into our house, with his big old twirling pirate-earring antennae.

Flash forward to January 2006. I had never seen a single section of this film since that nightmarish trailer on our little old wooden television set. Now I have it in my grasp, after finding it on DVD. I cut straight to the scene that scared me so much. It's astonishing how clearly it has registered on my memory. I even remember some of the dialogue.

Having now watched this movie all the way through, I can only concur with several of the other reviews, and there is little that I can add. It certainly is a pretty uneven movie, and it looks like several different writers and directors worked on different sequences without ever liaising, although I don't believe this to be the case.

One of the other reviewers referred to this, I think, as a child's nightmare, and that's a very apt description. The film's unevenness of mood adds to its bad-dream quality.

The sequences that contain intentional humour are quite well-devised, but seem to belong to a little film of their own. The cast of competent nobodies deal with their lines pretty well, whether they know what the heck is going on or not.

Robby has quite a lot to do, and, under the evil influence of the super-computer (this is part of the standard published synopsis, so I'm not giving anything away), gets to be menacing, which he's really rather good at, although his credibility wavers at one point, when he actually pops up from behind a bush in the garden. That has to be seen to be believed.

I'm so glad I laid this ghost after 46 years, especially as the film is one of the strangest things I've enjoyed in many a long day.

It's not really a good, or well-crafted film, but it's weird enough to merit my recommendation, especially as it has big, scary old Robby the Robot!

Enjoyable kids' sf film

[Matti-Man · 6/10 · 8 March 2006]

I've just seen a really nice print of INVISIBLE BOY. It's very much a kids' film with a fairly pedestrian plot, but then I realised that it foreshadowed all those "computer out of control" movies that followed in the 1960s (COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT) and 1970s (DEMON SEED) and even later stuff like TERMINATOR.

Also, I loved the scene where Timmy had just rebuilt Robbie and he was taking it around the scientists, obviously looking for a pat on the back, and they just all kind of sniffed and went "oh, you built a robot" like it was nothing. Every kid just has to identify with that experience.

Overall, INVISIBLE BOY is an of-its-time but entertaining sf movie. Great to see Robbie the Robot in action after his star turn in FORBIDDEN PLANET. Look carefully for the framed photo on the wall of Robbie emerging from the FP saucer ...

Grown-ups just don't understand

[michael.e.barrett · 8 August 2002]

This little picture has its moments of pulp poetry. There are not one, but two intelligent machines. One is a supercomputer that's been biding its time for decades, waiting for an opportunity that arrives one day in the form of a lonely little boy. He is invisible in the sense that the grown-ups pay no attention to him, condescend to him, or talk over his head--they just don't understand! When he becomes literally invisible later, it's just a way of literalizing what the movie has already been saying.

Anyway, the computer hypnotizes the boy and gives him instructions about putting together a robot that's lying disassembled in a workroom. It's all part of the evil plan to use boy and robot in a plot to take over the world via satellite.

The best moment comes when the insidious computer, invented by the boy's father, flashes all his lights and promises that they can explore the universe together. "Dad--" the boy starts to complain. "Just be quiet, son," says Dad, "and look at all the pretty lights." Man spellbound by his own invention, even unto his own destruction, and taking his future generations with him . . . .

Invisible Boy vs. Invisible Monster From The Id

[crispy_comments · 5/10 · 10 January 2007]

As others have said, this movie is definitely weird. If you're in the right mood, that's great. Otherwise you might just find it ridiculous and unrealistic.

Although I can't deny that "Forbidden Planet" is a superior film when it comes to acting, set design, visual effects, a more consistent tone & clearer message - I think I kinda enjoyed it's low-budget follow-up, "The Invisible Boy"...more. For one thing, I prefer this brand of humour - the spoofing of 50's sitcom families, the parents' deadpan reaction/nonchalant acceptance of amazing events such as their son's invisibility, etc - much funnier than the booze-seeking shenanigans of the Cook, whose eye-rollingly lame scenes pass for comedy relief on "Forbidden Planet".

The bizarre shifts in tone and plot absurdities/illogic in "The Invisible Boy", can be seen as weaknesses, but at least they make the movie less predictable. One can argue that "Forbidden Planet"'s script ties everything up *too* neatly, that there is too much foreshadowing, and the clues a bit too obvious, as to the origin of the monster. I figured out what was going on there, long before the climax (and I didn't need a brain-boost!) "The Invisible Boy" had more surprises.

Another point in this film's favour - Robby The Robot gets to show more personality, express a wider range of emotions (I'm not kidding!), and is even more lovable than in the first film. It probably helps that Robby didn't have to compete with any great actors like Walter Pidgeon here. But I do think he has more screen time and more opportunities to shine in "The Invisible Boy". He tugs on the ol' heartstrings and really steals the show.

This film loses a few points for it's irritatingly-voiced child star, and some plot holes/contrivances that strain credibility (such as the scientist deducing the Evil SuperComputer's master plan out of...nowhere) Of course, I had to dock "Forbidden Planet" as well, for different reasons (predictability and rampant 50's chauvinism)...so, somehow, they end up with the same rating. Keep in mind my how-much-was-I-entertained rating is more like 7/10 for both...this is my harsh-brutal-analysis rating. 5/10 implies they're only average movies, but they're really above-average entries in the sci-fi genre.

Early Atomic Age Caveat

[cshep · 7/10 · 6 July 2004]

If demographics had been in use in the 1950's , half of the films would never have made the screen, such is the case of " The Invisible Boy. " Try to imagine a movie that would introduce the Atomic Age, to young children, with a Robot as your Best Buddy. Fighting against the unknown evil of an Atomic powered SuperComputer, with a consciousness bent on destruction . With tickets going about 35 cents, it would take more than one run to turn a profit. This is where I complement the screenwriter, director and producer for having the vision and courage to attempt this project. But that being said, a little more effort could have gone along way. Richard Eyer is perfectly cast , as the young naive prodigy, looking for a friend to share ,in a world changing at a rapidly increasing rate. Enter Robby the Robot, never underestimate the power of this legend,almost every boys dream in the 50's. Together they share a modest trip into the world of adults and computers. A timely movie in the sense it it was at the doorstep of the Atomic Age. If you can view it on a BIG screen, the impact is greater. A mild thriller for Boys 10.

Robot-aficionados will love the hardware...but the script is a loss

[moonspinner55 · 3/10 · 14 April 2009]

Human players take a rightful backseat to incredible Robby the Robot, first introduced in 1956's "Forbidden Planet". Scene-stealing Robby is cast as a mechanical playmate to Richard Eyer's young Timmie, but soon begins receiving diabolical orders from a power-crazed computer. Long outdated science-fiction nonsense will astound contemporary viewers with its naiveté. Some see it as camp, some give it cult value. Production values just OK, dialogue and scenario wooden. If it weren't for Robby (and the film's dynamic advertising campaign--which matches nothing in the finished product), the film would not be remembered fondly today--if at all. *1/2 from ****

Not Much In The Invisible Category, but a Must See Sci Fi Flick

[verbusen · 7/10 · 30 March 2009]

The Invisible Boy is an entry of sort in the long list of "Invisible" movies this being one of a boy, Timmy. Timmy gets to be a grand daredevil in this movie, flying in a huge kite that takes him among the clouds, almost falling to his death several times, going into outer space, having his own robot "Robbie" who seems to have all the same powers and intellect that he had in Forbidden Planet, and lastly becoming invisible! Whew, thats a lot of stuff to happen to one 10 year old in one movie but they manage to pack it all in within the first third to half (except the space part). So what happens after the first third to half? a long drawn out non Timmy picture that is worth fast forwarding and must have put the kiddies to sleep for sure who saw this in the Saturday matinée in the theaters. The ending is pretty cool along with the first half and we get to see Robbie take on a "rocket patrol" of heavily armed air force ground troops who try to stop Robbie using rifles, machine guns, bazooka's, recoil-less artillery and flame throwers (that was very cool to watch)! The dialog used by the scientists elevate this past strictly being a children's picture to one that sci fi fans, and of course all robot fans (who isn't a robot fan?), will enjoy seeing. If your tuning for the invisible factor you wont like it as the invisible bits are played for the typical invisible yucks you've seen in movies along the way of a 3 Stooges or Abbott and Costello movie and after seeing those jokes it's not funny anymore, luckily the invisible stuff lasts less then a third of the movie. I give it an elevated 7 of 10 because it's a curiosity sci fi movie, not because it's particularly all that great. Worth it to see Robbie and Timmy get into world domination troubles though!

Robby The Robot Returns.

[AaronCapenBanner · 2/10 · 9 November 2013]

Loose follow-up to "Forbidden Planet" sees the return of Robby the Robot in the present(1957) as he befriends a ten-year old boy named Timmy(played by Richard Eyer) whose father(played by Philip Abbott) is a Pentagon scientist who has built a super computer. It was designed to help humanity, but instead gets ideas of world conquest, as it reprograms Robby to do its bidding, which includes threatening to kill little Timmy if the authorities don't give in to its demands. Can Robby and Timmy save the Day? Exceedingly silly and unbelievable film is a total waste of time, good only for kids. Still, the unexplored subplot of Robby being taken from the future by a time-traveling scientist is more interesting than anything else in the film!

A Dark (but not that dark) Sci-Fi Fairy Tale For Kids and Kids at Heart

[Scott_Mercer · 7/10 · 7 April 2006]

This film is clearly treated as a fantasy and is clearly directed toward children. None of the characters are treated realistically and the whole thing is nothing but a high tech Sci-Fi fairy tale. So to criticize the film for being unrealistic is to miss the point.

The boy is clearly the protagonist and the characters of the parents are cardboard stereotypes. Okay, I'll be generous and call them archetypes. The tone of the film doesn't start out this way; the first scene has the scientist (whom we assume will be the protagonist) meeting with two Generals.

But soon enough we meet little Timmy and the whole tone of the film changes abruptly. Even though he is not an appealing child actor or character, (others mentioned his whiny voice) he is in fact convincing as a dull kid who gets an infusion of intellect from the manipulative supercomputer.

Nobody else mentioned this, but for a lot of the film the tone here is quite similar to the work of Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Matilda. Like those works, here the child(ren) is/are the main characters and soul of the film, and all the adults are either indifferently cruel or cartoonish buffoons. One of themes is children being dismissed by adults and not taken seriously. Like in Charlie, there are fantastic sights and sounds, but with the threat of violence and murder lurking somewhere underneath. Should I even have to mention that many Grimm's Fairy Tales, the classic children's stories, are laced with murder and violence as well? There are also some similarities to the only live action film written by Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), another film from the 1950's, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.

I was hoping for another black and white '50's schlock piece, something along the lines of I Was A Teenage Werewolf, but this was an interesting diversion and somewhat of a surprise. If you like Willy Wonka/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, you should check this out, if you're a kid or an adult. I also have to note the excellent musical score by my favorite film composer and lounge music legend, Les Baxter.

It really ain't kid's stuff.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 23 October 2018]

What starts off as a light-hearted look at the life of a lonely little boy (Richard Eyer) and his new friend (Robby the Robot) switches gears very quickly from juvenile comedy to technical mumbo jumbo that changes moods like robots change batteries. Neglected by his scientist father (Philip Abbott) and somewhat temperamental mother (Diana Brewster) except for visits to dad's work to meet the giant computer pop has been working on, Eyer has soon made a new companion in the emotionless Robby who has been ordered to kidnap Eyer. Making the young boy invisible turns this into comedy very briefly where the unseen Eyer turns the office and home upside down, vanishing thanks to the robot's interference. The military gets involved, suspicious that some sudden deaths are caused by something more than untraceable natural causes.

What keeps this film from becoming memorable is the different themes and mixture of audiences they were going for: general audiences in the beginning, matinee children's audiences in the middle, and strictly adult in the end. I can't really see this keeping everybody interested with these strange transitions. The robot, held over from "Forbidden Planet", is certainly commanding, and the giant computer admittedly terrifying. The script can't make up its mind, silly one moment and deadly serious the next. Obviously, the Eyer/Robby relationship influenced TV producer Irwin Allen who created a similar, if warmer (and campier) relationship with Billy Mumy and the robot on "Lost in Space". It's a very mixed bag that left me disappointed and wanting more in spite of a few interesting ideas.

A Child's Beautiful Nightmare

[Bolesroor · 10/10 · 4 July 2005]

When we use the term nightmare we mean "bad dream." And they certainly are. In every nightmare is the feeling of raw fear, more palpable and threatening than we've ever felt while awake. It's a primal emotion and the heart of most bad dreams. But in truth there is much more to a nightmare... there is some good stuff. Some good, unforgettable, carnival-like, Lynchian, Felliniesque, wrong turns and back alleys of the unconscious. Alternate realities, non-linear consequences in a twisted universe where nothing makes sense.

When I say that "The Invisible Boy" is a perfectly realized nightmare I mean it in the best sense of the word. It was made in 1957 but taps into the primal fantasies of perhaps every boy in America up to the present. Timmie is a lad who doesn't get the attention from his Father that he wants... what boy does? Timmie's father is a scientist who's too busy to play with the boy, too closed off to make an emotional connection, so he brings his son to his super-computer, passing off parental responsibility. After the computer brainwashes young Timmie, Dad allows the boy to play with a disassembled robot from the future(!) which is lying around his workshop. Timmie, guided by the evil SuperComputer, easily assembles and awakens the Robot who becomes the friend the boy has always wanted. Or is he? Turns out the Robot is only using Timmie as a pawn in a plan to take over the world using satellites. All Timmie wants is someone to play with.

Timmie is turned invisible, but his parents don't seem to be alarmed. The Robot tricks the boy into a rocket and they take off to orbit the Earth and await orders from the SuperComputer that's masterminding the sinister mission.

The most jaw-dropping moment of the movie for me was when Timmie, orbiting the Earth in the Robot's rocket, comes out of invisibility and asks the Robot if they can finally play as he's been promised all along. There's a vulnerability in this dark scene that is at once hypnotic and heartbreaking. Could this be happening? Should we be watching this? Was this dark a picture really passed off as children's fare in the 1950's? God I hope so... the entire film plays like a fever dream, the fantasy of a boy who ate too much birthday cake and drifted off to sleep among the torn wrapping paper and party hats. It's familiar and frightening... delightful but horrifying. There is a genuinely subversive feel to the proceedings...

Mind-bogglingly bizarre and strangely beautiful, this movie walks the line between childhood fantasy and the emergence of the technological being, of corny 50's sitcoms and cold-eyed apocalypse. It presents the darkest fears of the nuclear age warmly woven into a family fable without a moral... even in the end the boy's father is hypnotized by the blinking lights of the SuperComputer and urges his son to join him in surrendering free will and enjoying the glory of the machine, mesmerized by its blinking lights.

What else can I say? We'd be lucky to have nightmares this beautiful.

GRADE: A

Robby to the rescue

[nickenchuggets · 7/10 · 5 August 2021]

The 1950s was the definitive decade for all kinds of stories and tales relating to science fiction. The most numerous and familiar antagonist in this genre is undoubtedly some kind of alien, since what they look like is anyone's guess and it makes for an interesting (although worn out) plot when we are told the aliens want to take over the earth. This movie does not feature any aliens, but it does have arguably the second most common sci-fi enemy: robots. This is important because the one in question is one of the most recognizable and celebrated of all mechanical men (Robby the Robot). Despite improving pretty much any scene of any movie/show he appears in, the premise of this film is mediocre. It is centered around a kid named Tim Merrinoe who is in desperate need of someone to play with. His father also happens to be a highly skilled and intelligent man of science who has a supercomputer mainframe in his laboratory. Although initially nondescript to look at, this supercomputer is an integral piece of the story because after Tim's encounter with it, he suddenly has enough smarts to rebuild a robot his father was ready to throw away. After putting the robot (Robby) back together, nobody seems impressed. However, an incident soon follows that involves Tim taking a ride in a kite that Robby made. This catches his mother's attention and she demands Robby to cease the flight at once. What she doesn't know is that Robby has been reprogrammed to never put any human in a life-ending situation. Because of this incident, Tim no longer wants his parents to yell at him when he's playing and so wishes Robby to turn him transparent. Once this is accomplished, everything appears all nice and calm, but afterwards we learn how the supercomputer is actually malevolent and wants to control the world via a satellite. Tim is shut away in a rocket, and meanwhile, the military tries to shoot Robby with flamethrowers, mortar shells, artillery, rifles, machine guns, and everything else they have, but they do absolutely nothing. The army was wrong to shoot at him anyway since his only goal now is to save Tim. In so doing, he disobeys the orders given to him by the supercomputer, which state he was supposed to kill him. After landing back on earth in the ship, Tim tries to deactivate the supercomputer, which says it is beyond his pathetic attempt at technology and is invulnerable. Just when all hope seems lost, Robby appears and smashes through a wall to destroy its power source. After this, we see Robby has been adopted by Tim's family. This movie isn't that great. It's nice to see more 50s science fiction movies (especially ones with Robby in them) but after a while, it feels like the same thing over and over. Eventually, you run out of unique stories to write and it makes more sense to put down the pen. The acting here isn't particularly good, and even if it was, Robby is clearly the main attraction and he's not even a human being. Artificial intelligence wanting to take over the earth is not anything new, but since this was the 50s, I have to give them some credit for making the main villain a computer instead of aliens, the much more overused bad guys at the time. Other than that, there's not much to say. I first learned about this movie from an anniversary edition of the film Forbidden Planet, which I own. The second disc is a bonus and its sole content is this movie. The quality itself is not that good, and even on Forbidden Planet's blu ray edition, The Invisible Boy still has its default definition. Disappointing I know, but not too much of a loss considering this movie is pretty generic by sci-fi standards.

A boy's best friend is his robot

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 11 January 2017]

I did kind of like the idea of this fantasy film about the dreams of a young boy. Remembering that this is all a dream, dreams can and are often quite illogical more so even for children. Invisibility has some awesome possibilities including getting even with a bully and also learning the facts of life.

Young Richard Eyer is an average kid who would like to have his dad play catch with him some time. But Phillip Abbott is one of the most important scientists and he's got the nation's security in his hands. His mother Diane Brewster isn't too much better.

Abbott works with a giant super computer, something along the lines of what Spencer Tracy is trying to install and maintain in Desk Set. In a bring your kid to work day he exposes Eyer to the super brain and the it's like the kid took the Krel test. He even puts together Robby The Robot and they become the best of friends. Like Will Robinson and his robot.

After that it's hoping the giant superbrain doesn't take us all over.

The Invisible Boy somewhere got lost between a kid's film and a message against globalization. It's like several people created this film and all got a piece of a message they wanted to put out.

Some of the scenes between Eyer and the robot were charming, but the incoherency of the story defeats the entertainment value The Invisible Boy has.

Pleasantly odd.

[vjuhoh · 14 July 2004]

Such a strange film. One that doesn't really know which gimmick to run with: the super computer, the borrowed and infamous Robby the robot, invisibility, or space travel. It's a schizophrenic jumble of the time's sci-fi staples, with absurdly weak links. Still, I can't say it was ever dull.

One thing that struck me about this picture, was the dry humor involving the Scientist father. He reacts almost casually to his son's sudden intelligence boost and invisibility. It comes off like a satire of the Cleaver-type family, and was a welcome surprise.

Give this one a chance if you catch it on Turner Classic Movies one night. But I wouldn't recommend seeking it out for purchase.

"Wait till I catch him tied to a tree. I'll clobber him! Bash his teeth in!"

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 30 September 2015]

MGM sci-fi flick about a young boy and his robot friend trying to stop an evil supercomputer from taking over the world. There is some invisibility in this one but it seems like it was just tacked-on to justify the title. It's certainly not important to the plot. This has no connection with the earlier Invisible Man series from Universal, either. It has somewhat of a connection to the classic Forbidden Planet, which was the first movie with Robby the Robot. Here, it's said Robby was brought from the future via time travel so there's an implication (though never stated definitely) that it's the same character from the other film. This is more of a kiddie movie than serious science fiction. It goes on longer than necessary and offers little to impress. The cast is fine, although child actor Richard Eyer seems like a poor man's Jerry Mathers. The best thing about the movie (besides Robby, of course) are the old-school computers and whatnots. Silly but charming in its way. It's no Forbidden Planet, that's for sure.

Not the Robby we'd grown to love...

[grizzledgeezer · 7/10 · 7 March 2007]

"The Invisible Boy" isn't so much a sequel to "Forbidden Planet" (though the script makes it clear that Robby is the same robot, stolen by a time-traveling mathematician) as it is a sequel to Robby's appearance in "Forbidden Planet".

Everyone loves Robby. When I reviewed the Heath HERO 2000 robot for a magazine 20 years ago (has it been that long?), I wanted to use the photo of Robby holding the dead Warren Stevens, with the caption "I love you, Robby." But MGM's licensing fees were too high.

One can criticize many points of plot and characterization, * but the film's main problem is that Robby is no longer Robby. Though Marvin Miller still provides the voice, Robby's lines are (mostly) flat and his demeanor deferential. The droll sarcasm of Dr. Morbius's creation is gone. Robby is now a victim of the supercomputer's evil plot, his personality so drastically altered that he considers killing Dr. Merinoe (but stops, presumably because Merinoe is the only source of the unlocking code). Robby is no longer the independent automaton so appealing in the earlier film, but unsympathetic and even boring.

There is one surprising moment (which ought to have gotten the film a PG rating) when the supercomputer threatens to command Robby to torture Timmy unless Dr. Merinoe supplies the unlocking code -- and he refuses! I've been watching films for over 50 years (and I saw "The Invisible Boy" in first run), but I can't think of ANY film (or TV show) I've seen with such a scene. The hero ALWAYS acquiesces, protecting one or two individuals to the possible detriment of millions.

"The Invisible Boy" isn't a bad film, but it's more "cute" than disturbing, and hardly the film Robby's fans wanted.

* Example: If the story is supposed to be contemporary, then the supercomputer would have had to have been built in the '30s! Given the film's obviously tight budget, there was no way to create a plausible late-20th-century environment, so this point was simply ignored.

more Robbie the Robot

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 11 January 2017]

The Stoneman Institute of Mathematics under the military is developing a Supercomputer. The military is launching a secret satellite. Timmie Merinoe is an average ten year old. His father tries to improve his intelligence by bring him to the Supercomputer. Timmie improves to such an extent that he is able to reassemble Robbie the Robot which arrived from over 300 years in the future. Robbi helps turn him invisible. Meanwhile, the Supercomputer intends to take over the world using the military satellite.

There is a lot of nonchalant going on in this movie. None of the adults seem affected by a time-traveling robot especially the father. He treats the invisibility like an inconvenient prank. At times, it's laughable. This was probably strictly directed at kids. Reasoning is rudimentary and so is the acting. This is nowhere near the classic Forbidden Planet. There is a limited connection to the iconic movie which is more than simply reusing Robbie the Robot. It's cool to see this for a fan of Forbidden Planet but it's a weak movie on its own.

Better than the name would suggest

[mikedaly · 6/10 · 24 August 1999]

Why is it that sci-fi movies from the 50s have such hokey names? This movie is not so much about the boy (who does, in fact, become invisible), but more an early Terminator-style computer-take-over-the-world plot.

Delightfully ludicrous little treasure

[Joe-146 · 3/10 · 18 August 2006]

This is the movie Ed Wood SHOULD have made! :D Even among such 50s sci-fi gems as Mickey Rooney's Atomic Kid, this one has a special place. It's technically well done, despite it's charmingly low budget trappings and gut bustingly absurd dialog and plot points. The protagonist's family seem like the Cleavers after mucking around with the Krell mind-trainer from Forbidden Planet. Their 'intellectual' banter make the cast of Frasier seem like they stumbled in from an Ernest movie. Everything is wonderfully (and it seems, cluelessly) over the top. I guess this is how the writers thought REALLY smart people behaved. :) **SPOILER?** I don't want to ruin any of the absurdities of the "plot", but just to give an example of what makes this movie so special, when the boy asks about the deserted office where he finds the disassembled robot, his father just nonchalantly mentions a colleague who claimed to have built a time machine & brought the robot back from the future, then just disappeared one day. Since this earthshattering claim and apparent proof of the time machine's existence is tossed off with such disinterested casualness, one must assume this sort of thing is happening all the time at the braniac house where all the professors work on their science-genius stuff. A film like this could never be made again. I get the distinct impression that the filmmakers had no sense of irony or absurdity, and were just making a low budget kid's movie. This movie is a classic in it's own profoundly misguided way. Thank God for late night cable and the happy accident that brought this to my attention. If you ever like to have your own MST3K home theater experience, grab a few friends - or robots, and pop this gem in the player.

" Hey Dad, What's a computer? Do you think they'll ever become necessary ? "

[thinker1691 · 7/10 · 22 May 2010]

In 1956 Cyril Hume, wrote a fabulous Science Fiction story called 'Forbidden Planet. It featured a marvelous machine called Robby The Robot' (Marvin Miller). It was an instant Hollywood hit. Indeed, when another interesting Hume script arrived the follow year, producers saw an immediate opportunity to recuperate their original investment by using their fantastic Robot once again. In this story, the military (Harold J. Stone) minds at the pentagon have come to the special labs to re-check their mathematical finding for their special rocket program. In this, they need the help of Dr.Tom Merrinoe (Philip Abbott) and his super mechanical brain. Unknown to the military, that super-brain has developed its own plans to dominate the world. Enter Dr.Merrinoe's mischievous son Timmy. (Richard Eyer). With his friend Robby, they hope to try and stop the great machine from carrying out it's plans. This is a good movie and ever so child-like in it's innocence. Over-looking it's mono-tone scenes, primitive script, cardboard actors and Black and White background, it nevertheless easily qualifies and maintains it celebrity status over fifty years and marks it's special place as a Sci/Fi Classic. Recommended to anyone interested in watching a timeless movie. ****

Standard kiddie sci-fi

[funkyfry · 5/10 · 14 November 2002]

Your basic kiddie sci-fi fare, notable only for the presence of the beloved "Robbie the Robot" from the film "Forbidden Planet." Whether MGM used him here because of his popularity or to save a few bucks is certainly debatable. The story, such as it is, concerns a boy who befriends Robbie, who, it turns out, can not only make him invisible (so he can avoid his parents and revenge himself on the neighborhood bully), but wants to take him to the moon as well, at the bidding of his true master -- a supercomputer with ego issues.

Pretty much standard.

Computers have come a long way since this was made

[chris_gaskin123 · 9/10 · 18 August 2005]

I've seen The Invisible Boy a couple of times and found it excellent. Computers have certainly changed since this was made in 1957.

A 10 year old boy, Tim reactivates Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet and gets into all sorts of adventures, best of all being made invisible. Meanwhile, his dad's super computer, built by himself starts acting strangely and plans to rule the world and Robby becomes its slave for a while. At the end, the computer is switched off for good and Robby becomes good again.

The special effects in this movie are excellent as is the music score.

The cast includes Richard Eyer (The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad) as Tim with Phillip Abbott and Diane Brewster as his parents.

The Invisible Boy is a must for any fans of 1950's science fiction. Great fun.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Dated but entertaining and well-made kid's sci-fi adventure

[jamesrupert2014 · 7/10 · 4 November 2019]

A young boy (Richard Eyer) befriends a robot (Robbie from "Forbidden Planet', 1956; again voiced by Martin Miller) not knowing that a malevolent super-computer has taken control of his metal friend as part of its plan to conquer Earth. The film was primarily an excuse for MGM to get more use out of the expensive (and popular) "Robbie the Robot" costume but, other than a cursory mention of a 'time machine' bringing the robot back from the future, no attempt is made no connect the two stories. The film effectively takes a child's perspective of events, especially the apparently irrational behaviour of adults. There is one scene when Timmy walks into a room full of 'busy' scientists who essentially ignore him, despite the fact that the boy has successfully resurrected a huge robot from the future. The boy also compares Robbie's 'basic directive' against allowing a human to come to harm (essentially Asimov's 1st law) to his mother's fun-killing concerns for his safety. Most of the film is light-hearted, with Timmy bonding with the dead-pan robot or, when rendered invisible, pranking people, but there are some odd adult moments, especially when the megalomaniac supercomputer (who has disabled Robbie's 'basic directive') describes how Robbie could slowly and painfully kill the boy (now a hostage) and later forces the parents to watch after telling Robbie to 'start with the eyes' (needless-to-say, there is no torture (on- or off-screen)). The film's background geopolitics is typical of the decade: the American goal to surreptitiously launch the first orbiting space-station (apparently armed with strontium warheads). When asked what their "friends across the pole" would do if they learned of the project, the super-computer predicts a 91.6% chance of attack if learnt before the launch compared to an 87.3% chance of peaceful negotiations if learnt after. The 'peace through (our) strength' message was typical of the era - as the general states: the world will be able to "rest easy" after the launch. The story (based on the eponymous short story (sans robot) by Edmund Cooper) is entertaining and Eyer is quite good as the young boy, more or less a 'normal kid' until he's hypnotised by the malignant A.I. and given an enhanced I.Q. Philip Abbott and Diane Brewster are also fine as (from Timmy's perspective) his workaholic boffin of a father and fretful, overly-protective mother. As a kid's film, 'The Invisible Boy' likely has more appeal to a 'kids then' audience than to a 'kids now' audience, but is certainly worth watching by fans of the genre of any age.

Invisible, But Not Silent (Pity)

[strong-122-478885 · 2/10 · 16 June 2014]

They say - "Children should be seen, but not heard." Well - In The Invisible Boy it seems to be the other way around - "Children are heard, but not seen."

From my perspective - When it comes to the likes of children (in this case movie-children), I sure wish to hell that it could be both ways, meaning - Children should "not" be seen, and "not" heard, both, at the same time. Yeah. Now, wouldn't that be just ideal?

Set in California (in and around the Stoneman Institute of Mathematics), The Invisible Boy's sucky, little, Sci-Fi story (from 1957) deals with the attempted "World Take Over" by a massive, supremely arrogant, "thinking" Computer that's obviously gotten way-way too big for its britches.

In this flick's story the institute's top mathematician's son, 10 year-old Timmy, is, in a sense, kidnapped by this "brainy" computer. For this computer to pull off its hare-brain scheme to rule the world it immediately renders Timmy invisible by re-adjusting his index-of-refraction. (Yes. It's really that simple to do when you're a big, frickin', hot-shot computer)

The computer, of course, can speak and it refuses to re-animate the boy until its "high'n'mighty" demands for human co-operation (in its quest to rule the world) are met to its pompous satisfaction.

Personally, I hate "smart" computer movies such as The Invisible Boy. I mean, this particular movie was clearly intended for people (children, I guess) who just don't bother to think things through, or to think sensibly about things, at all.

Robby the Robot (the hero from Forbidden Planet) was given a pivotal role in this flick.

Unfortunately, this time Robby the Robot was bad. I thought that doing this to Robby really sucked. Robby the Robot was a cool robot-dude and he surely deserved to be on the hero's side of things in this flick, too.