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The best feel good film ever,if you feel depressed go rent it.

This is one of my favorites film ever.It's a very nostalgic film for me because I saw it a lot when I was small,even now that I'm 19,I have the video and I never get bored of it. Barret Oliver is just fantastic as Daryl,it's very sad that he stop acting because he was truly talented.Now that films are just about sex,Blood,and more sex it's good to turn to a feel good film like Daryl.I would also like to say that the title song of the film (Somewhere I belong)is very nice and the lyrics go very well with the film. My personal ratings would be 10/10

A machine becomes human when you can't tell the difference anymore

I like this film. It is a delightful story of an android boy who when exposed to humanity becomes one of us. It explores the naivety of sheltered youth coming of age and trying to learn the things of the world, from a different point of view. Touching and emotional. A very good "feel good" movie that is sure to hold your interest as you watch with anticipation as to how the plot will unfold. Very good casting and acting, film quality and sound. A good family film. You will be taken back a bit to your own youth as you watch D.A.R.Y.L. learn about love, affection, the basics of human emotion and acceptance in a world that is very much alien to him. I recommend this film whole heartedly.

Good service

My movie arrived on time, with out defect. I would use this vendor again.

Great family movie

D.A.R.Y.L has always been one of our favorite family movies. It shows that love doesn't have to be about your own biological children but also about children of your heart....even if they are little robots (lol).

Touching film all the family can watch and enjoy

A heart-warming story about a genetically engineered child whose brain is a computer processor and his physical strength is that of a young adult. Daryl as he is called, however, was not created to interact with other people, least of all a childless family who grow to love him when he put into their care. His "escape" into the real world (aided by a military scientist who gets a dose of conscience) teaches him things he would never have learnt in the artificial world he was being raised in. Befriended by Turtle, an ordinary child, Daryl is integrated into family life, and soon acquires emotions, such as love, friendship and compassion, the very things he was denied in his artificial world. There are many touching scenes such as Daryl purposely pretending he can't hit the ball properly during a baseball practice so his adopted mother will feel wanted and needed by him. Eventually however Daryl is returned to his origins, to a world that is now alien to him, and his knew found emotions and ethics soon make him redundant in the eyes of his creators. However Daryl's changes have been noticed by a once hard line scientist who realizes that the boundary between computer and child have been breeched and to terminate his existence is to murder a child, even if the child has somewhat usual mental and physical capabilities such as driving cars, flying military planes and creating an effective escape stragegy that will help him return to the family and friends he has grown to love. The final scene in the movie is poignant as Daryl bought back from the brink of "death" by yet another scientist who also now realizes that Daryl is in fact a child and not a super-computer and his return to his adopted family is heart-wrenchingly touching. There is a great musical score to accompany this film, plus some above average acting, especially from Daryl, as well as many funny and often moving moments. Watch out for the scene at the Cash Point, it tickled my funny bone no end. A nice mushy family film to enjoy, and not too overtly cerebral either!

So-so scifiesque drama

Wish upon a star... And maybe you too can become a real boy!Sloppy and drippy drama about a boy with a computer chip in his head a la The Terminal Man, except this boy doesn't run amok. 'DARYL' is part of a US Army experimental project (what else???) to build the perfect soldier, but is stolen by its creator and set loose in a small town of America called Anywhereville.The movie takes the audience to the usual orphaned robot-meets-new-friend plot, after which the baddies (the Army boys) captures DARYL and wants to shut down the experiment (due to budget cuts, I imagine, even though it was the time of Reaganomics. Oh, well...)After DARYL escapes the Army base on an SR-71 Blackbird, he escapes only to 'drown' in a lake (a very small lake by the look of it, which he manages to bulls-eye), he gets rescued and... well, don't wanna spoil it for ya.The movie is simply too 'cutesy' and does not seriously address the point here: what kind of ethical issues arises when somebody takes a B-O-Y and puts a computer in his head! This is a living being we're talking about, for cryin' out loud! It is very different from the other 'robot' movie (albeit even more boring), called A.I. At least the robot in AI is a true robot, not a flesh-and-bone being with a micro-chip for a brain - considering the limitations of microprocessors in the middle 80s, I would guess the producers of DARYL all had 8086s in THEIR heads.

A boy is just a boy even if he is also a robot

When I review D.A.R.Y.L. I review and rate is out of nostalgia. It was a movie I thoroughly enjoyed as a kid and I watched it many many times. The movie is about a boy who is really a robot with artificial intelligence and emotions as well. He escapes the research facility where he was created and is adopted by the Andersons, who are scientists (comes in handy when something goes wrong with D.A.R.Y.L. The movie is a bit like Pinocchio, a boy who yearns for that human feeling. The movie deals with issues of love, being a kid and even the right to be. Overanalyzing much for a kid's movie? Maybe. But, I really liked this movie growing up. It is an excellent movie for children that throws in a bit of action here and there. But, it is also very heartfelt and all-in-all a feel good movie.


It is definately better than A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

What an awesome movie

D.A.R.Y.L. has to be right up there in my top-15 movies of all time, and for good reason. Quality action, thought-provoking plot, and killer acting make this cutting-edge high-tech cyberthriller a must-see.


The movie came out at an impressionable time for me, and it made a big impact. I remember seeing it and thinking, 'How great would it be to be a robot!' For a few months after seeing the film, I tried living life robotically. I would approach my problems in a cold, logical manner - no friends, no flirting with girls - and I tried not to ever laugh. Whenever it was time to eat with people I would say, "This unit does not technically need your primative foodstuffs, but the basic protein compounds should provide some benefit once my servos have broken them down into a more usable form." You should have seen the stares THAT got! I think people really started to think I was a robotic being!

Eventually though, enough taunting and failure on the baseball field helped me realize that I was just a mere human after all, and that I had better stop pretending. But I've never stopped loving this movie, and all of the positive and warm things it makes me feel. If you like movies about robot boys, check it out!

My Review on the first robot movie !

Corny science fiction less favorite of mine not even in the top 10 !

Afi took the idea on a better approache of this movie about a boy robot !

I love this

One of the old classics that i used to watch as a child growing up in thr hills of PA. Yes it's a tad generic with the SPX, but hey... that's what made the 80's so fab!

Bye-bye, Blackbird

As a Lockheed engineer in the late '60's and early '70's, I had some contact with my peers from the legendary (then and now) "Skunk Works." More importantly, I had a close friend who was a former U-2 pilot. He once told me about a mission he was flying, at [I'm going to assume that this is still a Classified number] feet at the edge of the stratosphere, confident that there was no aircraft on earth that could come anywhere NEAR him. Suddenly, just a few miles away, he saw a black blur. The overwhelming thing for him was that the black blur was on its way straight UP. He pointed the nose of the U-2 up and watched the other aircraft "top out" [another probably still-Classified number] feet higher. He said that it was the most awe-inspiring thing he's seen before or since.

D.A.R.Y.L. is an interesting movie. It has some thought-provoking ideas about the future of Artificial Intelligence and a (ho-hum) car chase. But MAINLY what it has is the closest that the rest of us mortals will ever come to flying a Blackbird. Sure, it's smoke and mirrors (or maybe Industrial Light and Magic), but it's still impressive -- at least to this naive engineer.

'A.I.' falls short to this

There are tons of Spielberg fans out there that remain loyal to him even after his long list of recent trash flicks. Amongst them was 'AI.' 'D.A.R.Y.L.' proves to be one of those movies that shows that the eighties might have actually had more thought process than today. In this do not trust the government movie, Barret Oliver plays a young boy who actually is a robot. The military, who couldn't figure out why they wanted little children robots in the first place, decide to scrap Daryl. Daryl. however, has been foster cared and has no memory of his past. While Barret Oliver's Daryl can't approach the level of success of Peter Billingsley in 'The Dirt Bike Kid.' He manages to play his role with a sympathy that Spielberg just can't get out of people who follow his storyboards. For all those who think that I just utterly hate Spielberg, I do rate 'A.I.' slightly ahead of the tv program 'Small Wonder. '

Daughter loves this movie

I bought this because my daughter loves this movie. The movie got here well before expected delivery date expiration and in the condition advertised. BZ

DARYL is a Great movie with polictical undertones

I saw this movie many years ago and just watched it again. The technology and plot were just as refreshing as when I first saw it.


It seems strange the world has not progressed beyond this point, but the military is still in charge and there are still victims of its struggle for power. D.A.R.Y.L.(Digital Analyzing Robotic Youth Life form) is a young boy played by Bret Oliver (Never ending story, Cocoon) who was created as an experiment. The intent was to create the perfect soldier, but it backfired and Daryl became a "Real Boy" with extraordinary powers. With the help he escapes his Laboratory home and I given to a foster family while his "real" parents are found. They fall in love with him but the military want him "terminated" and he is recaptured. His captures are surprised by his growth and human abilities so that save him and he is returned to his loving family and friends. A story of intrigue, love, compassion, sacrifice and friendship well worth having.

A great movie and a must have for collectors.

Surprising, light fantasy

Simon Wincer has kept his film "D.A.R.Y.L." plain and simple, which makes for a surprisingly enjoyable, light fantasy-adventure pic about an extremely gifted young boy whose severe memory loss finds him in a foster home while he awaits word of his real parents.The script from David Ambrose, Allan Scott and Jeffrey Ellis never gets too in-depth (ideal for the kids), complicated nor conscientious, and the message is very straight forward. This ensures the movie will never become trite nor ridiculous, but its pure simplicity also guarantees it will never be an ingenious techno-thriller either. The middle ground Wincer finds is pleasant enough.As a matter of fact everything about "D.A.R.Y.L." - both the film and the character - is just plain nice, with an easy music score from Marvin Hamlisch and an agreeable cast including Mary Beth Hurt and Michael McKean (two actors we don't see enough of - you may remember Hurt in "The World According to Garp" as Robin Williams' wife), Kathryn Walker, Colleen Camp, Josef Sommer and Barret Oliver as "Daryl".Tuesday, February 11, 1997 - Video

Under rated 80s classic children's film

I cant help feeling that Daryl could well have been a young Jason Bourne. Synopsis: A military experiment lab loses its super enhanced human subject to the outside world who is now suffering from amnesia while the military hunts him down. Sounds familiar? Daryl got there first but thinking about it, there is no reason why the Bourne trilogy cannot be seen as unofficial sequels to Daryl. But enough of that. I remember loving this film when I first saw it 20 years ago so when I watched it again I expected to find it dated and perhaps much of the magic gone. The opposite happened. I was spellbound. It is somewhat dated but that simply adds to the charm as the 80s was the epitome of childhood innocence, wonder and mischief before the internet age came along. What elevates this film above most children's films is the abundance of heart, soul and values of friendship. All the actors play their part with natural aplomb and it has to be said that Barrat who plays the boy robot with human emotions, was played to perfection. Mckean plays the foster father delightfully (although has a frightening resemblance to ex UK Prime Minister Tony Blair). The film is sprinkled with humour throughout particularly with Turtle teaching Daryl how to behave and how to deal with adults! There is no action in the first three quarters of the movie (apart from a brief car chase at the start). Instead we are invested in the characters and relationships so that we truly care about them by the time the thrilling final act kicks into gear. And boy, is the last act so exciting, with perhaps the best car chase I have seen in any children's film and a climactic action finale that I can only conclude Die Hard 2 stole from! Daryl is an under rated 80s classic.

EXCITING MOVIE FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS

This is an exciting and intelligent film for everyone. Do not let
the box cover art make you think this is a kiddie film only. It
is a neat little film that teaches many lessons. D.A.R.Y.L. is
actually a child robot that is too perfect a child and a scient
ist working with him wants him to have a life outside the gov
ernment lab. D.A.R.Y.L. winds up with a foster family, makes a
life long friend has an exciting finale. This is a uniformly
well-made and acted film with excellent special effects on what
was a shoe-string budget. This film is as enjoyable as most of
Disney's big budget offerings. Also it shows that a wonderful
film without gratuitous trash and language can be made.
The film works so well because of the performance of Barrett
Oliver as D.A.R.Y.L. He gives the presence of the perfect, loving child. He also was in The Neverending Story and Cocoon
parts one and two. Strangely he seems to have disappeared from
film in his teens. I would like to see him in more films

miraculous

Barret Oliver, who plays DARYL, is one of the greatest child actors in my opinion. This movie is not only heartwarming, but intreaging.

Constantly fascinating

Using cinematic, scientific and literary license, this story is one that immediately captures the viewer and does not let go. I guess the central question is the answer to the age-old Turing test - "When a machine is indistinguishable from a human is it still a machine?"


The plot - mad scientists create a boy robot who escapes and is adopted by a couple - is fleshed out to include scenes of emotion, action and pathos. It is a great movie for both kids AND adults, definitely GP rated. It is refreshing, optimistic and has a great, satisfying ending.

Olde but a goodie

Daryl is about a kid who finds himself in a strange place with a supposed memory loss only to find out he's a science project. A family who is desperate to have a child of their own takes him in only to have him taken away supposedly by his real parents. Yet another feel good movie but it delivers in my opinion.