Tobor the Great (1954) poster
1954 · robot · b-movie · space-race

Tobor the Great

Directed by Lee Sholem1h 17m1954
ElsewhereIMDb5.2973TMDB5.331
  • brisk
Movie DNA

Warm, kinetic, measured robot / b-movie, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

To avoid the life-threatening dangers of manned space exploration, Professor Nordstrom creates highly advanced form of artificial intelligence capable of piloting a starship to other worlds. In order to transmit alien data, the extraordinary robot is infused with a powerful telepathic device that enables it to instantly read and even feel emotions. Danger strikes when a sinister band of covert agents kidnaps Gadge, the professor's 10-year-old grandson. But Gadge has a powerful ally. For he has developed a psychic, emotional bond with his grandfather's robot. And now Gadge's captors must suffer the wrath of his protective friend. They must face a mechanical monstrosity bent on a killing rampage of revenge and destruction.

Our read · Tobor the Great (1954) reads as a warm, kinetic, grounded robot · b-movie · space-race entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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Availability in the UK · via JustWatch

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The shape of Tobor the Great

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want wholesome 1950s sci-fi adventure with a heroic robot.

ends upliftingyou’ll feel glowing aftergrabs you earlygrips by minute 5attention 2/5breezes by
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around

Skip it tonightYou want sophisticated sci-fi or modern visuals and stakes.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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