Round of 32 Recap: Tight Races and Overwhelming Victories

There were plenty of nail-biters in the Round of 32.  Some brackets were determined by as few as five votes, while several films enjoyed landslide victories against their opponents.  Before we move on to the Round of 16, let’s look back at the winners and losers from this round.

Hack the Planet

• Dial-up David and WarGames (1983) barely edged out Hackers (1995) to make it to the next round. The Gibson is safe but watch Global Thermonuclear War may be imminent.
• Star power alone couldn’t propel Sneakers (1992) past Live Free or Die Hard (2007). John McClain rides again!
• Sandra B is back, and this time, neither the Pretorians nor the Brothers Hemsworth are stopping her. The Net (1995) shuts down the Blackhat (2015) to move ahead.
• Lasers were fired, and popcorn littered the theater, but that couldn’t stop the Light Cycles of Tron (1982) from toppling the comp-sci coeds in Real Genius (1985).

Paranoid Android

• *dun-dun-dun---DUN-DUN* was the sound of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) defeating Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) in the battle of the colons to continue onto the next stage.
• Walking (and huggable) A.I. (2001) threw down the gauntlet and fully trounced the security A.I. of Eagle Eye (2008). The pint-sized A.I. moves on to face the Kubrick classic in the next round.
• Westworld (1973) and its army of robots couldn’t keep down I, Robot (2004). I think the I, Robot memes helped push this through to the next round.
• Disgruntled employees live to fight another day. This time Her (2013)’s e-romance couldn’t contend with the 1-2 punch of Lumberg and the Bobs from Office Space (1999). PC Load Letter moves on.

The Hubris of Man

• Looks like Kelly LeBrock didn’t stand a chance against the velociraptors. Jurassic Park (1995) snarls past Gary, Wyatt, Lisa, and Chet of Weird Science (1985) to survive this round.  If Lisa hadn’t moved, would the T-Rex have seen her?
• It was neck and neck until the final stretch, but the gyrospheres of The Lawnmower Man (1993) were chosen over the moody docking station of Transcendence (2014). Virtual Jobe continues the fight.
• “Dead or Alive, Upgrade (2018) is coming with me.” Alex Murphy and his pals from OmniCorp from RoboCop (1987) easily take out the trash and move into the next round riding high.
• Yes, Johnny 5 is alive! And the plucky team from Short Circuit (1986) easily handed Ex Machina (2014) their walking papers.  Steve Guttenberg thanks you.

Tech Noir

• It’s evident from the community feedback that most prefer a chain-smoking to a hot tub oracle. The Matrix (1999) handily defeats Minority Report (2002). Message received.
• One Keanu is enough, and Johnny Mnemonic (1995) is no match for Deckard, the Blade Runner (1982). Times are tough for a dolphin trying to find an NA meeting.
• You all love your cyborg policing – especially when compared with connected criminals. In a match for battling for the citizenry of LA and New Port City, you chose New Port City.  Major Kusanagi Motoko and Ghost in the Shell (1995) surpassed the detectives and criminals of Strange Days (1995).
• Arnie vs. Arnie: There can be only one. With your help, it was determined that the T-1000 from The Terminator (1984) was far superior to the spy/eco-terrorist Quaid in Total Recall (1990).

Next up is the Round of 16, which has some crazy matchups.  Will Office Space continue its domination?  Will Sandy B hold her own against the Control Program?  Can dinosaurs defeat a man without physical form?  Can a cyborg cop stand against a cyborg killing machine?

We don’t know!  It’s all up to you.  Cast your votes before this round closes on March 18 at 4 p.m. Central US Time.