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Thanks for the memories!

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

'D.A.R.Y.L.' is an adorable little sci-fi children's film from the Eighties and will certainly conjure feelings of nostalgia in those who watched it as children. The film revolves around ten-year-old Daryl, who is found wandering alone in the wilderness and is fostered by childless couple Joyce and Andy Richardson. He quickly befriends their neighbours' son Turtle and goes from strength-to-strength in his new home. However, it soon becomes apparent that Daryl isn't quite normal. His intellect is vast, he has excellent sporting reflexes and acts in an oddly adult manner. Then, when two military scientists turn up at the Richardsons' home to retrieve him, it turns out Daryl is not a human child but a Data Analysing Robot Youth Lifeform, created in a science lab to serve the military. When the military orders that Daryl be destroyed, the fight to save him and return him to the family home where he was loved is on...Barret Oliver plays the title character of Daryl, gives an effective performance and nicely depicts his character gradually changing from being odd and awkward to acting like a typical boy of ten. Mary Beth Hurt and Michael McKean, as Joyce and Andy, also give good depictions of foster parents desperate for a child, uncertain about the strange nature of Daryl yet coming to love him as if he were their own. Josef Sommer plays the scientist who begins to question the boundaries of what is considered human once he starts to know Daryl, the robot he created, properly. And Ron Frazier, as General Graycliffe who is intent on seeing Daryl destroyed, depicts his character in a suitably loathsome light!Besides the nostalgia factor for those in their twenties and early thirties, this film will not only be enjoyable for children of today but, as we live in the computer age, brings up very relevant issues that they can consider such as what being a human means and why blood relations doesn't always matter when it comes to family. Daryl, for younger viewers, is the equivalent of Data from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' so perhaps making this film a good choice for parents wishing to introduce their young kids to the sci-fi genre.This is definitely an Eighties kids' classic but also one for all the family.

For me, there is simply nothing not to like about this film. It is well scripted, the parts fit together seamlessly and logically, and everything is justly proportioned--that is, everything's in good balance.And the best part of it is that the acting is never overdone. The main characters are really human and believable, and Barret Oliver's acting is totally natural and spontaneous.So even though one has to suspend disbelief in the science fiction impossibility of the story (a mere machine could never actually become a human brain), it's really worth doing so, just for the fun of it. Just accept the basic premise of the plot for the sake of the story, and then relax and enjoy a heart-warming display of what are real human values in a world where these are sometimes sadly lacking, and a thought-provoking consideration of what it means to be 'a real person.'

Yeh this film is not Oscar material but what it does I believe it does well.I grew up watching this film and I love it dearly.I love movies about robots for some reasons A.I,I am Robot,Terminator even the TV show Small Wonder I used to watch but Daryl is a nice family film and its different from the typical sci fi movie.The first half of the movie you don't even know DARYL is Robot , you would think he's just a genius it's only in the other half of the film were you get the full Truth,it's like two film in one the first half is a family comedy/Drama the other is Action/sci-fi.It's very 80s but I think that's what make this film charming,it has a great nostalgia value to it (Well for people in their 20's at least). Barett Oliver(DARYL) was very talented and most of all he was natural. I love this film,it's one of the greatest kids film of the 80s for me,I'll place it between "the Goonies" and "Flight of the navigator". I'll give it a 8 out of 10.

During the movie Dr. Stewart made a comment to Joyce, Andy and Turtle that DARYL was conceived in a test-tube and that only his brain is a computer while the rest of him is human. Also while conception is possible in a "testtube" DARYL still would need a surrogate mother in order for him grow into an infant. Also was Dr Stewart the sperm doner? That would make him a cyborg not a robot. However, my problem with this is that this would mean that his human brain would have had to been surgically removed after birth and a computerized brain put in its place. His computer brain size would have to be extremely small to be placed in an infants skull. Also as DARYL grew from an infant to a pre-adolescent child his computer brain would have to had been changed to a accommodate his growing skull. Unless of course the scientist working on this government project waited until DARYL became a pre-adolescent child before removing his human brain and replacing it with a computer brain. I enjoyed this movie but it lacked an explanation as to when and how his computer brain was placed in his skull.