W.I.S.O.R. (2001)

Sub-Genres - Inventions & Innovations, Computers, Biography  |   Release Date - Jun 21, 2001 (USA)  |   Run Time - 75 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Review by Buzz McClain

This fascinating documentary by Michel Negroponte goes behind the scenes at the Lower East Side robotics laboratory that landed the contract with power company Con Ed to build the first unmanned steam pipe repair machine. Sounds dry, doesn't it? Well, in the hands of Negroponte, whose Jupiter's Wife was one of those rare documentaries that keeps your eyes glued to the screen, it seems any subject takes on unexpected drama, and it's true with W.I.S.O.R. The initials stand for Welding and Inspections Steam Operations Robot, and the contraption, when it's finally assembled after months of meetings, looks like a mechanical inchworm as it creeps along the pipes. The machine gets little screen time as the majority of the film is devoted to the dedicated engineering team as it struggles to meet its deadline in creating something that perhaps, they think near the end, can't be created. Insight into the world of industrial design is rare, but it's even rarer when it's actually entertaining.