Inventor of super computer has trouble relating to his son, so uses said computer to make him a genius. Boy then makes a robot named Robby, who might seem rather familiar. But does that super-computer have some nefarious purpose? Of course it does!

Charming but somewhat dull, of interest mainly for its early view of computers, and of course Robby. The oddity of the banal reactions from parents and scientists to both Robby and later Timmy's invisiblity is apparently meant to be amusing, but instead is merely irritating. And the idea of Robby lurking aound in the bushes like Jason Voorhees is deliciously ludicrous.

Some have said this has been an influence on the Terminator films, which seems possible with the menancing super-computer, not to mention the robot rescuing kid, aspects of the plot, but if this film was an influence on anything, it's probably Colossus: the Forbin Project. That being said, it's worth pointing out that Dr. Merrinoe at one point near the end emphatically tells the computer "I'll be back!"

Probably the most interesting thing about The Invisible Boy is that, given both that one of the plot points is the USA hurrying to get a spacecraft in orbit, and that it is essentially an anti-Red menace piece disguised as a kid's film, it entered theaters in October 1957--the month the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. Also intriguing is the very subtle implication that the Robby in this film is the same Robby from Forbidden Planet, somehow brought back in time.