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A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Special Edition)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Special Edition)

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Spielberg's Less Than Intelligent Movie
Review: What a disappointment! This could have been a great movie. The premise of AI has always fascinated moviegoers. What we got was a sad combination of Spielberg sentiment and Kubrick's twisted mentality. Osment and the special effects are spectacular. The story - too long and too difficult to comprehend. By the end, you regret buying the ticket. The anticipated premise of an artificially created life form filling a special void in humanity is worth exploring. The robot trying to become human, a noble attempt but we've seen it before and done much better. Bicentennial Man looks like Oscar material compared to AI. Kubricks twisted Flesh City destroys any chance for youngsters to enjoy this movie. A message? Yes, there are several. Stop trying so hard to tell a simple sweet story. Don't complicate things and assume the moviegoers are un-intelligent. Mankind's demise is not going to happen this way, unless we keep making more of these bad movies and going to them praising this ineptitude. Science fiction storytelling gives us the opportunity to explore what we would like to see in our future. AI is everything wrong with out future. When you think that Speilberg gave us Jaws, Close Encounters, ET, Indiana Jones, and then AI, one wonders if he thinks he can write event the most incomprehensible script and get away with it. Stay home and watch ET on tape instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible movie experience!
Review: I saw "A.I." this weekend, and I walked away feeling that I just saw the best movie of the new century. It is smart, thought provoking, dark, sad and greatly moving. It is not for everyone, be sure, but those who are fans of Mr. Kubrick should find it amazing. If you have to have car chases, toliet humor, and shoot outs, this is not for you. It is great to see something this ambitious, cutting edge and intelligent with great special effects and a big budget to make it look jaw dropping. Multiplexes haven't seen something like this in decades. I fear that if it isn't a hit, then we won't see something so different and expensive like this again. It is a sad world if ambition and intelligence have to be sacrificed so it will play to the lowest common denominator movie crowd that makes "tomb raider" a hit.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Touching sci-fi drama
Review: This movie has award-winning all over it. The touching story of the quest for a mother's love filled with a sci-fi action plot makes this movie capture the attention of many genres. It is funny at times but extremely sad. It is quite a mixture of emotions. There were several wet eyes coming out of this one. This is worth the price to see it on the big screen.

The Flesh Fair scene will win this an Oscar in costume, special effects.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I just lost 2 1/2 hours of my life...
Review: ...watching this ridiculous mess of a movie. I am a Spielberg fan - I wept myself into a headache when I saw E.T. and I even liked 1941 - but this film left me cold. I can't remember ever feeling this way about a Spielberg film - the nagging question I keep asking myself isn't "What did this all mean?" so much as "Who gives a darn?"

I guess my impression stems from the obvious air of self-importance that permeates the movie. It took itself SO SERIOUSLY, but without any compelling reason! The messages within this film (man's inhumanity to non-humans; how quickly civilized people degenerate into beasts when they think they can get away with it; man's combined arrogance and lack of responsibility when it comes to playing God; basically, the idea that PEOPLE SUCK) were delivered more effectively in Westworld, Blade Runner, and even Toy Story. TOY STORY! I'm not kidding!

The reasons I gave the film 2 stars (instead of 1) are: the consummate performance delivered by Jude Law; some of the breathtaking visuals; and that darned adorable teddy bear. But those reasons are not enough to recommend a film that smugly wallows in its own sense of self-righteousness. Sorry, Steve - better luck next time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Please, Please Blue Fairy Please Make This Movie Go Away!!
Review: This movie is the worst movie I have seen. The idea was not bad but the entire movie was horrible. I think this movie should be considered a "flop". But I would encourage everyone to see it so they can have the same painful 2 1/2 hour experience we had.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" is absolute genius
Review: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" is a labor of love for Steven Spielberg, who made this film in memory of the late Stanley Kubrick. It would hardly seem possible to make a film in the style of these two filmakers because of of the types of movies that they have each directed in the past. It has been said that it would be like mixing oil and water. Suprisingly, this film has very few Spielberg influences in it.

It's true that he wrote the screenplay(His first since "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"), but almost all of the camera shots and angles look like it was Kubrick behind the camera. In addition, it is by far the darkest film that Spielberg has ever done. Of course it is Spielberg so there has to be the so called happy ending. Kubrick would not have done that. But the end was both happy and sad in a way. It looks very collaborative in that they both got the ending which would have satisfied the both of them. This movie satisfies all of the feelings in the human body. There are moments of sadness, happiness, anger, and moments that have a little horror feeling in it. However, this movie is shocking above all.

Professor Hobby (William Hurt) wishes to build a robot that will feel, that will genuinely love. Twenty months later we are introduced to Monica and Henry (Frances O'Connor and Sam Robards), who's child is frozen until a cure for his disease is found. Henry brings home David (Haley Joel Osment) who is like nothing Monica has ever seen. At first Monica cannot accept David saying that "there is no substitute for your own child" and feels like her real son is gone for good. Eventually the couple accepts him and he attempts to learn every day behavior.

A cure is found for Monica and Henry's son and he returns home. Many things happen that lead to Monica leaving David in the woods with only his friend Teddy(A mecha teddy bear). He remembers the story of "Pinocchio" and wishes to find the blue fairy so that she can make him a real boy resulting in the reaffirming love of his mother Monica. On his search he meets Gigolo Joe(Jude Law), a love mecha who acts as a male prostitute. They are captured and sent to the Flesh Fair, a horrific show where humans destroy robots in the manner of dumping acid on them and tearing them to shreds. After escaping, they go to Rouge city, where they go to Dr. Know, who tells them where to find the blue fairy. David's search for the blue fairy will last an extremely long time, ending in a sequence which I will not reveal.

Haley Joel Osment is at his best in this film. He is one of the best actors working and produces an emotional impact in "A.I." that will not be forgotten. In addition Jude Law is at the top of his game. The special effects are amazing. The fallen Manhatten is eerie and is absolutely unbelievable. The robots look completely real which provide a darkness on many levels.

Can we really care about a robot that can love? This film poses this question but does not answer it. It is true that he loves but he does not feel that naturally. Even if he did feel that naturally humans could not get past the fact that he is artificial. The way that people act around David is cruel. Whether or not his feelings were artificial makes no difference to him actually having them. His family eats food at the table while he watches but they do not realize that he wants to eat the food like them as well. They accept him into their family but when some things go wrong they dump him in the woods like an animal. They wouldn't dump a real child into the forrest, would they? This may be in the spirit of Kubrick, who's films sometimes had an ending that would require further observation.

When "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" finishes, it leaves us wanting more. At the film's finish, we are unsure of what would happen after. The leep of time into the possible future that the film takes is the farthest ever explored. "A.I." is a masterpiece of modern film. Spielberg is successful in creating the film in the way that Kubrick most likely would have made it. Acting, directing, style, and special effects make "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" the best film of the year.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Steven Speilberg's Schizophrenic Film
Review: Kubrick and Speilberg are a difficult combination to match. The three stars shouldn't make you believe that I'm saying this film is abominable, however, the first hour of the movie drags dismally before anything of interest begins to occur. The only high point of this section of the film is an artificially intelligent teddy bear called teddy who provides good wholesome sentiment. You actually come to like him more than you like any of the actors. Enter Jude Law who gives a phenomenal performance as Gigolo Joe. At his entrance the movie gets dark and the acting becomes superb. Up until this point the Osment boy seems to have just graduated from acting 101. Now the movie becomes interesting in their quest together to find the blue fairy through the flesh fair where they destroy obsolete robots and the red light district where Joe feels right at home. Osment's character David eventually finds what it is he is looking for only to discover that it is not really what he wanted and the movie should have ended at this point. If Kubrick had made it it would have ended at this point and would have been a much better film, but we must accept the fact that it was made by Speilberg. The ending goes on from there in an attempt to make us all feel good with fairy tale happiness produced by updated versions of the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Human beings have been dead for 2000 years but David can have his mother back for a day though he'll never be a real boy. Instead of playing this ending for the darkness that would disturb the audience and leave them thinking about it when they leave the theater, Speilberg makes us comfortable, but this happens all the time in A.I. The most interesting moments in the film are thrown off course by the sentimentality of a robot in search for the blue fairy to become a real human. It should have been either a dark movie like Kubrick's 2001 or Clockwork Orange or a sentimental E.T. type film because the combination does not work. With these genres you either have to choose one or the other. (It's like the Droog Alex calling his mother to make sure her biopsy went well after he's raped a woman and beaten her husband). Overall, I'd say it's a good film to go see, but don't expect a classic despite the combination of talent that went into its making.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tribute to a Mystic
Review: Just returned from a viewing of Artificial Intelligence and,without any doubt, my High School English Teacher's Mind will be in overdrive half of the night trying to piece together what I see as both a compendium of science fiction themes as well as a clear filmaker's tribute to the late Stanley Kubrick.

Loosely metaphoric to the tale of Pinocchio, the movie flies in the face of cliche in order to extend the typical Mary Shelley /Karel Capek message that man does not belong in a godlike mode. Humans have the ability to fashion many elements, but are not sanctioned to successfully play the human creator. Professor Hobby (William Hurt), as robotic developer, attempts to create life with an ulterior motive, and it is exactly that selfish purpose which ultimately hurts the character of David (Haley Joe Osment) and those who have become close to him. Some may see this film as a successful quest for lost feelings. The more realistic view is a darker one; there are places where man does not belong.

Moreover, this is certainly in line with what appears to be a tribute, by Speilberg, to the most pessimistic of filmmakers, Stanley Kubrick. Originally conceived by Kubrick as a statement about life and what it has become, Speilberg, albeit with a number of tender moments, has taken the handoff and run toward a blacker, more humanly desolate zone -- one which is more in line with Kubrick's bleak view of human reaction. The filmic techniques and thematic suggestions add to the director's tribute to S.K: garish backlighting, Fellini-esque facial horror, the scourge of war, and the notion that our evolved, twisted use of sex is, indeed, man's fatal bite of the forbidden fruit.

Overall, it's a commendable film. It is notable in that (for once) astounding special effects take third, strong performances a second, and a thought-provoking storyline a first place in any thinking man's analysis.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Movie of The Year So Far
Review: I have been anticipating this movie for a long time, and I can honestly say that... I was not let down. Steven Spielberg has done an excellent job directing this film, and the special effects and sets are all top-notch. You can definately tell that it is a Spielberg film, but there are some obviously Kubrickian elements in it as well. This is particularly evident in the darker second tier of the film, with the "Flesh Fair", robot gigalo, and so on. This movie is an epic. It has an above-average running time (2 and 1/2 hours), but it really could have been extended further (the first 1/3 of the movie would've benifited from extension.) It is also wide-ranging in the sense that it will put you through a lot of different emotions in the course of it's running time. There'll be moments where you'll say "Wow", where you'll say "What the hell?", where you will be disturbed, and, possibly, where you will cry (in the theater where I saw the movie more than a few people were moved to tears.) Also, it must certainly be said that the actors in this movie do a terrific job. Haley Joel Osment, is outstanding in a near-impossible role... how often is an actor his age the lead character in a major, non-juvenile film? Not very often, for sure, and he shines in this one. Jude Law does very well with his role as well. To top it all off, John William's score is great and hauntingly appropriate. It's a bit rough around the edges at some points (YOU try being one of the world's most famous directors and taking over a project from another one of the world's most famous directors), but it is a very good film. This will be looked back upon as one of the year's best films. A must watch.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: did i miss something here?
Review: Great concept, some neat-o-whiz-bang-super-duper effects, plus gaping holes in the plot to drive your aqua-copter through. The trailers for Rings and Potter alone were worth my 7 dollars, I just wish I could get those two and a half hours back. WAIT FOR THE DVD. No, in fact, don't. Read the short story instead (SUPERTOYS LAST ALL SUMMER LONG by Brian Aldiss) and leave it at that.


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