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A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Special Edition)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Special Edition)

List Price: $12.99
Your Price: $9.09
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DVD still can not save this film
Review: This is a film driven more by characters and character motivation than by plot. However, it really fails to explore or develop these characters in any significant depth. Ultimately, the film's downfall is that it contradicts itself repeatedly, which destroys all continuity rendering it impotent of any legitimacy. Ultimately the denouement is an insult to all of us. John William's innovative and thought provoking score is of little consequence. The DVD extras add nothing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: no action but lots of thought
Review: This one fascinated me. The whole story developes an unexpected way and is deeply thrilling giving new brainfood any time it turns. The professional visuals fit in very nicely, not destroying the atmosphere by launching killer-effects or high-end-pyrotechnics any second.
Some people said they found the movie wasn't "dark" enough. I thought it was very dark - and cold. And all was done very subtle. The acting didn't convince me completely, but it is all solid work well done.
Not my favorite Spielberg but among the best.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You're going to love it!!
Review: One of the best movies I've ever seen! Haley is such an incredible actor! If you like Haley in "Pay it forword" you're going to love him in this film... The only thing I can say is... You've got to see this movie!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This movie was very bad!
Review: I was very dissapointed by this movie. It started out okay, but then it dragged on and on. It was so stupid and pointless. The only good character in the movie that I cared about was Teddy! He was so cute and funny. Anyway, don't rent or buy this movie becuase it is a waist of your time and money.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful Spielberg Realization of Kubrick's Vision
Review: A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE would have probably been a great Kubrick film had the great Stanley Kubrick lived to direct it, but in the fanciful and no less masterful hands of the great Steven Spielberg, it comes alive in a way that no other director would have been able to accomplish so well. Spielberg took Kubrick's vision and ran with it; the result is a melding of directorial genius from both sides: the technical brilliance of Stanley Kubrick fused with the dramatic brilliance of Steven Spielberg.

Haley Joel Osment, perhaps the most gifted young actor working today, stars as David, the first "mecha" boy to be built, and put up for adoption, so to speak. He is the proud creation of Professor Allen Hobby (a majestic William Hurt), and soon enters the lives of young parents Henry and Monica Swinton (Sam Robards and Frances O'Connor), who are grieving over their seemingly terminally ill son, Martin (Jake Thomas). Although the introductory phase begins rather awkwardly for Monica, as she tries teach David what not to do (such as follow her around everywhere), things actually go well--that is, until the young (and apparently quite mischievous) Martin miraculously recovers, and comes back home to find this puzzling cyber-boy who wants only to be his friend. However, Martin has other things in mind, and upsetting the delicate balance of attention that exists in the home is one of them. Things progress from here, and the story takes off in unexpected new directions, involving a "Pleasure Mecha" named Gigolo Joe (quirkily played by an unusually effervescent Jude Law) who is inadvertently thrust into the responsibility of guiding David to the next step he must take in his journey.

I will not expound on this story any further; besides, this film is not simply about what happens. It's more about feeling and emotional balance, not an easy theme for a story dealing with a cyborg as the central character. It's also about the journey of life, and what it means for one whom, biologically speaking, has no life. In this way it differs from an earlier film about a robot boy, called D.A.R.Y.L. That film also told an interesting story; however, A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (whose rather cumbersome title should have been left at AI, which was its original working title) does not unfold from a person's point of view.

Do not expect a lot of action when you see this film, as it explores various philosophical concepts that transcend what it actually shows on the screen. What you can expect is a film that is both futuristic and lyrical in nature, has a story to tell, and is completely enrapturing in its ability to blend it all into an original mix that dares to make you think and wonder. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Zero Stars, Please
Review: This is the first movie I have ever viewed that was so truly horrible I felt the need to immediately write a review, warning others not to bother. A more complete waste of time and money would be hard to find.

As for the supposed excellent acting job by Osment, I have to ask: Am I really the only one to notice he has one squinchy little face he makes to show his emotions? How does that qualify as good acting? (Don't get me wrong - he's a cute enough kid, but so what?)

Steven Spielberg should have made up his mind what vision he wanted - his or Kubrick's. He bounced from dark to perky & back again without any apparent rhyme or reason.

Someone here also seems to have a very serious Oedipal complex. I don't know how else you can explain the First-Date-with-Mommy scene.

Finally, I don't see that there's really a big question here. We've had dolls on the market for years who could cry for their mommies. We've had talking fur balls. We have computer programs that show a certain inate "intelligence" We don't't think they are really like us do we? Maybe I missed someting, but I never saw anything particularly sentient about this boy.

Looking like a human & talking like a human aren't proof of feeling like a human. He should have been taken back & destroyed as per the contract his self-serving, hysterical parents made with the lab.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An impressive, masterful production of a difficult theme
Review: Unfortunately, this film was predestined to alienate two groups of theater-goers: first, hard core Kubrick fans who expected his more dispassionate and harsh view to be represented; and second, those who thought it would be another cutesy Spielberg production that they could take their 10 year olds to, ala E.T.

This is an adult movie with adult themes, and Kubrick fans (I count myself in that number) need to remember that Stanley desperately wanted this story told, and realized that Spielberg was the director up to the task.

What this movie attempts is a close look at who we are as human beings- what drives us, how we respond to intimacy and love, the extent to which we are driven by our fears, the disposable nature of our relationships, how love can bring incredible happiness and almost unbearable pain. These are not trivial subjects, nor ones that are necessarily comfortable to examine. The film succeeds in this exploration primarily due to the flawless, gut-wrenchingly emotional performances of Haley Joel Osment as the mechanical child and Frances O'Connor as his adoptive mother. The scenes in which these two fine actors appear are riveting.

The middle section of the movie has David cast off into the unprotected "real" world where mechs are both loved (at least physically) and despised. It is through this violent and inhuman world he must find his way back home, and he ostensibly emulates his quest based on the Pinocchio story he heard his mother read to him-he believes must become "a real boy" in order to reunite with his mother. While much of this part of the film works well (the Flesh Fair, where robots are destroyed to the howling enjoyment of the crowd is very well done), it is here that the film takes a brief, and unfortunate, turn to the Wizard of Oz for its thematic elements. Don't get me wrong- I love the Wizard of Oz. But the parallels are so vivid that I half expected to see a signpost in the woods saying, "I'd turn back if I were you." The trip into Rouge City (Oz), with Gigolo Joe (the nimble scarecrow), to see Dr. Know (the Wizard), is the movie's weakest point. Rouge City feels too cramped (it was created on a sound stage), and is too glitzy to be believable as a red light district. One has the feeling that Kubrick would have played it much grittier, more down and dirty with this location.

That said, the film rights itself almost immediately, and the remainder of the film has beautiful, haunting images, and a very touching conclusion, as a long lost David is finally found by the only remaining inhabitants of the planet- artificial life forms like himself. The honesty and respect the cyborgs show toward David is moving, in much the same way the cyborg Data (from Star Trek, TNG) was often used to portray the ideals of human nature more purely than his human counterparts could achieve.

The film itself is visually stunning, as one would expect from a Spielberg production. The set designs and art direction are impeccable (especially the family home which is future oriented but still comfortable and warm, and the partially submerged New York in the later part of the film is beautifully recreated by ILM); the music by John Williams adds emotional depth without being intrusive; and the robot characters are vividly and seamlessly realized.

I recommend this film for its visual impact, its willingness to tackle interesting adult themes, and its outstanding performances.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: come on! It's a good flick!
Review: Yes, many of you HATED this movie, but I really viewed as an odd experiment. The least commercial director dies and hands off a project to the MOST commercial director (other than Michael Bay)? Hmm. Intriguing. I've noticed that Spielberg often alternates between his money films (Lost World, etc.) and his personal films (Schindler's List, etc.) This one is definitely in the more personal category, as there is almost no mainstream appeal here. This movie should be recommended to anyone who enjoys mid-20th century science fiction novels, like Asimov and such. I love those books, and since this story sprang from that era, it's no wonder I liked this film so much. Also, the extras on this DVD are decent, even if they are a bit light in content (why was this 2 discs? Oh yeah, so I could pay more!) Rent it, at least.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I had to write a review about this movie...
Review: I was so looking forward to seeing this movie. I am a fan of both Kubrick and Spielberg. What a dissapointment. There goes 3 hrs of my life I will never get back. It was like watching a Kevin Costner movie. I just felt irritated that this whole movie was based on people's selfishness. I only gave it the one star and that was for Jude Law.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It's just a great big yawner. A cure for Insomnia.
Review: I was looking forward to this film. It seemed like it had a great deal of potenitial. But in the end it is just so much of the same material done again and again and again. Let's face it even Star Trek has done the moral aspect of androids with Data and even had comments relating to that little wooden boy.
There is just nothing new at all in this film. Spielberg tries to convince us how imaginative this film is. But it isn't. Just rehashed old material put in a sci-fi setting. And not a very believeable one at that.
A small bottle of perfume is considered irreplaceable yet some of the meals the people consume are large, and they made reference to food being a limited resource. Fooey.
It really could have been something good. But just fails. It gets 1 star for special effects were are quite good and 1 star for the robot boy david. If he had played Anakin Skywalker then not only would it have been a better film, but it may even have been believeable that the boy would become Vader.

Give this one a miss. It is all hype and all talk. They didn't want to give anything away because they knew it was old material. Save your money, watch bicentenial man or read I, Robot.


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