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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
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Left Wanting
Review: "When will it end?". That's the question I kept asking myself in the theater. The movie is paced very slow, only made worse by its constant need to say "Wait, that's not the ending we want!". The movie attempted to be thought-provoking, but then unfortunately shifts direction into an action-romp/wizard of oz/e.t. thing.

I disagree with the main reviewer. The first half of the movie seems very Kubrick, with its unsettling strangeness. The last half is much closer to Spielberg, with its desire to make you feel wonder and sympathy. Watch Kubrick's movies and you'll instantly notice the awkwardness of the characters. Something always seems "not quite right", that is the same impression you get from the first part of A.I. I'm not sure where the main reviewer got the idea that the first half seems like Spielberg and the last like Kubrick?! (especially since the aliens in the end resemble the ones from Close Encounters!)

Overall, it was a decent movie. Better than most of the Hollywood drivel, but sadly not quite good enough to be great. The acting is good on all parts. The special effects are nice (but that doesn't mean much to me). The cinematography is excellent. The story unfortunately is so-so. I give it 4 stars for great visuals and an "ok" plotline. It wasn't quite challenging enough for me, but it's still worth seeing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Its great....until...
Review: Don't worry, no spoilers here... Ok, I know why your wondering why the rating. Lets break it down real quick. Yes, the movie has an amazing storyline. The acting is superb. The effects are top notch. The whole premise is really unique. UNTIL THE END. Good lord, I had the same reaction here as I got when I watched "Unbreakable". The story was built up so well and was so incredibly unique, with its dark storyline and everything, just to arrive to a cheesy ending. Maybe I'm just being nit-picky, but not every movie has to finish all wrapped up with a little bow on top. Life is not perfect, and thus, not every film has to end as such. This movie would have been PERFECT if it only ended 5 or 10 minutes sooner (those who saw it know exactly what I'm talking about). It would have been a more melancholy ending, but at least it would have been more realistic, and certainly more interesting. The best way I can describe it is saying that it had a very "hokey, contrived, and sappy" ending. It felt forced and out of place. Darn shame, too. Everything else about the film was sooooo good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wild Ride
Review: I'm not too sure what I expected to see in this one but it had aspects of many films within it. The Kubrick slant seemed most obvious in the middle section of the film with the "Oz" like city and all the "interesting" places and robots. Very reminicent of "A Clockwork Orange". The end was predictable at best but I am still wondering if the warm fuzzy aliens (or were they the robot race remaining?) were related to ET. Anyway, it was a very interesting experience which I would like to try again when released on video for home enjoyment.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not Bicentenniel Man
Review: I really enjoyed A.I.. I liked things about this movie very much. I especially liked Osment's portrayal of David, the robot who yearns to become a real boy. He brings much charisma and believability to the role. The problem I had with A.I. was that it never fully grabbed me. Oh, it certainly grabbed my attention, just not my heartstrings. I never felt for David the way I should have. I don't know if it was the pacing of the movie, the script, or the lackluster score, but in the end, it fell flat. Despite these problems, I do recommend this movie. It is fun to watch. But if you want to see a better "robot yearns to become human" movie, buy or rent Bicentennial Man (1999), starring Robin Williams. Though it is also flawed, it is much better and shares similar themes. Sometimes I'll judge movies based on weather or not I'll buy the DVD when it's released, and I must say that I eagerly look forward to adding A.I to my collection. Just one more thing; kudos to Teddy, David's robotic teddy bear. I thought he rocked!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A GREAT FINAL VISION
Review: I would like to thank Steven Spielberg for making Stanley Kubrics last story. There are very few though provoking mind-bending movies out there and this is one of them. Its only flaw is that it runs a little to long but that is true of a lot of Kubric movies. This film shows how evolution is passing from humans to machines. As we have so many flaws the robots can be improved and inevitably replace us. Many people wont understand this and many more will even hate this movie. That's their problem. I loved this film and will watch it over and over again. And I am kind of sad that their will never be another Kubric story. But Spielberg is still around. I hope he makes a few more like this before he retires.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: AI - a great movie, as long as you don't stay for the end
Review: AI is a schizophrenic movie that begins with a lot of potential, but dies a horrible death at the hands of Hollywood magic. The movie starts out great - very Stanley Kubric with lots of suspense, uncomfortable moral dilemmas, brutal portrayals of the inherent evils and selfishness of humanity, etc. up until the last 20 minutes or so when the spell is broken and the good ol' Stephen Spielberg we all know and love steps in to "save" a really good movie from itself with a schmaltzy Scooby Doo ending that ruins the whole movie and leaves viewers feeling confused in a "what the he** was that" kind of way. The special effects were great, the acting was great, and the movie would have been great if Hollywood wasn't afraid to release a movie that didn't have a perfectly resolved happy ending. If you leave just before the final act - it should be obvious when it's time to go - you will probably enjoy the movie a lot and come away from it with the sentiment that I think Kubric intended for the film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Despite it's flaws, it shouldn't be missed. (*NO SPOILERS*)
Review: This movie evokes memories of "What Lies Beneath" for me. Not because of the movie itself, but because of the response. You will love this movie and think it brings up profound and important questions, or you will think it is a boring piece of garbage.

The movie takes place in the future where andriods are a normal part of daily life, when it is suggested that a robot be built that can love. Twenty months later, David comes along, and is given to a family -whose son is in a coma- for a tryout. They decide to keep him, but after some complications arise, David is separated from his family and begins his quest to become a real boy.

The movie then morphs into a kind of "Pinnochio" meets "Blade Runner". There are some slow passages, but they are forgivable because of the excellence of almost everything else. The acting by Osment is Oscar-worthy, and the rest of the actors, especially Jude Law, are great as well. The direction is, of course, great, as well as the art direction.

This is a hybrid of both Steven Speilberg and Stanley Kubrick and it shows, that is the main flaw. It would be great, but these are (were)two vastly different filmmakers. The film is too warm and sentimental for Kubrick, but too detatched and icy for Speilberg, so it never really takes you as far as it wants to. The other problem I had with it was the ending. I won't ruin it for you, but there is a false ending that would have been perfect if they stopped there(you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it). It would have been sad, but not depressing, and haunting. But no, the movie goes on for another 20 minutes, although that ending isn't horrible, it goes in the opposite direction as everything that came before it.

See this movie, you might think it's great, you might not, but it is definately something that you should expeirience for yourself.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: maybe 3 in a half
Review: i liked this movie alot. however i felt at sometimes it was a bit long.haley did a great job of course and so did the rest of the cast. this movie stays in your mind long after you scene it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A hybrid movie fits a hybrid theme
Review: I became interested in this movie when I learned that it was a venture started by Stanley Kubrick and finished by Steven Spielberg. I wanted to see what kind of movie would come out of those two mindsets -- the thrilling and mindbending of Kubrick, and the epic and sentimental of Spielberg.

For the most part, I was not disappointed. This is not merely a special-effects movie (though the special effects are typically fantastic -- something only Dreamworks could pull off). For a science fiction film, this movie has more heart than most, as well as that fascinating moral question about humans and their relationship to technology. Where do we draw the line?

David, a lifelike Mecha robot child (Haley Joel Osment) is sent to the home of a young couple in the midst of a personal crisis. There he's programmed to "love" his mother, with some unexpected results. His "family" abandons him, and he is forced to seek help from his fellow Mechas (including Jude Law as a lover robot) in order to get back to his mommy. Along the way, he discovers the truth about his being, but is does not deter him in his ultimate quest -- to become a real boy.

Osment in this film is absolutely amazing. He lives up to his performance in The Sixth Sense, promising us that he's here to stay as an actor. Jude Law is also wonderful in his (short) role, but the film belongs to Haley.

I'd highly recommend this film because it gives us so much to think about, in typical Kubrick fashion. Spielberg went to great lengths to make sure that the message of the film wasn't lost. The idea that what we do with our technology might have effects we never thought of, but need to....it's something we need to confront ourselves with again and again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ALMOST perfect
Review: I'm not going to spoil the movie for you, but the last 30 minutes of the film is absolutely worth your money. In these minutes, we see the Kubrick vision, the courage to really "go there"-- akin to that in 2001 S.O. I left the theatre speechless.

However, the first 2:30 of the film is too "Spielbergian" for me--referring to his desire to be sappy, to milk as much emotion from you as possible in every possible second.

He uses too much background music. In the first three quarters of it, there is, literally, hardly a moment when we are not faced with the brooding, supposedly touching symphony of strings. However, a good soundtrack is supposed to be so organic, so ingrained in the NEED of the film, that it is virtually invisible.

Speilberg did not hit the mark on that.

Also, the dialogue--this being Speilberg's first screenplay since POLTERGEIST, is also a little excessive in sap. Like when the mother says: "I love you. I love you. I have always loved you."

If he could have just taken that LITTLE punch in the end the lines, that LITTLE crescendo in the end of the music--so we are not splattered over our faces with it--THEN, this would be a true masterpiece.

HOWEVER, I believe that this film IS an epic, as it is. It is still a mastery of vision. It is one of those films that you tell your children and grandchildren about-- "when I saw_____ in the movie theatre" ...

An instant classic. (almost)


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