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A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Special Edition)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Special Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Subtle and very moving...
Review: A.I. is Steven Spielberg's take on Stanley Kubrick...and in my opinion, Speilberg was successful in creating a very "Kubrickian" tone and pace, while still leaving his signature of intense emotion. The piece unfolds very gently, and Spielberg doesn't rush things, a trait which I've heard chided by others who have seen the film. Speilberg uses a very static camera technique for much of the film, something Kubrick always utilized.

Haley Joel Osment is the only child actor who could have pulled off such a demanding role, and his performance is wonderful as usual. Osment doesn't blink throughout the entire movie, something which takes great concentration while still giving a very convincing performance. As is present in many Spielberg films, Osment's David is built upon the emotional strength of innocence. His quest for love and normalcy is quite touching, especially by the last frame of the film, when you're left to think...and think I did.

The visual effects are nothing short of spectacular and seamless. The CGI effects are not used as flash, but as a necessary part of the setting and flow of the film...expertly executed.

Granted, not everyone will like this film, or leave the piece feeling fulfilled, but I for one did. Highly recommended for those with the patience to let A.I. be A.I. until the end.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A bad day at the office for Spielberg
Review: One would think that a science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg (who also contributed to the screenplay) inspired by the vision of the late Stanley Kubrick would have to be a brilliant work of monumental significance. Think again.

This story was a passion for Kubrick, who always wanted to film it. Spielberg picked it up as homage to Kubrick and attempted to imbue it with Kubrickian nuances. While the film is clearly infused with the sci-fi spirit of 2001: A Space Odyssey, it has neither the dramatic power nor the philosophical depth of that classic. Instead, we have an insignificant and disjointed human interest story, full of sentimental pap about a boy who isn't even human.

To be sure, the visual effects are outstanding. With Spielberg at the helm, this was bound to be a given. Using the latest technology and a $90 Million budget, Spielberg cranks out another effects show that rivals his latest Jurassic Park episode (another dud of a screenplay with great visuals). However, the story never gets any traction and we are left hoping the characters would just shut up and get to the next computer generated image.

The first hour of the movie is boring and tedious as we see robot boy David (Haley Joel Osment) attempt to adapt to his new human family and vice versa. Then suddenly Spielberg tries to shake thing up by throwing David into the standard futuristic anarchical society, a backdrop long ago rendered hackneyed in this genre. Shifting into third gear, we are then taken on a sci-fi junket to old New York, now semi-submerged from the effects of global warming, which have caused the oceans to rise at least 200 feet to cover all but the highest skyscrapers (we cannot possibly have a sci-fi film lately without some political hyperbole lurking in the subtext). Then fourth gear and we go on a journey far into future where David comes face to face with advanced beings in his quest to become a real boy, just like Pinocchio.

Spielberg attempts to meld ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2001 A Space Odyssey, to create a mosaic of themes that does justice to none of them. The last segment is punctuated by the advanced beings driveling about how the human race is the one true link to the meaning of life. This is extremely ironic given the events of David's journey including vile children mocking him, parents who abandon him, a flesh fair and a futuristic red light district full of violence and debauchery.

The film is also full of annoyingly unbelievable depictions, such as a love robot (Jude Law) who is a sophisticated piece of technology able to reason and operate at a very high level, who has to crick his neck to turn on his mood music.

The acting is terrific, despite the vapid dialogue. Haley Joel Osment just keeps getting better and better. He presents just the right balance of robotic disconnection with his human counterparts and the sincere efforts of an emotional being attempting to emerge. Jude Law also gives another outstanding performance as Joe Gigolo, stealing just about every scene in which he appears.

This was supposed to be one of the all time blockbusters, but despite putting up decent numbers, it failed to even match its budget at the box office. For once, I have to agree with the masses that this film just failed to distinguish itself beyond the special effects. I rated it a 6/10. Mark it up as a bad day at the office for Steven Spielberg.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Its effects are good. But it is not.
Review: Great effects. Great acting. But the story? Awful. The movie tries to be touching, brooding, and thought-provoking. It fails at every turn. Instead it comes off as a maudlin fairy tale, sprinkled with technobabble. It has plot holes you could drive a hovercopter through. About the only good thing I can say is that it made me want to get a copy of Brian Aldiss' "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" to see how the story was supposed to go.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful!!! Amazing!!!
Review: While watching I was so excited and after movie too. Amazing, wonderful story. It's not just an empty foolish action only story. I see in this the big message to all of us. Actually it's a story about our future. Think about it! Those whom voted only 1 or 2 stars for this super-movie are just didn't get it right...You have too see it again or,...or you are just nothing more, than a big bag of bones... WHERE IS YOUR HEART, YOUR SOUL, YOUR FEELINGS?...OR YOU JUST IN SHAME TO CRY A LITTLE BIT?...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great, Underrated, Misunderstood Masterpiece
Review: When I first saw this movie in the theatre, I wasn't sure how to feel about it.. but it sure made me think a lot. I finally bought the DVD and watched it again.. and I have grown to love it more with each viewing. I am a big fan of Kulbrick and I wish he lived to finish the movie himself, but his influence is certainly felt especially in the first half of the movie which I found slow-going the first time (kind of like 2001!), but it is the set-up for the rest of the movie and introduces us to the human side of the equation. The second part is more special-effects as it focuses on the technological side of the equation. This is not a kids movie since it is quit disturbing. This is not a movie for the superficial movie-goer who is unwilling or unable to appreciate great art and deep thought in a movie. This movie has affected me emotionally like few other recent movies...and has drawn me back for several repeat viewings. Visually it is a masterpiece, John William's score is breathtaking, but it is not a perfect movie...it does seem like two different movies forced into one movie, but I can appreciate the difficulty of making a movie like this. The only part of the movie I did not really enjoy was the Flesh Fair--it was a little too violent and over the top gross for me. While most people criticize the second part and the ending.. I find them very moving. The first half has little special effects and focuses on the human family. The second half is mostly special effects--and very good effects they are, but builds toward a very emotional and sad ending. The ending chokes me up everytime and I can hardly keep from crying even after several viewings.. but I"m an emotional person. If you have ever felt lonely--you should be moved by the loneliness of the boy robot. Guess some people just don't get it.. please
Give A.I. and try and watch it with an open mind--and heart.
I think in time it will be considered a near-masterpiece. I like it even more than E.T., unfortuanately, A.I. may in fact be a truer vision of our future...this film is actually a more realistic attempt to contemplate the future of the human race but it is not going to be a happy ending.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great Movie that really makes you think
Review: This Movie was a real thinking movie. It made me think about what the world would be like when I'm older. It was a little odder then your averge movie, but it makes you think. Its very sad though. I had my hands on my face when I first saw it to stop tears coming out of my eyes. Its a very great movie. I really think its one of the best movies made.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Depressing and ridiculous
Review: If you'd like to loose all faith in the human race...
If you want proof that the only real monsters in this world are children...
If you want a contrived plot devoid of an inspiration...
If you want reassurance that the only happy ending can be death...

Well then, by all means, watch this movie.

If, however, you'd like to avoid feeling suicidal for a week, stay away from it.

Someone made some very clever commercials to promote this movie. Unfortunately, the commercials far outshine the movie itself. I expected a story about androids ("mechas" as they are called in the film) in which they rally around this new-age child--a robot with emotions! A robot who can evolve and take them all into a brave new world where mechanized life is recognized and free.

Umm... No. The message of this film is: PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Uneven masterpiece
Review: I give this movie four stars for the amazingly sustained performance of Haley Joel Osment. He is a child actor who appears in almost every scene of the film and who holds the whole thing together, against the odds. I say against the odds because despite the big budget (or perhaps because of it) A.I. is seriously uneven. To start we are in a world of quiet, eerie designer-future cool. David, the artificial boy is delivered to his family and an air of understated menace prevails. We know its all going to go horribly wrong, but when and how? Just when we think we know what sort of movie this is it jumps to a kind of violent technopunk scene, completely out of kilter with what has gone before. Next we are introduced to Gigolo Joe in a scene so jarring I thought I was suddenly watching a different movie entirely. By now I was getting used to all this jumping about, so the ending (2000 years in the future!) is almost no surprise.
Each scene on its own is great, each actor does a great job, but overall, AI is a hotchpotch that barely hangs together. Shame really. Having said all that, do take the time to see this movie. It's the kind of grand project that the dvd extras can really do justice to. I liked the parallels woth Pinnochio, and the central question - could humans ever really love a robot?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: About Tired of people saying how awful A.I is
Review: 4/05/02
A.I is a great movie and I'm tired of people saying that it's abad movie like NICK(someone who wrote a review). You wont waste your money or your time It's finally a movie you and your family can watch unlike others like THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. Buy it you'll love it.
.......................................THE SILENT CAT

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An interesting counterpoint to 2001
Review: I enjoyed this one more when I viewed it the second time. As a fan of both Spielberg's and Kubrick's works (particularly Close Encounters by the former), I also agree about the "hybrid" feel it exhibits. The story is somewhat forgettable, but there are more interesting overtones. While cringing at the thought of "global warming" and the leftish political vision displayed front-and-center, I nonetheless enjoyed the more human aspects of the film.

The film's central question in my mind is: what is "real" and what is artificial? (Similar to Cervantes' asking what is real and what is imaginary.) Like the woman at the beginning of the film who asks,"but will we love a robot?" to the snot-nosed kids at the swimming pool (including Martin) who talk about how "real" they are (the "mecha" vs "orga" us-and-them sensibilty, also the point of the hideous "Flesh Fair" later on), to the ending, with its suspended vision of an idyllic moment of mother and child you wish could last forever. There are times when I want to take my own mother (who almost died over the weekend - thankfully she's better now) or daughter and just have that kind of quiet time with either one of them. The notion of it almost brought this viewer to tears. David is very "real", but not in the way Mom and Dad were hoping - so they callously kick him to the curb. Clearly he brought them face-to-face with a view of themselves that was more than a little spooky. The mirror can be a frightening place, and David's monkey-see, monkey-do antics illustrated it beautifully.

The futuristic aspects are also thought-provoking. What I found more ironic is the realization that Kubrick made 2001, A Space Odyssey in 1968, and now here's another film made in 2001 with a similar forward look. Of course, we aren't flying to the moon like tourists yet, and no computer is quite like Hal, but some of his vision did come true. Here, in AI, we get another vision - one which is very forboding. Why is the future always portrayed as being totalitarian (needing a license to have a child, as if this was current-day China)? Even in throwaway films like Rollerball this was the case. Is it because many film-makers think humans are incapable of running their own lives and will make a mess of things? The rub is that even those more "enlightened" types that give the orders are ultimately flawed as well - witness the mess they make of things.

For those that want action, I'd say skip this one. But if thought-provoking film-making is your bent, it's worth the time. Castwise, I particularly enjoyed Frances O'Connor's anguished mother figure, which struck the perfect balance between softness and the horror of "adopting" a robot son. I'll also add my voice to the chorus praising Jude Law's robot Gigolo Joe - but acting is not the point of this film. This is a story, sometimes not too well-told, but I won't easily forget it.


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