Production Year: 2001 - Drama - Director: Steven Spielberg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Sam Robards, Jake Thomas, Jude Law, William Hurt, Clara Bellar, Brendan Gleeson, Adam Scott, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Keith Campbell, Kathryn Morris, Miguel Perez, Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor more
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is the story of David (Haley Joel Osment), the first mecha (a futuristic term for a mechanized human being) designed with the ability to love. A couple... more
But let the record also show that Kubrick--after developing this project for some 15 years--wanted Steven Spielberg to helm this astonishing sci-fi rendition ofPin...
But let the record also show that Kubrick--after developing this project for some 15 years--wanted Steven Spielberg to helm this astonishing sci-fi rendition ofPin...
futuristic term for a mechanized human being) designed with the ability to love. A couple whose son is in a coma "adopts" David to help them recover from their loss....
fine line between robots and humans, David (Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense), a young robotic boy, is the first android ever programmed to feel human emotions. As an experiment, he is used as a temporary substitute for a couple who have had their own son cryogenically frozen until a cure is found for his terminal illness. The film portrays the journey made by David and the 'sexually compromising' robot Gigolo Joe (Jude Law - The Talented Mr Ripley), to find their place within the society that created them. Together with ground-breaking special effects and shocking images of half-human, half-mechanical creatures, this film will blow your mind!
Production Year: 1945 - Drama - Director: David Lean - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
A review by zerbine28 on A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (DVD) February 14th, 2004
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Hated it
Story
Very weak
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Good
How does it compare to similar films?
Unmemorable
Advantages:
Haley Joel Osment is unnervingly good; Jude Law !
Disadvantages:
Banal, cloying story and score, no insight, contrived plot, derivative, tedious, etc . . . . hell, where's Stanley?
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
(Pls. see note following review)
Methinks Stanley Kubrick's name in the title credits is all that has anything remotely to do with Kubrick. Having said that, there is nothing new or interesting or intelligent that Steven Spielberg offers us in “A. I.: Artificial Intelligence”. Yes, I chuckled at, oh, some two minutes' worth of film time (and felt them to be inappropriate, nonetheless), and relished every second the beauteous, if waxy-looking, Jude Law (“The Talented Mr. Ripley” and most recently, “Cold Mountain) was onscreen . I also congratulate the creepily lifelike yet robotic Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense”) for his fine performance as David, the robot Mecha-boy. The problem, however, lies in the screenplay and the story. It's pure Spielberg sugar and schmaltz delivered in disjointed fashion in several agonizingly long, fatal doses.
If this is Spielberg's attempt to play grown-up, well, all it amounts to is a Grimm fairy tale altered beyond recognition through the writer/director's fatuous fantasy prism.
First, the plot (which is riddled with holes you can drive a division of Hummers through). In a not-so-distant future, the polar ice caps have dissolved into oceans that have submerged entire coastal cities, resources are said to be scarce and reproduction is severely limited by law. Robotics are so advanced that lifelike androids created for almost every conceivable purpose are not uncommon.
Henry and Monica Swinton (Sam Robards and Frances O'Connor) are a couple whose only son, Martin (Jake Thomas), has been cryogenically preserved until such time a cure for his unnamed disease is found. On the suggestion of a doctor, Henry agrees to take home a unique child-robot as a replacement for their as-of-now missing son. David is brought home, and Monica is predictably upset and annoyed at first, and later, predictably takes to the creepy little android after carrying out the imprinting instructions that will bond David to Monica forever. There's an embarrassingly silly bit with Henry telling Monica with misplaced lightheartedness, "Don't kill me, but..." before presenting her with David, dressed in an all-white baggy coverall suit, a plastic smile frozen on his face. And more warm and fuzzy moments to follow, with the characters bathed in soft sunlight and ickily sweet music cueing you in on which emotions are appropriate where.
As another reviewer on a different site has pointed out in his infinitely superior review, first, there's the big question of why and how Henry and Monica were selected for this experiment, since the possibility of Martin's return still exists, no matter how slim (and, as it turns out here--surprise, surprise--Martin does return to join the living with no explanation of how this unmentioned groundbreaking cure managed this miracle, and wouldn't that be a big story in itself? But I digress.)
Then there's Martin's return, which is just another blatant contrivance to give sweet, loving David a reason to do "bad things" and cause general dismay in the household. Henry's about-face at this point, in which he claims that David should now be returned to the factory to be destroyed, is patently illogical, since it was his idea to take home a robot boy in the first place. How thoroughly did the couple think through this life-changing decision, anyway?
Next, Monica decides that, indeed, it's probably best to let go of David. Does she return him to the manufacturer? No. She thinks it's better to leave David in the middle of the dark forest, so he can be picked up as a "stray" by the collectors, much like the stray replicants in “Blade Runner”. Yes, there are junk robots wandering around who should be destroyed. (Hmm. Speaking of that Ridley Scott film, the city in which we later find Gigolo Joe cavorting is a damn good replica of the Los Angeles in “Blade Runner”, complete with dark skies, wet streets and a collage of bright neon signs).
So David's fate as an abandoned stray is better than destruction at the factory? But if David is returned, then we wouldn't have the subsequent "developments" in the plot, now, would we? Does this feel contrived once again?
Enter the suave Joe, built to be the robot gift to women. Jude Law is hugely amusing in his scenes as Gigolo Joe, the robot Mecha-prostitute, slick and smooth in his talk and robot-dance movements. Alas his role is so underdeveloped, it's a criminal waste of the man's talent. He exists to play big brother to David in the latter's search for the key to becoming a "real live boy." (That last phrase was repeated so many times I wanted someone, anyone, to make him real already to put a stop to the increasingly whining refrain). In the scene with Dr. Know, the unexplained matter of Joe’s exact motivation to help David in his quest kept nagging at me.
Along the way, Joe and David meet with some nasty adventures, such as being chased along with a whole host of other strays through the dark, dank forest by the stray-catchers, a scene which was strangely suspense-free. They narrowly escape becoming victims of destruction-as-entertainment in a "flesh fair" whose climactic moment tells you that David is really a chosen one, and goodness will win (reserved exclusively for the welfare of the non-androids, of course). Here Spielberg can't resist ruining what minuscule traces of menace initially exist with a jokey cameo by the fast-talking cannon fodder fellow. Perhaps the (supposedly) dark mood was too much for his audience and that comic relief was desperately called for?
In fact, there are a few more of these cutesy comic moments throughout “A. I.”, such as the “omigod--no!” scene in which Teddy, David's robot supertoy, succumbs to the law of gravity. Yes, I did laugh a little, but were these little bits germane to the plot? Not in my view.
Unbearability finally maxed out by the last twenty or thirty minutes. I had to resist the temptation to leave the theatre because it would only be fair to see the whole thing if I were to write a review, no? Two young men sitting in front of me made their definitive exit just as the onscreen sappiness increased some thirtyfold, and were spared the part where it went up a hundredfold.
Inconsistencies and non-sequiturs abound, a few of which I've already touched upon. One glaring loose end is the non-reappearance of Dr. Hobby, David's prime creator (William Hurt, perhaps bored to death?) after he tells David to wait in his office while he goes off to collect some people.
Shortly before, there's a separate glowing-white David twin in the same office as the David we've been following, whose purpose in the story puzzled me. What was he there for? Oh, silly me (not "silly man," as Monica utters in silly fashion), David has to show how he has become quasi-human not just in his love, but also in his hate. When Henry, David's foster dad, states that David "was created to love" and therefore, it's not unreasonable to assume that he will also learn to hate...wow, that’s some athletically gifted leap in logic there. How did Spielberg define "love" exactly? One can go into lengthy philosophical discussion about this "hate automatically derives from love" conclusion, to be sure, but Spielberg prefers to state it thus as a foregone conclusion, take it or leave it.
The two actors playing the lead robots, Osment and Law, are outstanding. Although Law might be underused, he does wonders with what little he's handed. Osment is unnervingly good as the robot-child who makes for an eerily annoying presence. His acting offers no cause for complaint. It's what he's given to say and do that irritates.
O'Connor does her distressed mom role adequately, if not different from the usual manner, but again, her lines and role don't ask much of her, either. Robards doesn't even do half as well as she does, Henry being a one-dimensional character of no particular interest.
It’s pretty impressive in a purely pictorial sense, what with all the fancy cinematic doodads and computer tricks for the sets and special effects. Ho-hum. While “Jaws” had only an animatronic shark, everything else contributed to a fine, gripping movie. Hard to believe that excellent classic thriller was made by the very same Spielberg fellow.
I can’t call it well-crafted, however, and the cloying John Williams score intruded on more than one occasion. The plot's creakiness comes to light after you get past the overwhelming amount of imagery that Spielberg drowns you in, and with which he distracts you, not unlike the riot of bright, flashing lights you see in Las Vegas. There's also too much expository dialogue about what has happened off-screen that treats the audience as a clueless six-year-old. Time and again, Spielberg has shown a lack of understanding of nuance and subtlety. “A. I.” is too much dazzling surface without substance. Derivative, too: besides the “Blade Runner” references already mentioned, there's also the E.T.-like creatures at the end who gather 'round the frozen helicopter in a set up that resembles not just “2001: A Space Odyssey”'s monolith-on-the-moon scene but also the alien meeting sequence in Spielberg's own “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”.
So, afterwards, did “A. I.” compel me to ponder the question of robots as human substitutes? Hardly. All it made me ponder was Spielberg's continued lack of depth in his screen treatments. Even the meaning of love, and the complications of having a robot as an object of love remained unexplored. And what about the perpetual child such a robot would have to remain, since he can’t grow up? Oops, that wasn't even a problem in the story, so why bother?
No, all we get is Spielberg's retread of his Pinocchio-rip-off tale using a robot boy instead of a wooden one. And just to be absolutely certain that we got the Pinocchio reference, he lets Monica read the story to the resuscitated Martin one night. Not to mention the annoying repetition of that "real live boy" mantra.
The long and short of it: it's a recycled story badly told, presented with recycled images, without wit, insight or imagination. Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment are the only good elements here. Don’t expect anything Kubrickian in this one. Talk of false advertising. Oh, but come to think of it, “A. I.: Artificial Intelligence” is perhaps a most appropriate title for this visually impressive but misguided, fractured, imitative, and ultimately, banal, piece of work.
And yes, I feel better now, thanks.
[Note: this review underwent minor revisions from the original version written in July 2001]
Advantages: good effects Disadvantages: boring, disjointed, long-winded
...scenes that had little to say but merely looked good lingered on and on.
For me A.I. did not work as either science fiction, fantasy or fairy-tale, and it amounted to a very empty and unsatisfying viewing experience indeed.
Or maybe I'm just too old for teddy bears. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Good graphics, very involving Disadvantages: Disturbing, far too long
This film was shown on television a while ago, and although I had heard the name of the film several times, I really had no idea what it was actually about. I was certainly expecting some sort of robot film, but from there my ideas of what the film was about turned out to be dreadfully wrong. There was barely anything on television so after flicking through several channels I spotted this movie and thought 'ah, a movie,' then settled on it with a ... ...much, although to be honest they are not usually my type of film, so my expectations were not that high.
Future
The film is set in the future, at a time where our current fears of global warming melting ice at the poles and drowning the land have become a reality. This has not stopped the human race and the good old fashioned cuddly toy we know of now is not a thing of the past, but a thing transformed. In fact, this film does feature robots, in ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Intelligent, thought-provoking, great special effects Disadvantages: Disjointed plot, somewhat derivative
For once, I came out of a cinema not really knowing what to think about what I had just seen. Was it a flawed work of genius, a towering masterpiece, an all-time turkey bigger than the inhabitants of a certain island populated by Speilberg's creations? All of these views have been offered up so far and it's hard to argue with any of them. This really is a film you HAVE to see yourself just so you can join in all the fun arguing about it!
As most ... ...of Stanley Kubrick, a respected director (over-rated in my opinion) and good friend of Mr. Speilberg. He had been trying to complete it for over 20 years but had been waiting on modern special effects to catch up in order to make the movie believable (you'll understand why when you see it.) He was on the verge of making it his next film when he died. Apparently, one of his last wishes was that his friend complete it.
It seems like an odd pairing, ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Great, fantastic special effects, Jude Law nice characterisation Disadvantages: flimsy story, slow pace, too over indulgent
The new film from Steven Spielberg, A.I – Artificial Intelligence, is ‘E.T meets 2001’. Not just because of the death of Stanley Kubrick and Spielberg having to take over the project, but many aspects of this film ‘feel’ and ‘look’ familiar.
First the obvious one. Weird kid, Haley Joel Osment plays ‘David’ a revolutionary new ‘mecha’ – an extremely lifelike Robot like the millions ... ...film is set. I’m very sorry, but this kid is annoying. Much like Macauley Culkin used to be. He played a very odd kid in ‘Sixth Sense’ and reprises the performance in many respects in this film.
The film’s plot is based loosely on ‘Pinocchio’. David (Osment) wants to be a REAL boy and although he’s been programmed to love, his Mummy, Monica (played by Frances O’Conner) cannot love him because she knows ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Visually stunning Disadvantages: Long winded, very dreary and depressing
...script yourself.
Step 3: Create A.I. and watch as it quickly becomes your third and biggest turkey.
Well we all thought he couldn’t beat the atrocity that was Hook but wow! did he prove us wrong, and compared with A.I. his 1979 film, 1941 is a veritable masterpiece. But although these films were bad, by no means did they flop, and that’s what’s wrong with cinema goers, the moment a film gets a bad review we rush to see what all ... ...instead of avoiding it everyone legged it to the cinema to see how bad it was. My question is how did such an undeniably gifted director, who gave us Jaws, Schindlers List and Jurassic Park manage to turn out such a cack film. AI is soulless, plotless, heartless and brainless drivel which tries and fails to tug at the heartstrings and instead becomes a twisted, confused emotional mess. The plot was obviously not near the top of Spielbergs ‘To ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: directed by Steven Speilberg- The story draws you in /good fantasy sci- fi story Disadvantages: some might find it slow in places ....
...with various bits and pieces missing or just old and damaged-its like a little community not that you or I would want to live in it,it really does look grim.
Well obviously a somewhat capable of 'feeling' android becomes pretty scared almost immediately when he realises that this is infact is his new home .He misses his ''mommy'' as thats what he knew before all this,He had a family with a Mommy ,Daddy and brother...
..
David goes onto meet android Robot Giglo Joe(played by Jude Law) and kind of gets taken under his wing, he is an interesting character..... -he is quoted on the dvd blurb as
...'sexually compromising' so make of that what you will ..
.... oh and you have heard of bull fighting right -well imagine something similar involving androids .......a cruel sport ...
Meanwhile in the film 'David still misses his 'mommy' and is...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Origional Disadvantages: Tear-jerker (unless you like those. then its an advantage)
...I wanted to see this film in the cinema but for
whatever reason I never did bother. I ended up
seeing it in 2004 on TV. It is an amazing and
totally one-of-a-kind film.
Price: Although I have not bought it, I have seen the DVD on sale
for around £12.99 in Virgin Records' movie section.
Starring: Hailey Joel Osmet Jude Law
Rated: 12
The film starts off in a futuristic world.
A man who's son and only child has died (or is in a coma ???), is determined
to cure his wife's unbearable grief over the loss.
He works at a company which creates builds and
supplies robots which help with all manner of tasks
such as construction and even as companionship for
lonely humans. He decides to create his best
robot yet - a boy to replace his son. The boy is
named David. He believes he is 11 years old and
that he...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Brilliant effects and original idea Disadvantages: Boring in places
...Blurb:
'ArtificialIntelligence' is the story of a robot named David (Haley Joel Osment), the first mechanized human being who has been designed with the ability to love and feel emotion. He is adopted by a couple who's son is ill. But things don't go quite to plan and when the son returns David ends up having to leave the people he was programmed to love. While trying to get by in the real world with nothing but a teddy for company, he meets and befriends Gigalow Joe(guess what he does) and together they set about to try and make David human
Director Stanley Kubrick originally developed A.I., at one point asking Spielberg to direct it. When Kubrick passed away, Spielberg took the reins. Using a treatment and thousands of drawings commissioned by Kubrick, Spielberg wrote his own screenplay (his first since 1979's 'Close Encounters...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Plot: David is a robot built to resemble a real child in a world where all coastal cities have drowned due to the melting of the polar ice caps. His love for his 'mother' is strong until her real son returns after a cure is found for a previously incurable disease...
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date: 18/03/2002
No of Discs: 2
Catalogue No: D 021330
Barcode: 7321900213301
Production Designer: Rick Carter
Screenwriter: Steven Spielberg, Ian Watson, Chris Rock
Narrator: Ben Kingsley
Editor: Michael Kahn
Composer: John Williams
Featured: Steven Spielberg
Executive Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes, Jan Harlan
Director of Photography: Janusz Kaminski
Comedian: Chris Rock
Special Effects: Industrial Light and Magic, Stan Winston
Voice: Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Jack Angel, Meryl Streep, Ben Kingsley
DVD Description
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is the story of David (Haley Joel Osment), the first mecha (a futuristic term for a mechanized human being) designed with the ability to love. A couple whose son is in a coma "adopts" David to help them recover from their loss. Naturally, things do not go as planned, and David is forced to leave the mother (Frances O'Connor) he's been "imprinted" to love, and make his way in the world. Traveling with Teddy, a hi-tech stuffed bear, David escapes the Flesh Fair, where angry humans destroy mechas to "purge artificiality," and unexpectedly befriends Gigolo Joe (Jude Law in a wry performance), a robot designed to pleasure women. Joe agrees to help David in his quest to become human. Director Stanley Kubrick originally developed A.I., at one point asking Spielberg to direct it. When Kubrick passed away, Spielberg took the reins. Using a treatment and thousands of drawings commissioned by Kubrick, Spielberg wrote his own screenplay (his first since 1979's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND). Osment, perhaps the only pre-teen actor who can effectively convey existential angst, gives a marvelous performance, helping Spielberg create a gorgeous futuristic fairy tale that questions the very nature of what we call life.
Special Features: Documentary, Acting A I, Designing A I, Dressing A I, Lighting A I, Special Effects, Robots Of A I, Visual Effects And Animation, Animating A I, Sound And Music Of A I, A I Archives
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English French Italian
"...The filmmaking, as expected, is quite wonderful..." (Los Angeles Times, p.1, 29/06/2001)
"...A.I. is the best fairy tale -- the most disturbing, complex and intellectually challenging boy's adventure story -- Mr. Spielberg has made..." (New York Times, p.E1, 29/06/2001)
"...A.I. is unmistakably the work of a real filmmaker....A.I. is a film of visual astonishments..." (Rolling Stone, p.54-5, 19/07/2001)
"...It restates HAL's case with commendable vehemence and a kaleidoscopic ingenuity..." (Sight and Sound, p.38-9, 01/10/2001)
"...A.I. touches the emotions....What a thrill, for example, to see Law's body movements recall Jack Haley's Tin Man in THE WIZARD OF OZ while delivering a performance just as great..." (USA Today, p.1E, 29/06/2001)
"...[A] deeply thoughtful and thoroughly fascinating film....Osment again proves himself a superb young actor..." (Variety, p.19-26, 25/06/2001)
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