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***Official A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Discussion Thread

post #1 of 434
3/5/02 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
[size=]1 word... WOW, F'ing WOW!!!!

SEE THIS FILM!

And to anyone who thinks the end was "Speilbergified"?!?!?
What are you, mad...? Look PAST the end of the Film!!!

SPOILER ALERT.....!!!!!!

David gets 1 day....1 DAY!!!! to be wth his "mom" again after 2,000 years and then she will be gone forever!!!!

They ended it on the note of the day but... Jump ahead 1, 2, or even 3 days and picture the dang Mecha- "kid" then....

Anyone ever lost a parent??? I, for one have and I would do ANYTHING to get 1 more day to spend with them...!!!!!!!!!

Hardly a sappy, happy ending!!!!!

Film was excellent, best I have seen this year and actually, (and not easily done...) moved me to tears.


Peace!!! D[/size]
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post #2 of 434
3/5/02 at 8:43pm
I agree. The ending is perfect. And, by the way, there were no more days for David. He died, too. That's sort of what made him human, since robots can't die. Me and my brother saw it at the theater and I can tell you that we both went home, got our mom out of bed, and hugged her. It helps you appreciate every moment you have with people you love, and I think that any film that pulls that kind of emotion out of you is great.
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post #3 of 434
3/6/02 at 12:11am
I agree also. When I saw this film I was totally unprepared. My mother passed away in April of last year and I was extremely close to her. (My father died when I was 15). She was my biggest supporter as far as my music career was concerned and was my favourite movie partner...this woman would go and see some movies that most would not expect their parents to see...but she went and, for the most part, she enjoyed them...although we were split on TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME. I loved it and she gave me a look like I had whacked her over the head with shovel..she hated it! ;-)

Anyway, the ending left me a nervous wreck and my friends had to console me in the lobby because I was just a mess. It's a beautiful film and I know what you mean by saying that you would also give anything to be able to spend one more day with your parents. This film has a deeper meaning to not only me, but to alot of people.

Cheers!
Harry
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post #4 of 434
3/6/02 at 12:47am
I was always "immune" to sentimentality in films, never weeping, or the lump in the throat. But since the birth of my little girl two years ago, I have noticed changes in the way I watch films, or even how I see the world.

I watched A.I. for the first time since I saw it in theaters, and once again, "Monica's" last line in the film reduced me to a blubbering idiot! We have journeyed with David for two millenia in his quest to become "real", and those final lines have assured us that David has finally ascended from mecha to organa, and his journey was complete. Now he could rest, and finally dream.

This film not only makes us grateful for our parents, but it makes us (well at least me) grateful for being a parent.

8^B
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post #5 of 434
3/6/02 at 1:23am
Quote:
And to anyone who thinks the end as "Speilbergified"?!?!?
Folks who believe this would be interested in a synopsis from 1999 which shows that the ending was Kubrick's original intent for the film: http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/faq/index2.html

Ryan
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post #6 of 434
3/6/02 at 3:18am
Discuss the MOVIE in the MOVIES forum, folks!

Dan
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post #7 of 434
3/6/02 at 4:29am
Now that I have skipped most of the above posts (spoilers and I have not seen the movie). I must confess. This movie came at a time where I was swyayed by critics and while I wanted to see it I just never got around to viewing it.

NOW - because of this forum I have to go out and buy it.

It went from "I can't wait to see it", to "maybe next week I'll see it", to "It's out of the theatre's already?" to "I gotta buy the DVD".
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post #8 of 434
3/6/02 at 7:17am
I'm with you Richard_D_Ramirez. After watching it last night (saddest happy ending ever man!), I went upstairs to my 2.5 year old daughters room where my wife was asleep with her and just staired at her......

Man did that ending mess me up!

Great movie. SOOOOOOO glad I bought it.

Marc
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post #9 of 434
3/6/02 at 7:45am
Damnit. I have yet to see this film and have read some pretty bad reviews of it. But, after reading threads like this, I am tempted to just go and buy it.


Peace Out~
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post #10 of 434
3/6/02 at 8:07am
Ron-P,
Perhaps the most "Kubrickian" accomplishment that Spielberg has achieved with AI is to inspire wildly divergent reactions in first time viewers. Kubrick's films were usually greeted with very mixed audience and critical reaction and then with time were regarded as "classics". I think that is because the depth of their themes, which may not be apparent on first viewing to a significant portion of the audience, eventually would transcend whatever one might find unappealing at first glance.

I am not suggesting that anyone who does not like them on first viewing is in anyway intellectually lacking, far from it, you just have to see the films once when you are in the right frame of mind for them to start working their magic.

For an example of a critic who is currently wrestling with this process in print, check out Detroit Free Press film critic Terry Lawson's review of the DVD. He gives it a review, but goes on to call it both "seriously flawed, if not a failure" and "with 'E.T.' and 'Jaws' one of the best of all Spielberg movies, and easily his most daring and stimulating". The most interesting thing about my two quotes above is they are actually from the same sentence.

Regards,
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post #11 of 434
3/6/02 at 11:38am
Ken sure has some good points about learning to appreciate Kubricks stuff after multiple viewings. I for one usually hate his work the first time through. (A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut, 2001, AI) I couldn't sit through any of those again to learn to appreciate them except for 2001.

I hated AI the first time I saw it in the theaters and have not given it much thought since. I could not accept the opening premise for AI so I was jaded towards the rest of the film. First time through I was not moved by the ending. Since it is out as a rental, I will check it out again though.
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post #12 of 434
3/6/02 at 12:08pm
Love yer sig, Howard. Had me laughing fer a while!

8^B
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post #13 of 434
3/6/02 at 12:14pm
It's a great movie. I truly feel sorry for anyone who didn't see this in the theater. The visuals were absolutely stunning. One of the best of last year.
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post #14 of 434
3/6/02 at 12:54pm
Well, I bought it at lunch today and will give it a spin tonight.


Peace Out~
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post #15 of 434
3/6/02 at 2:30pm
I'd still give the movie ½ or maybe , and call it "an interesting failure". Then again, I don't like Kubrick's movies, but I like most of Spielberg's stuff. This definitely felt more Kubrickian to me, but it managed to take the worst of both filmmakers and combine it into something lesser than the sum of its parts. The detached coolness of Kubrick combined with the overly sentimental Spielberg, in a weird mix of flat, uninteresting storytelling (for the most part). The easiest way to describe it would probably be "dull". Too bad, because there are a lot of interesting ideas presented in the movie, that are never fully explored, or explored in an unsatisfactory manner.

I still would recommend everyone to see it, because it does have its moments, and it did stay with me. I have very mixed feelings about it actually, and it's far from a bad movie, it just failed in most respects...

/Mike
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post #16 of 434
3/6/02 at 3:35pm
MickeS, you summed that up very nicely in your first sentence--"an interesting failure." I think you're being to generous with those stars, though. I'm thinking more along the lines of (out of 4), but why quibble about such trivial matters.

As for the ongoing debate as to whether the ending was the one originally intended by Kubrick or not, I have to say I think this is quite irrelevant. The fact remains, regardless of who is responsible for it, that the ending is rambling and needlessly convoluted. (And don't tell me I didn't get it--I got it, I just didn't like it.)

Of course, the ending is not the only flaw in the film; there are many others. Perhaps when I have more time I'll touch on some of them.

I do intend to give it another look in the near future, but I think it's doubtful I'll end up heaping very much praise on the film.
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post #17 of 434
3/6/02 at 4:58pm
The only thing I didn't like was the ending. The film felt like it ended like half an hour before the actual ending. After thinking about it more, the ending was better than I first gave it credit for, but the way the movie went along made it feel like it was over before it was over.

Everything else about the movie was amazing though.
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post #18 of 434
3/6/02 at 5:50pm
Rain,
I agree with your assessment of A.I. 100%. You took the words right out of my mouth.
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post #19 of 434
3/6/02 at 10:09pm
Quote:
Hardly a sappy, happy ending!!!!!


The ending is maudlin! maudlin! maudlin! "Happy" or "sad" it's still maudlin! To me that makes it sappy. I can't believe a Kubrick ending could ever come off that way. I can't imagine ever weeping at the outcome of a film directed by Stanley Kubrick, no matter how grim the ending. (Dr. Strangelove anyone?)

Quote:
. . . by the way, there were no more days for David. He died, too.


I've seen this claimed before. What's the evidence? If I remember correctly, the narrator says he "sleeps". I take this to mean he's overcome his original robot nature and become a "real boy" (or as close he's ever going to get to that).
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post #20 of 434
3/6/02 at 10:44pm
Quote:
I've seen this claimed before. What's the evidence?


It's confirmed in the extra features where the people involved in the film are discussing it. I don't remember exactly which section. I thought that the skinny beings at the end were aliens and that all of the robots and humans had long since died, but in the extra features it explains that they are just adavnced robots of the future, and not from another planet.
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post #21 of 434
3/7/02 at 2:45am
Im gonna watch this flick again, I feel theres much that I missed in my first 3 viewings.
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post #22 of 434
3/7/02 at 6:51am
If you look at the concept art in the extra features (which is well worth it, BTW), the creatures at the end of the film were frequently drawn with much more angular creases in their features. The design they eventually went with had them considerably rounded off which made them look much more "Close Encounters"-ish and lent itself to the alien-mecha confusion.

Regards,
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post #23 of 434
3/7/02 at 7:00am
Quote:
I can't imagine ever weeping at the outcome of a film directed by Stanley Kubrick, no matter how grim the ending.
Why is weeping a bad thing? Are "serious" films required to keep the audience at an emotional distance? Are you suggesting that in the context of the entire film that this ending somehow turned it into "Beaches"? The fact that the ending elicited separate and almost contradictory emotional and intellectual responses in me was not a bug, but a feature. I'm sure this is why Kubrick thought at some point during the development of the film that it aligned with Spielberg's sensibilities.

Regards,
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post #24 of 434
3/7/02 at 8:11am
Quote:
I can't imagine ever weeping at the outcome of a film directed by Stanley Kubrick, no matter how grim the ending.

I guess you've never seen Paths of Glory then.
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post #25 of 434
3/7/02 at 8:43am
My problem with AIs ending is the way it was executed. I hated the dialogue, the narration and the design for the mecha-robots.

I did like the first 2 hours very much. Unfortunately the ending leaves me so cold that I cannot justify a DVD purchase for this,which is too bad becuase there are some really great and beautiful moments in this film.

Its not a easy choice(a friend instant messages me every hour telling me to submit and buy AI).I do think its a touching story,I think the ideas presented are intruging and give you alot to think about, and I would recommend it to others to see.
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post #26 of 434
3/7/02 at 9:32am
I would suggest that the "ending nay-sayers" should take a read of this discussion over in the software section (yes, the discussion has diverged a bit from a discussion of the discs to a discussion of the movie, but in this case the admins see to have sanctioned it).

I saw it in the theaters and thought it was a remarkable movie, but the more I read about it after the fact, the better it became. I can't think of another movie that left me with my brain churning this much. That it has generated as much intelligent discussion as it has is certainly a mark of its genious.

I forgot to pre-order this one... it's on it's way now. I can't wait to give it another watch.

-Steve
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post #27 of 434
3/7/02 at 10:26am
One more take on how to approach the ending. Think of it as man regarded as God. The Mecha are trying to understand their creators in much the same way that we strive to comprehend our own creation. They have now discovered a child-like entity that has a living memory of man -- their creator/God. Their interest in him ranges from archeological curiosity to reverence. Watch the ending again in this context and think about how they regard him and why some are so willing to accomodate him. Imagine yourself encountering an 11-year old child with first-hand knowledge of God.

Regards,
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post #28 of 434
3/7/02 at 11:29am
It appears that a large number of people who dislike the tone of the ending would have preferred the film to end with the amphibicopter under the sea, just before the film jumps forward in time. Yet the tone of this scene is exactly the same as the one at the end ("voice-over narration")of the film. The difference is the meaning conveyed by the scene under the sea is clear cut, and whilst it may have made for a good ending to the "fairytale" aspect of the film, the actual ending is far more open to interpretation and encourages thought and discussion over the themes and ideas the film has tried (successfully or not) to convey. This, IMO, make for an infinitely more interesting film, and one which will not simply be dismissed in years to come.
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post #29 of 434
3/7/02 at 12:18pm
I like to call it a Flawed Masterpiece. While there are problems with the film in various places, there are also images and ideas that just grab you. For a few days, there were some things about the movie I couldn't stop thinking about. Bad movies don't do that to me. I would also describe it as the most interesting film that Spielburg has directed. Not the best, by any means, but the most interesting.

I don't understand people who want it to end with David under the sea. It doesn't make any sense to end it there. It would make the movie pointless. The plot point of David's love needed to be resolved.

I do think it might have been a better film had Kubrick been alive to work with Spielburg on it. I think both approaches were nessicary to bring this story to life.

What no one has mentioned was the score, which was probably the most un-Williamsish John Williams score that I've ever heard. It is nice to see people stretch beyond themselves, even if they aren't wholely successful.

Jason
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post #30 of 434
3/7/02 at 12:29pm
Quote:
What no one has mentioned was the score, which was probably the most un-Williamsish John Williams score that I've ever heard. It is nice to see people stretch beyond themselves, even if they aren't wholely successful.
It is probably his most interesting score since Close Encounters. So many people have that 5 note sequence stuck in their heads that they forget how interesting the actual score to that film was. I am not suggesting that he has not done good scores since then, just that he has not "stretched", as Jason puts it, so much for quite a while. I liked his use of choral music in Phantom Menace, recently, too, although it was really just a logical progression from his earlier Star Wars work.

Regards,
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