A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Dave Mack · Mar 5, 2002

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

Jeremy Jones · Mar 5, 2002

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.

Harrison Shinn · Mar 6, 2002

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

Richard_D_Ramirez · Mar 6, 2002

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

RyanM · Mar 6, 2002

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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Dan Brecher · Mar 6, 2002

Discuss the MOVIE in the MOVIES forum, folks!

Dan

Rod Melotte · Mar 6, 2002

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".

Marc_E · Mar 6, 2002

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

Ron-P · Mar 6, 2002

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~

Ken_McAlinden · Mar 6, 2002

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 Link Removed. He gives it a :star: 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,

Howard Williams · Mar 6, 2002

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.

Richard_D_Ramirez · Mar 6, 2002

Love yer sig, Howard. Had me laughing fer a while!

8^B

Ryan Peter · Mar 6, 2002

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.

Ron-P · Mar 6, 2002

Well, I bought it at lunch today and will give it a spin tonight.
Peace Out~

MickeS · Mar 6, 2002

I'd still give the movie :star::star:½ or maybe :star::star::star:, 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

Rain · Mar 6, 2002

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 :star::star: (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.

Morgan Jolley · Mar 6, 2002

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.

Dalton · Mar 6, 2002

Rain,

I agree with your assessment of A.I. 100%. You took the words right out of my mouth.

Rex Bachmann · Mar 7, 2002

Dr. Strangelove said:
Quote:

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).

Jeff Cooper · Mar 7, 2002

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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