[Lady Fox]

I was very disappointed in this movie. The previews made it look like a fairly interesting scifi techie type movie. It wasn't. It started off slow, got a little interesting in the middle, and completely lost any sense of cohesion or interest in the last half hour. The acting wasn't very good either, but I think that was more the fault of the disjointed script and storyline than the actors themselves. I give this movie 2/5 stars.

[FitzChivalry]

Well, not surprising to me, the plot didn't attract me at all. A poor kid android that humans don't accpet?
I also don't like that kid actor.
I sure hope he won't be Ender in the Ender's Game movie. Nobody can be Ender actually.

[Lady Fox]

I agree. I can't think of any child actor that I am familiar with that would fit my idea of what Ender looks like. Besides, I think HJO is probably too big to play Ender. That kid has added a couple of inches in height in the last year or so. I hope the producers/directors take the time to find a child that will fit the part of Ender.

[Cygnus]

What a weird movie. I can't quite figure out why all the movie critics are reviewing this so well. I agree with Lady Fox that it was disappointing and disjointed. It could've ended 30 minutes before it did. Just because it's a Stephen Speilberg/Stanley Kubrik film doesn't mean it's going to be good. I did like Jude Law though.. he did a marvelous job!

The part I liked best about going to this movie is that it had previews for both the Harry Potter movie and The Fellowship of the Ring. I got shivers watching the Nazgul on their horses and all those great looking battle scences! I can't wait!!

[This message has been edited by Cygnus (edited July 05, 2001).]

[MajicK]

I'm going to have to go against the popular opinion of this thread and say that I was pleasantly surprised with A.I. In fact, the more I think about the film, the more I realize how much I like it! At first, I said to myself, "Liked it, but...I'm not sure." The very fact that I had to think about this movie afterward just to have a firm opinion makes me appreciate the quality that much more. While some parts were quite unrealistic (such as re-animated humans living for just one day), the movie more than made up for it with spectacular visual effects, affective storyline, and reality of human nature. I give it 5 1/2 thumbs up!

I've already figured this as a "Love it or Hate it" feature and I've taken the former opinion. At any rate, I think it is something that everyone should see for themselves and decide how well they (dis)liked it after some thought.

[This message has been edited by MajicK (edited July 10, 2001).]

[yurisverdlov]

I loved AI, but realize there are other people who don't. [I also liked Blade Runner, which never did well in the U.S. but had good box office in Europe.]

Most movies require less than 1 second of brain "clock time"; AI generates a couple of hours of "processing time" and beyond, since it engages the mind even after the movie ends. In that sense, it is very much in the tradition of Kubrick.

From a technical standpoint, the screenplay is an incredible model for story telling. I could go into this in depth, but it would take a lot more text than people have the patience to read.

A.I. is a new classic!

-- John S. Morrison http://ganymede-project.com

[This message has been edited by yurisverdlov (edited July 10, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by yurisverdlov (edited July 10, 2001).]

[Black Echo]

A.I. is "Pinochio" with circuits. It is crashing badly here in the US, and Spielberg is working his tushy off to get it overseas to recoup the money. Most of it is new age touchy feely stuff (again) like global warming, melting ice caps, robots need love too, etc. Boring.

Man, it is a sad day when a movie about dog and cat super spies is in third place and something done by Spielberg is in ninth place at the box office, but that is what happens when you try to put a liberal political statement and disguise it as a movie.

A TV commercial would have been cheaper, IMHO.

I'm waiting for the 'Edited for Television' version... ;P

[Mhysa]

I saw it and thought it was waaayy too depressing. When the Mom dropped "her child" off in the woods, I almost left the movie.
I did stay to see the end and I'm having a disagreement with someone. He says the beings at the end were aliens and I say they were robots. Can anyone clear this up????

[Mhysa]

Thanks Arkham, I knew I was right.

[mundanemies]

Reviving another thread, sorry about that http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif, but I want to get rid of my "junior" status, but still have something to say too...
Now, I liked the film that Kubrick made, but couldn't be too much bothred the Spielberg-version.
Now, let me explain. There was a Great movie inside this version of A.I. There was a film, that dealt interestingly, intelligently and thought-provokingly about artificiality and life itself. There was a film where everything was not bent out of wire (it's a Finnish idiom, I don't know whether it has a real translation), where the last 30 minutes or so were totally bereft of speech, just lulling music to watch them pictures telling the story.
It could have ended with the picture of teh Blue Fairy, and I was very dissapinted at first when it didn't, but the (extra) ending did have points too. Just that the narration was TOTALLY pointless and unnecessary.
Kubrick took this little story by Brian Aldiss and figured this brilliant ideea of combining David, the boy-mecha with Carlo Collodi's immortal story of wooden-boy in search of humanity. As happens in A.I., but not so really in the original short story.
Now, I think that Spielberg didn't have the guts to do the adaptation Kubrick had visioned and he brought too much of his vision and human-intrest, suffocating some of the Kubrick's message of artificial intelligence. Then again, his sentimentality has some valid points too, mainly because A.I. is also a story about a little boy who searches for love and acceptance. And that part of the film was sweet and lovely, but alsoway too sugary for my taste. But then again, I'm a cynical old man, I am... http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif
I gave it 2(4)/5 - (Kubrick).