Plot
A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
Release Year: 2001
Rating: 7.0/10 (124,924 voted)
Critic's Score: 65/100
Director:
Steven Spielberg
Stars: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor
Storyline In the not-so-far future the polar ice caps have melted and the resulting raise of the ocean waters has drowned all the coastal cities of the world. Withdrawn to the interior of the continents, the human race keeps advancing, reaching to the point of creating realistic robots (called mechas) to serve him. One of the mecha-producing companies builds David, an artificial kid which is the first to have real feelings, especially a never-ending love for his "mother", Monica. Monica is the woman who adopted him as a substitute for her real son, who remains in cryo-stasis, stricken by an incurable disease. David is living happily with Monica and her husband, but when their real son returns home after a cure is discovered, his life changes dramatically.
Writers: Brian Aldiss, Ian Watson
Cast: Haley Joel Osment
-
David
Frances O'Connor
-
Monica Swinton
Sam Robards
-
Henry Swinton
Jake Thomas
-
Martin Swinton
Jude Law
-
Gigolo Joe
William Hurt
-
Prof. Hobby
Ken Leung
-
Syatyoo-Sama
Clark Gregg
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Supernerd
Kevin Sussman
-
Supernerd
Tom Gallop
-
Supernerd
Eugene Osment
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Supernerd
April Grace
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Female Colleague
Matt Winston
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Executive
Sabrina Grdevich
-
Secretary
Theo Greenly
-
Todd
Taglines:
Journey To A World Where Robots Dream And Desire
Opening Weekend: $29,352,630
(USA)
(1 July 2001)
(3242 Screens)
Gross: $235,927,000
(Worldwide)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Robin Williams actually recorded his dialog for the film with Stanley Kubrick directing the recording session, he did it a long time before Steven Spielberg was attached to direct.
Goofs:
Continuity:
One of the boys gets out of the swimming pool twice in different shots.
Quotes: Gigolo Joe:
They ask for me by name. Gigolo Joe, What do you know?
User Review
Future classic...?
Rating: 10/10
First of all, once again I think the critics have got it wrong. Like Blade
Runner and 2001, this is a film that will be properly judged in 10/20
years
or maybe more. Its way ahead of its time, the combination of Kubrick and
Spielberg is unique, its unlikely we will ever see anything like this
again.
Did I like it? The answer would have to be yes, the mix of styles will put
many people off, but I found it to be unlike anything I have ever seen,
and
all the better for it. The story is by no means original but everything
else
about the film is so different that this can be forgiven. To get one thing
straight, Kubrick decided Spielberg would be the better man for directing
it, and I think this was a very wise decision, many of the ideas are pure
Kubrick, but Spielberg has the neccassary attributes to direct such a
film,
and great credit has to go to Kubrick for handing it to
him.
Haley Joel Osment is amazing, the robot/human emotion must be amazingly
difficult to pull off effectively, but Osment does it with such relative
ease to the point where you do believe he is a robot, not that he is just
acting as a robot. Jude Law is excellent, and so to is Frances O'Conner.
As for the ending, as brave as an idea it may of been to end on a downbeat
note at "the first ending" I think the slightly upbeat ending is much more
appropriate.
All in all I would say A.I is a wonderfully unique film that should be
judged for what it is, a film. Forget everything about the
Spielberg/Kubrick
"issue" and just sit back and take in a truely amazing film. You may hate
it, you may love it, but no matter what, it will effect your emotions in
some way and you will discuss the film afterwards.
This film will be truely judged in 20 years or so, when it can be assessed
purely as a film, as with 'Blade Runner', '2001', and even 'The Thing', it
will get better with age.
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