A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence: AI is a remarkable, extravagant futuristic film that, on the one hand, wants to be a fairy tale for the masses and, on the other hand, seeks to philosophically discuss the most complex topics of artificial intelligence in our world. In formal terms, it is perfect. John Williams’ music is once again brilliant, the performance of Haley Joel Osment, whose character’s great inner development is the basis of the story, is also brilliant, and the design of the futuristic world (especially the final “weeping lion city”) is breathtaking. But from a complex directorial point of view, the film is strange and chaotic. As it was Spielberg who took over this project, he should have focused on what is his strong suit and made it into a dreamy, emotionally engaging and heartwarming work. Combining the uncombinable does not pay off. (2018-04-09)

Crafted brilliantly, Spielberg's technical precision can't be denied, it's not even up for debate :)). Again, magical music by John Williams, really excellent cinematography by Janusz Kaminski, and Spielberg's script based on a story by Kubrick is also very good... But now comes the "but" :)) But despite the sympathetic performance of H.J. Osment and the great Jude Law, I was just missing something, something extra, the SOMETHING that maybe Close Encounters of the Third Kind had... And I still felt that Spielberg pushed the envelope a bit at the end, but that may just be my silly subjective feeling. Nevertheless, an extraordinary and repeatable experience! (2010-01-01)

Kubrick behind the concept, Spielberg the creator, and in the end, a beautiful film full of naive searching, simple and human thoughts, breathtaking performances by Osment and Law, and a conclusion that can mentally overwhelm. I admire this film for being able to combine traditional Spielbergian family values with a fascinating vision of the future, a plethora of technical gadgets, and many intellectual stimuli. (2005-07-06)

A little different than I expected, but that's probably what made A.I. that much better. Spielberg's science fiction movies are among my favorites, and this one's no exception. Especially the ending (featuring the World Trade Center) was very impressive. Spielberg simply knows how to do these things. Haley Joel Osment was great and really impressive in his special role. The special effects are top notch, Williams' music is one of the best, and Teddy is cool :-). (2007-07-25)

I don't know if Stanley Kubrick could have gotten more out of this material, but I definitely don't think he would have made it as excessively sentimental as Spielberg. These are the exact elements that I don't like about his films. That sentimentality that tries to force tears in your eyes. However, I also didn't really like the story here, which is maybe too inspired by Pinocchio, but it tries to be different by bringing it into the realm of science fiction. (2015-12-02)