Reviews-Artificial Intelligence: AI

 

Kelsey Adair

Artificial Intelligence: AI is a touching film about how a robot child aspires to be loved by his adopted human parents. The overall question of the film: Can robots learn to feel human emotions? In Artificial Intelligence the child robot, David, is programmed to love his adopted parents in an experiment to see if robots can be taught to love humans, and if, in return, humans can love robots. Haley Joel Osment did an excellent job portraying the emotions of the robot boy who yearned to have the love of his mother. Throughout the movie, David searched for a way to become a real boy so he could have his mother’s affection. Eventually, David realized that his dreams of becoming human were impossible. Another question that this movie brings up (like many of the other movies we’ve watched so far) is what would happen if humans built too many robots too fast? In this movie, humans felt threatened by the rate at which the robots were being created. The creation of David even further intensified the feelings of humans against robots because they felt as if robots were being created to replace their kids, which would eventually kill of the human race all together due to lack of reproduction. Overall, this movie was excellent and keeps viewers emotionally attached to the main characters and situations.

 

Josh Berting

AI: Artificial Intelligence, by Steven Spielberg is touching look into the future of robots and the roles they may play in the everyday lives of the inhabitants of a time when robots are prevalent. In the film Spielberg addresses the question of whether it would be possible for a robot to be programmed to love, and even more, whether a person can truly love that robot. The question goes beyond this however, and asks instead what is true love, and what does it mean to truly love someone? Spielberg develops a futuristic world through the use of spectacular special effects that transport the viewer to a time when robots have developed to inhabit every aspect of our daily lives; fulfilling everything from nanny, to lover, and even child. With the use of stunning special effects, solid plot development, and great actors this movie earns a high overall rating from this viewer.

 

Brittany Burton

Artificial Intelligence: AI was not only a touching movie, but a very advanced one as well. Although the main character, David, is a robot child, his journey is a long and dangerous one. His main goal is to find the "Blue Fairy" from Pinocchio and turn into a real boy. He believes that by doing so, his human mother, who was regretful in throwing him away to begin with, will love him. His adventure shows him all aspects of humans and their ability to love. At the "Flesh Fair" he realizes that not all humans want robots around. He is saved, in turn, by human compassion because he looks so much like a real child. Davis makes a friend along the way: a lover robot named Joe. With his help, David makes it to his "blue fairy" and realizes that his dream to become a real boy is almost impossible. This movie seems to never end. David finds the blue fairy, then is trapped underwater for what seems like ages, then is found by aliens in the future? He becomes aware that all humans die anyways and decides instead of mourning the loss of his beloved mother to bring her back for one more day. This day is the happiest of his life and he finally gets what he wants: his mother's love. AI revealed a growing concern about robots taking over and how the human species would react. The special effects were very believable and the plot was ALOT better than the other movies we watched.

 

Kevin Caskey

A.I. is a film about a robot that wishes with all his heart to be a real boy, a dream that will never come true. Although the main character’s undying desire will never be fulfilled, the movie as a whole is not as morbid as it may seem. The plot centers around a married couple, whose youngest son is under some sort of incurable ailment, and are given a robot as a test replacement from the father’s employer, as he works for a robotics development company. The robot is question here is no ordinary robot however, this robot has been programmed to love human beings, and the developers want to know how it works out in a family situation, and ultimately, can a human love the robot back? The amazing use of computer imaging and graphical design gives the viewer a very imaginative look into the construction of robots, whose outward appearance looks nothing different to humans, but inside are completely mechanical. It is perhaps the most heart wrenching movie on our list, and has the strongest plot. The viewer wonders if the mother, who has suffered the tremendous tragedy of nearly losing a son, can learn to love a machine, which is forever attached her. The movie is a good one overall, it is not hugely action packed, while still giving the viewer times of suspense and anticipation. A good movie to watch with your family, a good bonding experience maybe could occur.

 

Marco Flores

This is not Haley Joel Osment's finest hour, but it certainly is the best robot movie he has ever created. Aritificial Intelligence is a movie about a "boy" robot who was programmed to love his mother, who begins a 2000 year quest to search for the love he craves. The movie has made the most impact on me thus far (but this doesn't say much, as 2001: A Space Odyssey and THX 1138 are not Oscar winners). The technology used in the film is definitely advanced for it's time, and not in a bad way. There are two types of "beings" in the movie- mechas and orgas. Mechas are mechanical, and orgas are, you know- organic. However, the new line of mechas are lifelike in every way (excpet under their skin) and controversy sparks in the movie when Haley Joel Osment is made too real, or that of a child who loves his "mother". That being said, the special effects in the movie are extraordinary, nothing I wouldn't expect from director Stephen Spielburg. The movie is however very long, and the ending is quite wierd, but the movie is solid and enjoyable for the most part. I award AI: Artificial Intelligence a 7.5 out of 10.

 

Emily Hager

AI is kind of an interesting movie, but it does have a very, very tragic flaw: the ending. The 20 or so minutes of complete and total crap that comes after he finds the makers in NY. There's a ceramic statue, and ice age, and aliens. Yes, in this movie about robots in the future, Steven Spielberg felt the need to bring in some aliens who can bring David's mommy back to life, but only for a day. Arrrggg! The ridiculousness of it all astounds me. But back to the part of the movie I could stand. David, the boy robot, is creepy and weird, in a very believable way. He is permanently a child, and is limited by this in many ways. When the real son comes back, their dynamic is very believable. I actually felt bad when David messed up and got kicked out. The poor robot didn't know any better! The way that the world is shown in this movie is very sad, but very true. We so would have a Flesh Fair, because humans are so good at hating. The first thing we would make robots into would be prostitutes. This movie shows humans as pretty sick and twisted, slave masters who care nothing for the workers they created for themselves. You feel bad for the robots, but then you think "But they're not real, do they even deserve my sympathy?" David exemplifies this perfectly. Is his love real, even though he is not? Do the parents have an obligation to love him back? AI is actually a lot deeper than I first realized, and despite the dreadful, drawn-out ending, it is a good movie, and it has a good message. It also has sweet special effects and Jude Law as a hooker robot. What more can you want?

 

Stephanie Herndon

Artificial Intelligence is a very interesting movie. The robots are very well developed, and the special effects are very good. The movie is also very controversial. There are scenes where robots are burned in a sort of hate-crime fashion, that brings about sympathy for the robots. Yet, the robots are not real! The veiwer almost forgets that robots have no feelings. The little boy is programed to love his mother, which leads him on a never ending quest to become real, so that she will love him in return. If you think about it, the movie is some what morbid. The boy can not actually love, and yet he appears to. Similar to the Terminator, this movie invites people to question robots and emotions. Could a human really create an object capable or human emotions, and if so, is this creation actually alive? It is also important to look at what the robots are being used for. It is rather sick to think of replacing a real child with a robotic one. Where should the line be drawn on technology, and can humans actually create artificial intelligence? It is a very intriguing subject to think about.

 

Dustin Houser

In Steven Spielberg's epic scale movie, AI: Artificial Intelligence, he utilizes the use of amazing visual effects. The graphic development of the wide range of mechas had to have taken a mind of a genius to engineer such advanced and technical characters. The development of robots was possible during the time period of this movie; however, the ability to make such a human-like robot was not feasible, especially a human-like robot that also shared feelings and emotions with humans. This futuristic rendition of the children's story Pinocchio creates an emotional connection with the character David. His journey to find the Blue Fairy is an amazing adventure through an intricate and advanced futuristic society. The difference between today's society and the society of the movie is unique, and the difference between the modern society in the movie and the strange new world Earth is after the 2000 year ice age is vastly intriguing. This movie made a significant impact on me, and seeing for my first time was enough to convince me to add it to my list of favorites. Haley Joel Osment does a magnificent job at playing the roll of a very humanistic robot ... his love is real, although he is not. I give this movie a rating of 10 out of 10 !

 

Earl Duncan Laing

In my opinion, the movie AI is not one of Stephen Spielberg’s better films. AI: Artificial Intelligence tells the story of a young robot boy named David. David is a one of a kind and very special mecha. He is the first mecha that has been built in the form of a child, but more importantly he is the first mecha to be designed with the ability to love. David is taken in by Henry and Monica Swinton, a married couple whose son, Martin, is dying of a rare illness. Monica is at first very skeptical of the idea of taking David in, but in time falls begins to love the young robot as if he was her own son. However, when a sudden turn of events happens, and the Swinton’s son Martin makes a miraculous recovery, everything begins to change for David. Due to the dangers the Swinton’s feel David possesses toward there son, they decide to turn him loose in the wild and tell him to never return to their home. This is a huge emotional blow to David, and he and his small mecha Teddy, begin to journey to find the Blue Fairy, who David believes can turn him into a real boy. This journey takes David to many places and eventually many years into the future. The only thing that was appealing to the movie AI, were the special effects. As we have found with many of our robot movies, the special effects are phenomenal. The way in which the robots are designed and disguised as humans is especially cool in my opinion. I also think that the relationships between humans and robots are very amusing. There are robots used for everyday purposes, but there are also more detailed robots that are designed for specific purposes such as sexual satisfaction. The plot of the movie kept me interested for only a short while. I felt that if the movie was shorter and possibly a little bit more action packed it would have actually been pretty good. However, the length and lack of action were the movies true downfall. The plot wasn't very difficult to follow but the lack of substance made the movie feel almost incomplete and unfinished. The reality of this movie is actually quite real. I feel that in the future humans will be able to create robots much like the ones in AI. While the robots were incredibly complex and truly facinating, it is not impossible for humans to create such a thing when the proper technology becomes available. Overall, I felt that AI had its strong points but the lack of substance in the plot just made the movie an incredibly big yawn.

 

Overall Rating: 5/10

 

 

Kara Learman

In the future, major cities like New York are destroyed underwater due to global warming. The reduction of the population has cause robots to be widely used in an attempt to maintain civilization. The newest robot, or “mecha”, is a young boy model named David who has the ability to love. He is tested out in a family whose son is terminally ill. David is befriended by a mecha toy named Teddy, who takes on the responsibility of watching out for his wellbeing. Upon the return of the son, Martin, events occur that appear to threaten Martin’s life and wellbeing so the father wants David out. The mother, fearing David’s destruction, leaves him alone with Teddy in the forest. On his plight, David meets Gigolo Joe. He acts as a temporary guardian for the young mecha boy. David is determined, after being read Pichinnoco that finding the Blue Fairy will turn him into a real boy. He goes to Las Vegas and is told that Rockefeller Center is where to find the Blue Fairy. He meets his creator instead. David flees underwater to Coney Island and finds the Blue Fairy. He sits there for 2,000 years until the inhabitants of the future find him and bring him out. He is given his mother back for a day. He gets one day with her and then she is gone forever. He then goes to sleep for the first time in his whole creation. This may suggest his life has become “real.” I enjoyed this movie a lot. The plot was well thought out. The robots in this film were amazing as well. Overall this has been my, by far, favorite film we have watched in this class. I would give this movie an 8.5 only because I didn’t think the ending was substantial enough to fully conclude the plot line.

 

 

Matthew Lynch

AI was an iteresting movie and had alot of thought provoking parts and also some action scenes to hold the movie together. There was an interesting concept of having child robots for parents who lost a child or couldnt have children. This was a revolutionary idea and Steven Spielberg used a deep plot with excellent special effects to make a good movie. After the main character David is rejected my his family he is let loose by his mother and he begins his search to find the "blue fairy" who will make him a real boy. David's journey takes him to strange cities and to a terrifying place where humans make a spectacle of destroying robots. Spielberg does an amazing job creating a future world where robots are both loved and hated by the humans. I believe this is a very likely future if robots are created and mass produced as they are in the film. The end of the film however is very strange and hard to understand and puts a very weird twist on the end of an overall decent movie. If the movie had been given a more normal end i believe the movie could have been better, but Spielberg used that ending to create thought and it definently achieved its purpose. I give this movie a 8 out of 10.

 

John Nunns

AI was a movie that was able to grab the attention of viewers and make them think. This is a movie that can leave a viewer questioning the feelings of love. In the movie, the robot boy, David, "replaces" a son that has been in a coma with an unlikely recovery. David will be programmed to love his new "mommy" (the mother of the son in the coma). It's hard to believe a robot could be impressioned to love any woman who wants him to by saying the "magic words". It makes one wonder if a robot would actually be able to experience this feeling, or is simply acting out of its program. From the acting of the main character robot boy, it would seem he really does feel this emotion. A movie that can bring up questions such as these I feel is a good one. The plot was very easy to follow (until near the end when aliens come around) and very easy to be entertained by. The role of the robot was the main role as the plot centers around David, but there are also other robots, who help him in his journey to be with his mommy again. Overall this movie is good and I reccomend it to everyone. Just expect to feel sorry for David through the majority of the watch.

 

Amanda Pudney

AI was quite an interesting movie, though I can't decide if I truly enjoyed it or not. It left many questions unanswered, but the special effects and the questions raised were enough to hold the attention of the viewer. The movie is based around a robot child who was created for parents to love, and whose function was to unconditionally love his "parents." While a bit unrealistic, it brings up the ever-present issue in robot movies-can robots have emotions? Can machines really feel? In the movie, the robots were made to mimic human emotions. Whether they can or can not feel emotion, Haley Joel Osment played a convincing robot with emotion. As far as plot is concerned, I was sold up until the last twenty minutes or so of the film. The movie seemed to spin out of control, from finding the blue fairy to "sleeping" for years underwater, then being rescued by bizarre aliens. While it was interesting take on what the future might hold for humans and technology, I think the film was very unrealistic. Spielberg did a fantastic job with the special effects and storytelling, regardless of plot inconsistencies and plot holes. But the movie was decent, and I ended up feeling sorry for the poor robot boy.

 

 

Dee Parks

This reviewer enjoyed AI tremendously. In particular, the acting ability of the young man, Haley Joel Osment, who played the robot, David, evoked such an emotional response that it was difficult to remember that the character was a robot. Instead of using the flash and glitter of special effects, Steven Spielberg chose to have his robots played by human actors. This decision allowed the audience to connect with the robot much more intensely than they would have connected to a character that looked mechanistic and non-human. The story told in the movie was intricate and yet one that audience members found familiar because of the use of Pinocchio as a base line. Steven Spielberg seemed to want his audience members to think about the nature of love. Is love as simple as the imprinting that binds some animals to their mothers? Is love possible only between humans? This reviewer has a background in computer science and knows that creating a program that seems to exhibit emotion is an extremely difficult problem. The film, AI, was so carefully crafted, however, that the sad yearnings of the robotic boy seemed quite believable and genuine. The movie is wonderful and ranks high on my list of recommended films.

 

Austin Reiter

AI was a good movie overall. There was a solid, well-developed plot, a good deal of character development, smooth scene transitions, spurts of action here and there, and a strangely believable portrayal of the future. The movie seeks to explore the boundaries of love between humans and robots, and challenges the viewer’s idea of what purpose robots may have in the future. AI follows the story of a child android, named David, who was created with the intention of replacing one family’s son who was thought to be dead from illness. When the family’s biological son is cured of his illness, however, the emotional stress of caring for both a human and robot child becomes too much to bear for the family, and David is abandoned to face the world on his own. Befriending another android, Joe, David sets out to become a “real boy” in hope of regaining the love of his former family. As in the tale of Pinocchio, David must find the Blue Fairy, who is the only one capable of turning him into real flesh and blood. The only major problem that I had with this movie is that the plot takes a drastic turn at this point, which tends to throw viewers for a loop. At the end of the movie, a strange alien race finds David many years in the future and gives him the chance to spend one day with his mother, after which David drifts into a sleep where he is finally able to dream. It’s at this point that I began to not like the movie as much and wished that it had ended earlier. But overall I enjoyed the movie and found it to be extremely well thought-out and produced.

 

Michael Salley

 

 

Jamie Stevens

“Artificial Intelligence: AI” was one of the better movies that we have watched. It portrayed the story of a robot who looks and acts like a young boy named David. David is programmed to love unconditionally and he is given to two parents who have a comatose child. The mother was unable to get over her grief of losing her first son, so her husband purchases the newest type of robot, a child who is able to love. David changes the life of his new “mother”, but eventually her real son wakes up and she ends up abandoning David. He decides that his mother didn’t love him because he wasn’t a real boy, so the rest of his movie describes his quest to become a real boy and find the blue fairy, like he read about in the story Pinocchio. There weren’t as many special effects in this movie because the robots are played by real people. The movie got to be rather drawn out and long at the end, but the beginning was full of excitement and kept me watching. It was an emotional movie and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

 

Jesse Talbott

Artificial Intelligence: AI is a futuristic movie based on the life of a little child mecha, or robot. Built unlike any other robot, David was programmed to feel and act like a little boy. He displayed emotion, and even felt love for the mother he was built for. The problem was, that maybe he loved his serrogate mother a little too much, and this leads him further and further into trouble. I really liked this movie, mainly for the realism of the robots and the well imagined plot. The movie also brings the typical robot question: Is it wrong to create another life capable of its own emotions, or even love? Spielberg also tries to add a whole Pinnochio reference, with David and his quest for Blue Fairy. I gave this movie an 8.5 out of 10.

Jeanne-Claire White

Artificial Intelligence: AI takes the meaning of robots to a whole new level. The main character is David, a child robot who has feelings and is programmed to love. Although a family adopted David, they discard him in the woods when their real son is no longer ill. However, since David understands emotions, he feels like he is not loved because he is not human. The rest of the movie is about his plight to become a “real boy”, an idea that he learns about from the fairy tale “Pinocchio.” In David’s adventure, he struggles to find the Blue Fairy, to avoid the cruelty of the humans at Flesh Fair, and to find his family again. The characters in this film are separated into the Mechas (robots) and orgas (humans). The Mechas look exactly like humans and are capable of performing all human tasks. In my opinion, there are not as much special effects in the movie since the robots are played by humans in real life. Artificial Intelligence is very interesting and thought provoking because it reveals the problem of robots taking over and out-numbering humans.

 

Mike Wittmer

Steven Spielberg spun a new twist on the old “robot movie.” Robots aren’t taking over the world or used for mass death and destruction, but take on a new role: people. Robots are simply designed to fill spots in society that are considered less than desirable. David is the first of his kind, a child who is made to love. David goes on a journey to “become a real boy” in a futuristic retelling of the Pinocchio story. I think is one of the more realistic attempts at portraying robots than previous movies we have seen and at the same time has a few stretches especially relating to the ending.