Comments on: A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) (2001)

By: Kevin S

Kevin S — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:43:15 +0000

The ending was bad, but didn’t have to be.

Alternate ending: Movie continues up until the scene where David is dug from the ice. Teddy’s batteries have already died. The robots are standing with him and one touches his forehead and begins reading his memory bank. Other robots join and collectively read. Fade to black…

Next scene, David is laying unconscious on a block. Camera pans out and the viewers see he is in a building built specially for him. A small group of robots slowly filter into the room. Once they are assembled a robot activates a device on the block and an arm extends, wrapping around until it is resting on David’s forehead. The camera zooms in towards David’s face and fades into a dream, which obviously is being generated by the machine they have built for him. In this dream everything is as it was, David meets the Blue Fairy who trns him into a real boy. His whole world is returned, except both Martin and Davids mother (and father) love him. Scene ends with David’s mother sharing a tender moment in which she tells him she loves him dearly, he hugs her and crys. Scene fades back to the robots in David’s building. They are observing his dream. A few break off and walk outside.

Two robots converse. R1- “He is happy.” R2- “Yes, he is happy. It is good we got to him when we did. His batteries were almost dead.” R1- “How much time does he have?” R2- “About 50 years.” Movie fades to End.

With such an ending, the viewer may see that Humanity’s love was imperfect, and so was David’s. Yet, these robots had advanced themselves to a state of more perfect love. They complete David’s desires out of love for David, and for the memory of Humanity, who’s imperfect love was the seed which eventually gave birth to the current generation of robots.

Ta Dahh! A good ending, slightly spooky and heart warming.

By: Martin Z

Martin Z — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:10:22 +0000

The film has nothing to do with love. But it does (unwittingly) say a lot about why mankind is headed for scrapheap. Technological brilliance alongside complete cluelessness about practically everything else in life.

And yet, our saving grace is art, as Kubrick so well knew. Perhaps Spielberg didn’t raid the lost art after all, and passing this doomed project on to him was merely Kubrick’s last great practical joke.

By the way, didn’t Pinnochio have something to do with telling lies?

By: david

david — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:32:15 +0000

I read your comment will and i agree.

Maybe the reasons theres no other robots like david is because when they had realised what had
Happend with the original they decided not to go ahead with th project

By: Will McKinley

Will McKinley — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:24:49 +0000

Thank God I found your excellent review of AI, for I am looking at this film yet again and paused it to read all I can find on the Internet about the ‘moral’ issues with AI and Spielberg. Whoever you are, you are a good-hearted and open-minded person with well-grounded discernment. You are the only writer I have found that has a mature comprehension of the full context of these issues. Most other reviewers (at least the ones I have found) unthinkingly buy into the notion that AI explores some very profound questions and moral dilemmas…and then when they allude to what these are they show clearly they haven’t a clue about what love is, what it means to be human as differentiated from any machine, no matter how complex. Your piece was illuminating and great to read. Thank you. [I realize you, and perhaps no one else, will read my comment, due to the date, but I offer it anyway...]