corycouger

I thought it was powerful and moving film.


Do you think 20 years from now, people will appreciate it more?

Jackskeleton

who knows. All I know is a lot of people felt that Stan would have ended it with the robot in the water stuck forever. Atleast that's what they think.

A lot of folks just got tired at the end and felt that it was a bit long.

tanman

I for one actually liked it.

pdjennings

A.I. was a brilliant movie. An example of filmmaking perfection from beginning to end and very much overlooked. HJO should have gotten an Oscar nomination (and won it).

B.A.

If the ending of the movie sucks, it usually doesn't matter what happened during the previous 2+ hours of the film - people will usually shun it.

Rivero

These people would be clueless and wrong. Anyone who bothered to look into it would know that Kubrick planned to end the film in the same way that was eventually realized for the final film. Do a little hunting on google and see some of the extras on the DVD.

Science-fiction, REAL science-fiction, always gets a bad rap from the general public who mostly just equate sci-fi with Star Wars action and namby pampy outer-space cliches. A.I. is indeed a wonderfully realized film and, like Steven Soderbergh's recent equally overlooked Solaris, will weather the storm of dismissive ignorance that followed it's initial release.

Rivero

This is probably true. Thankfully A.I.'s ending was a fitting and perfect close to this story.

B.A.

I didn't like the ending to A.I., but that is only one of many issues I had w/ the film. A lot of people love it, it's just not my cup of tea. The one thing I learned from A.I. - the greatness that is Jude Law.

A movie that was ruined completely by it's ending, or the last hour of it, was Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK. The first 90 minutes of that film were great, but the last hour was terrible.

Achtung

I really liked the film, and while I'm not a big fan of the ending, I don't think it should have ended with the kid at the bottom of the ocean. It's a great-looking film too, IMO.

I also agree that Jude Law was excellent in this movie.

Geofferson

I thought it was a fantastic movie. It had very effective symbolism and beautiful set pieces. I too was a bit let-down by the ending, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate the movie.

sundog

Don't know why so many people think Kubrick to be so pessimistic. By the above sentiment, the Journey Beyond the Infinite of 2001 would be cut. Alex's recovery in A Clockwork Orange would be cut. Susanne Christian's song in Paths of Glory would be cut. Lady Lyndon signing Barry's check in Barry Lyndon is gone. And the final conversation between the Harfords in the toy store in Eyes Wide Shut just isn't there. Hell, the entire 2nd half of Full Metal Jacket could go.

Kubrick loaded his films with ambiguous details dependent upon the viewer to create and gauge their own feelings. Of the above listed only 2001 and Eyes Wide Shut could be called "happy" endings. But all those endings steer the viewer away from the pat conclusions that "downer" endings usually signify.

Spielberg did the same in the ending of A.I. Just look how similar that conclusion mirrors the ending in 2001.

And that's what makes the Spielberg film so good. I'd argue that it's his most personal film because the content is so removed from his hot button issues (wars, nazis, holocaust etc.). The director has no footholds except his impeccable visual artistry, and that truly shines like I've never seen before in his films.

Rivero

Well said, sundog.

mookyman

I agree. Also, while the ending is a personal victory for the protagonist, it also depicts the end of humanity. Not the most "up" ending.

PixyJunket

Beautiful, excellent movie. Fantastically creepy ending.

Goat3001

I for one really enjoyed the movie. I also liked the ending. However, if they had left it at the bottom of the ocean I think it would have been much better. If it had ended that way it would've made perfect sense with the whole "his love lasts forever" thing.

Will it be realized as a great film in 20 years? Who knows, I guess we'll find out in 20 years.

Rivero

His victory is only fleeting anyway, David's mother dies afterwards leaving him with absolutely nothing. Always found it a profoundly sad ending.

Lastblade

I have yet to see the movie and I really want to. Well, someone lends me the DVD!

taa455

I have great appreciation for A.I. The direction and cinematograpy were both excellent. The script was intelligent and provocative. Who cares if the mass public shuns it?

BassDude

WOW! Great ta see so many A.I. fans! Thought I was all alone for a while!

Yes...to answer the thread title question.

Frank TJ Mackey

I've always thought it was brilliant. This is one hell of a sci-fi classic in my opinion.

fumanstan

Great movie. I was a little underwhelmed by the ending when i saw it in theaters, but upon subsequent viewings it made more sense.

Plus, Teddy is just so damn cute.

tanman

So in general was it the mass public who really hated it? I always thought it was the Kubrickian purists who didn't care for it. I thought it was a wonderful film dispite what may or may not have happened. It is also the least Speilbergian Speilberg movie that he has done. IMHO. A different feel for it at any rate.

FinkPish

I watched this again recently, after being somewhat disappointed seeing it in the theater. I still have some big problems with it, and I think they were easier to spot the second time I watched it.

In terms of an emotional journey for what was supposed to be a new breed of emotional robot, David changed very little from when he was "activated" by his mother. He sought attention and love, and when he didn't get it, he went a bit nuts. By the end, he was the same, he still only craved attention and love from his mother, at least to my mind.

After all that time underwater, his emotions never develop or mature, he is still the lonely 10 year-old boy. Since the film was called A.I., I would have thought that David would have advanced his intelligence somewhat in this time, maybe chewing on some things that he experienced while on his journey and having a new outlook after he was revived after 1000 years. He remained very stagnant emotionally the whole time, and to me, most of the story felt like parts of Rain Man, only without Tom Cruise to provide some balance to Raymond's ramblings.

There was so much that was in the film to affect the audience on an emotional level, such as the Flesh Fair and David finding his origins, but David seems to sleepwalk through all of it, always fixated on his goal to receive love from his mother. Of course, maybe this is supposed to be the tragic point of the story, and I'm missing it, but to me it was frustrating, having an emotional robot that seemed locked on to one emotion.

mike harnish

I love AI. It's now in my top 10 of all time. About the ending...when Monica dies for good, so to speak, after spending that day with David, David also dies, according to one of the documentaries on the disc, he doesn't just shutdown or go to sleep. So, the ending isn't just a simple, sweet, happy, Speilberg ending. When I was watching that scene, I found myself focusing on Teddy, though, sitting at the end of the bed. He was left all alone, with David and Monica now gone. Wish he could have gone with them.

Heat

What was the ending?

I seem to remember the aliens giving him one wish or something like that, and he chose to be a real boy with his old mom* for one day, or something like that.

The toy bear had a snip of her hair, so the aliens could bring her back through that.