Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

Brian Aldiss (short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long")
Ian Watson (screen story)

Release Date:

29 June 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

David is 11 years old. He weighs 60 pounds. He is 4 feet, 6 inches tall. He has brown hair. His love is real. But he is not.

Plot:

A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.

Plot Keywords:

Future | Fairy | Forest | Artificial Intelligence | Fairy Tale

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 40 nominations

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	...	Supernerd
Kevin Sussman	...	Supernerd
Tom Gallop	...	Supernerd
Eugene Osment	...	Supernerd
April Grace	...	Female Colleague
Matt Winston	...	Executive
Sabrina Grdevich	...	Secretary
Theo Greenly	...	Todd

Also Known As:

A.I. (USA) (working title (promotional title))
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (USA) (poster title)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (USA) (alternative spelling)
A.I. - Inteligência Artificial (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
A.I. artificiell intelligens (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
A.I. inteligencia artificial (Argentina) (Colombia) [es]
Искусственный разум (Russia) [ru]
A. I. - Mesterséges értelem (Hungary) [hu]
A.I. (Japan) [ja]
A.I. - Künstliche Intelligenz (Germany) [de]
A.I. - Tekoäly (Finland) [fi]
A.I. Inteligencia Artificial (Spain) [es]
A.I. Kunstig intelligens (Denmark) [da]
A.I. Umelá inteligence (Czech Republic) [cs]
A.I. Umelá inteligencia (Slovakia) [sk]
A.I. intelligence artificielle (France) [fr]
A.I. intelligenza artificiale (Italy) [it]
A.I.: Intelligence artificielle (Canada: French title) [fr]
A.I.: Tehniti noimosyni (Greece) [el]
Umjetna inteligencija (Croatia) [hr]
Yapay zeka (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and violent images.

Runtime:

146 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:12 | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 (re-rated) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Gresham, Oregon, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The list of words that Monica Swinton says to David to make him capable of love was the original list, written by Stanley Kubrick.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Monica reads the notes that David has written, the number of pages in her hand change between shots.

Quotes:

Monica: I can't accept this! There is no substitute for you own child!

Movie Connections:

Featured in You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Une Chanson Douce

A.I.--A Film With Heart And Brains

Steven Spielberg's latest movie A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, which he took up at the encouragement of the late, great Stanley Kubrick, has caused widely divergent comments. And I can't help wondering if the most scathingly negative reviews of this movie aren't just an open desire to see Spielberg crash, as he had with "1941" and HOOK.

For my money, Spielberg has done it again with this futuristic science fiction drama, regardless of what the negative reviews say. Its story of a robot boy (Haley Joel Osment) who desires to be a real boy in a far future in which humans (Orgas) and machines (Mechas) exist side-by-side but not always in harmony is very much modeled on the Pinocchio story, though it is actually based on a 1969 short story by Brian Aldiss. It raises some interesting and sometimes unsettling moral dilemmas that few films of late have done. Can a parent love a child, even if that child is not real? What might happen if that child desired to be real? How will Man and Machine be able to co-exist?

Like all intelligent science fiction, such as Kubrick's own 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Spielberg's own CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, A.I. forces us to ponder where we've been and where we might be going. It's an incredible combination of Kubrick's icy intellectual and clinical mind and Spielberg's emotional heart; and I think it works exceedingly well. But it forces the viewer to not leave their heart and brains at the door, which I think is why it is being so negatively received in this season of mindless summer movie fare. It may be too intelligent for its own good, and many don't have the 145 minutes of patience needed for the movie. I did, however; and I would call this an absolute masterpiece. Out of ten stars, give this one a 10.