A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - Movies with Mikey

[@Klymenthis]

I always saw the film as being about cruelty and empathy. Davids mother doesn’t love him but she made it so that David can’t not love her. Martin’s a bully but he forges a more real connection with David than their parents - Martin is jealous and tries to sabotage David but thats kind of reasonable when you’ve just woken up from a coma and your parents got a robot replacement child. The manipulation and bullying is child to child - Martin treats Davis like another kid not just a robot. In the pool scene its the other kids that are being awful to David and want to hurt him to test if he is a robot and Martin defends David because it legitimately terrifies David to be hurt and Martin feels empathy for him. The robots in the Fleshfair cry for help but they don’t react with fear or pain - David does because he can imagine its painful and fear it happening to him. The crowd feels empathy because David reacts like a real boy. His creator was always testing him to see if he could be “real” enough - be afraid, be sad, believe in things and really love people. But he shouldn’t have to prove he is real - if you built him you should love him regardless but no one does, until the robots at the end turn him off and end his programmed love for his mother, because it is cruel to make a child exist to love you when you don’t love them.

[@jondstewart]

Klymenthis Martin proved that even 100 years into the future preteen boys are still the most heinously cruel subspecies on the face of the Earth!

[@anthonyburn1010]

@@jondstewart - matched only be the cruelty weilded by teenage girls.

[@yourstepmother8109]

@@anthonyburn1010 fr. Children in general are mini psychopaths

[@Gnorkadork]

@@yourstepmother8109 Well said.

[@user-vb5nw2pr6c]

I love how you interpreted David and Martin’s interactions with each other. I never saw it that way.

[@linphillips8331]

I don't know about anyone else, but I absolutely loved A.I., and the closing scene made me bawl like a baby.

[@FreeTheTrolls]

Same.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Lin Phillips I cried when David's "descendant" gave that speech about what they valued in humans. We're gone but we still mattered. The ending...yeah, I teared up again.

[@HFV_Junkyardin]

Seeing it as an 11 year old, it scared me. Mad me think about what could happen after I die. Terrifying

[@Midiman741]

Watching this and remembering it brings it all back...Niagra Falls, baby.

[@jondstewart]

Lin Phillips I know what you mean, but the movie was so uneven! One moment it’s very sentimental, the next moment you see a demolition style destruction scene, Then it gets all crazy when the boy finds out the truth of his existence, then it goes back to Spielberg sentimentality where the boy is wishing to be a real boy only for it to be fulfilled for one day gat least 1000 years later.

[@AlexReynard]

Gigolo Joe even explicitly describes the ending to us before it happens: _"They made us too smart, too quick and too many. We are suffering for the mistakes they made because when the end comes, all that will be left is us."_

[@DeconTheed92]

I dunno if anyone else read the ending the same way, but when I first saw the film years ago, I interpreted it as follows; the advanced AI beings were actually able to resurrect the Mother for one single, final day... but David willingly chose to die along with her, shutting himself down as he laid next to her. Like, upon reflection the theory posited here makes far more sense, obviously, but I bring that interpretation up to point out that shit, even if David actually did get what he wanted for realsies, there's no getting around the fact that it's extremely temporary, and that either way both the cloned mother and David die at the end. So basically, anyone complaining the movie has "some bullshit Spielbergian happy ending" has clearly never actually seen the bloody thing, because fairytale style narration and cutesy montage or not it is an extremely depressing tear jerker no matter what interpretation you take from it.

[@FreeTheTrolls]

I cannot agree with you more! I always believed he shut himself down as well. He longed to be with his mother....he got his wish and he was complete. He knew she would only live one day, so he made the decision that he would as well. I read another review that the futuristic mecha made this alternate reality for David to make him happy and that it was implanted in his mind. I don't know if that is true. Regardless, this movie is heartbreaking. I LOVE this movie because of the thought provoking nature and the beautiful cinematography but It's pure torture to watch. Just shows how wonderful the directing, acting and nature of this film ultimately is.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Decon Theed Most people forget that OG fairytales did not always have happy endings. A.I. just reminded people of that. "I am...I was."

[@Starlightean]

It came on tv last month and I had a momentary existential crisis especially due to the ending. I think the last time before that I saw the movie before adulthood. Then I'd just cry and feel bittersweet (David gets his mom but it's both their time to go) but this time I strongly related to the idea of finiteness of life and all that. I never saw this as a positive movie it is very much dystopian.

[@1qwasz12]

@@FreeTheTrolls Where in the movie can you find mechas turning themselves off? Gigolo Joe would have liked to known.

[@ShootMeMovieReviews]

The theory here makes more sense? No. You were right the first time.

[@zerocool8218]

"I had to take a break when i watched this film." Yeah, i am right there with you. I treat this film like a mini series and watch it in parts because it is a HARD watch. I love it, but it is an emotional roller coaster that will leave you an absolute shell of your former self if you don't know what you are getting yourself into. The first time i watched this movie i was physically tired afterwards and just wanted to wrap every single member of my family in a hug and never let go. This movie is harsh, and uncaring, and will deconstruct your brain and reassemble it in a way you no longer recognize and it is one of my favorite movies ever because of how much it makes me feel and how hard it is to watch.

[@bennokraehe4470]

It's a deep film. I felt similarly after watching it at age 11 and then again at 21 when I was old enough to actually comprehend it emotionally. I think this is a film I'll watch again for the rest of my life but only once a decade more or less. That's how I've watched it so far anyways.

[@nawal8821]

I love this movie. I saw it when I was a kid and it deeply affected me, that last act was so painful to watch it made me cry so much also haley osment was a great child actor

[@KindredGh0st]

Nawal I'm with you... This film was watchable. Unlike last Jedi. Fuck that movie.

[@daniellourenco1967]

I hate this movie for the same reason...I guess it did its job too well

[@jondstewart]

Nawal This movie must’ve also traumatized you as a kid! There are so many scenes in the movie that are Rather strange and might scare or upset a child. Especially the scene where David was abandoned by Monica and also the part where he learns the truth of his existence when going to a waterlogged Manhattan.

[@kalkanciii]

heres my story with this movie, i was a young boy constantly going to my local area cinema for couple of euros to watch random movies and one day i went into this movie and came out of it super intrigued it had a huge impact on me i realised how much i liked sci-fi movies. it was such a pleasant moment in my childhood.

[@TylerPoppe]

I have to say, you are one of the most fresh and detailed movie reviewers I've seen since Ebert. You give me faith in the movie culture that I think has been in a comatose state for quite some time. I have never before teared up in a movie review before. For the people that love this movie we have been trapped in our own minds unable to clearly explain our devotion to this film like you have. You have given us the gift of freedom in your poetic explanation of a film we all knew in our hearts was brilliant. Thanks!

[@filmjoy]

+Tyler Poppe [m] This is the nicest comment ever. Thank you so much.

[@simonjeste]

Me love MoviesWithMikey so much, me want to punch a wall or kick a puppy because I CAN NOT SUBSCRIBE MORE THAN ONE TIME. in other words, thanks times infinity for your signal amongst the noise of KZbinrs "reviewing" stuff -- keep up the quality and the funnies, don't get throat cancer pleeeeeeeease!

[@filmjoy]

[m] Okay, I was afraid of getting throat cancer until now ...

[@TylerPoppe]

Who is Nostalgia Critic... is that your poor attempt at trying to sound smart and make it seem like all Chainsawsuit Original reviews are nostalgic bodies of work? Lindsay Ellis is meh at best and where most of her ideas are pretty forced huffington post style thoughts. Bob Chipman... seriously dude. I'm trying to find your agenda here. Do you just like boring snooze fests for movie reviews that really say almost nothing? Try harder next time bud.

[@yltraviole]

Tyler Poppe wait... So you know who Lindsay Ellis is, but not Nostalgia Critic? She'd be happy to hear that!

[@Draukagrissah]

Something a lot of people miss in this movie is how robots, despite or even in spite of their programming, show just as much if not MORE empathy and compassion as the humans in this movie (save perhaps David's mom). Multiple robots show empathy for David's plight and try to help him. Joe, at this cost of his life, tries to save David at the end. In the far future, the absurdly advanced robots, who absolutely have access to wireless capabilities that probably extend past the edge of the fucking *solar system* -- they TOUCH each other to disseminate the information in David's memory. And despite the speed they can no doubt process that information, they take it in at a speed commensurate with David's point of view. Everything at the end is about comfort, they are comforting this poor lost remnant of their civilization. And even people who largely understand the ending try to "gotcha" sometimes in a way like "well if they're so powerful why don't they just reprogram him?" Because that's the same thing as euthanizing him. If they just reprogram David, then the David we know is irreparably lost. It's like having a family member with Alzheimers, or Dementia, something I'm sadly all too familiar with. Eventually you realize that the person you loved is gone forever, their body just hasn't caught up yet. The degeneration of their brain and nervous tissue has "reprogrammed" the near-computer that is a human mind into something different. That's why those diseases basically always come with mood changes, along with the memory loss. When you reprogram a machine, something gets lost, and the person that it was is gone. So the greatest mercy, the greatest *love* they can grant David is a lovely last day, and end his life in his sleep, in his mother's arms.

[@thebibagelguy6175]

I just discovered this through Lindsay Ellis's series The Whole Plate. I really enjoyed this episode, you just gained a new subscriber.

[@taqu]

Same! I trust Lindsay Ellis' judgment, and was not disappointed. This was great. Subbed!

[@msnorringtonsims6536]

I LOVE this. I never understood why people didnt like or get this film. It's actually one of the few 'Kubrik' films I adore. Most of his stuff goes right over my head and puts me to sleep :P Maybe I needed his thought process filtered through Spielberg lol I always found the whole concept of creating something to love you unconditionally and yet claiming no true responsibility for that thing, so fucking heartbreaking. It's like adopting a pet to fulfill your personal need for companionship and love, only to receive that and then give them away or put them down when caring for them becomes inconvenient. These people thought nothing of creating a mechanical being that could be programmed to love unconditionally and FOREVER to fill a personal desire, and then tossing it aside when it was no longer needed or wanted. What Monica does to David... it crushes my soul. Hell, I even feel bad for her jackass son. I mean, kid was obviously severely ill with something that actually 'killed' him. only to be revived and find his parents had replaced him with a fucking robot. No wonder he was such an asshole to David, who appeared to be the perfect, healthy, programmable child that he could never be. As for that ending, I figured the machines killed David, but it never occurred to me that the whole bringing his mother back had been in his head. I was absolutely flabbergasted that Teddy had survived so long. Now it makes much more sense. David's death though, the one true kindness he was served throughout the whole story. In fact, the only genuine selfless kindness he ever received was from other machines and not humans. how fucked up is that?

[@Cagebreaker]

Perfect and so fucked-up. The scene with the advanced mecha in the future brings to mind Monica’s choice earlier in the film. Should we deactivate David or make him live? Monica answers that problem with all of the selfishness of a human. David was only there to meet her emotional needs after she thought she lost her real son. She doesn’t want the guilt of deactivating (killing) David and mistakenly is convinced that sparing the android child would be an act of mercy when it’s the very opposite. The futuristic mecha, posed with the same sort of issue, respond with true empathy and mercy, peacefully deactivating David. They can see the little android leads (and that he would continue to lead) a tortured existence of forever seeking out the love and affection of a human that had abandoned him centuries ago, seeking out love that could never be returned, his programming forever unfulfilled. As much as I’m sure they’d love to keep him around and through him, keep learning about the humans... they can see what their human progenitors would ignore.. that it is cruel to create and keep active this little being that will never receive what it’s looking for.

[@beranx]

I agree with almost everything, but my biggest gripe is Teddy. I'll tell you why. Number one, Teddy is seen a couple of times throughout the movie sewing and mending himself. Look at the bottom of his feet. He is a worn toy, who takes care of himself because Monica and Martin sure don't care about him all that much. Teddy is INCREDIBLY intelligent. He serves no specific purpose other than being a toy but that is actually a good thing. He has no severe objective the way David, or even Joe do. He can kind of exist one minute to the next with his own teddy bear thoughts and desires. I've seen him compared to Jiminy Cricket, that he is David's Jiminy Cricket. While he is the closest parallel, it is like you said. Essentially this isn't just some Pinocchio movie or reprise. This is something with its own story. And Teddy is smart. He knows David is a mecha like him without any real prompting. He warns David against eating the spinach. He also looks morbidly concerned at Martin telling David to cut his mother's hair. He is also IN the room when David does it. Maybe to keep an eye on him? It's Teddy's personal perogative throughout the movie to constantly be with David, look for him, look after him and care for him. He didn't need imprinting. He essentially has free will. He chooses to be there for David. I would not doubt that Teddy sewed a little pocket into himself to keep sewing supplies in case of an accident he could have, or just for personal care. So it's also safe to assume he'd use his teddy bear free will to put other things inside the pocket(s) he may have. Teddy seems so intelligent and aware, I wouldn't be surprised if he saved the hair when it fell beside him. Maybe because somewhere in his mind the thing Martin said about a movie with a princess with the prince's hair winning his love, made sense. Maybe Teddy thought "well, this could be useful, or maybe it will mean something to David to have it" and he put the hair in his pocket. The high Mecha read David's thoughts and memories, yeah? And they could have read Teddy's. But if they didn't, how would they have known that during the hair cutting incident that Teddy was there when it happened, sitting on the floor by the bed? When they open the amphibicopter and see David for the first time, they use their hands, and it shakes David as he seems to turn back on. It's reasonable to think they repaired him, right? And so couldn't they repair Teddy? I mean, Teddy may be intelligent but I'm sure the way he was built wasn't complicated. He certainly wouldn't be as hard to turn back on as David could have been. They could have fixed him. And then, if that is the case and they read Teddy's memories, at that point you could say the hair thing was made up. Implanted in Teddy's mind that he saved it and they gave him the hair (whether it was fake, holographic, it doesn't matter) We also hear in the ending voiceover that David was warned that he should not tell Monica about his adventures, as it may confuse her and "spoil the fun". The original Monica presumably was aware, via Professor Hobby, of some of the things David went through. This Monica being "reincarnated" could startle easily, but it is more likely she's a hologram or something like that. We also don't see on screen when the high Mecha warn David against telling his mother about the adventures. So who knows what time they had between finding David and Teddy, to the time where they bring Monica back. They could have fixed Teddy in that time. Or even actually reincarnated a being from some DNA. I believe half and half that Monica is really a reincarnated form. She could just as easily be fake, but even then, I do very much think Teddy is still alive and well. Don't diss him for being a toy.. he was like the most aware and sensible person through out. Thanks. I love your videos! And your talking about this, my absolute most favorite movie. This movie is like, the missing piece of me. It's a part of my soul and the external extension of who I am as a person.

[@ovo627]

To add on to this. The heartbreaking reality of the last shot is that Teddy is completely abandoned, just like David was in the woods. He watches someone that he was devoted to for 2000 years just slip away and he is left alone in an alien (advanced robot) world where he has no one to care for or be cared by.

[@takethescenicroutee]

@@ovo627 Perfect addition.

[@oliverbrownlow5615]

He is *not* a toy!

[@spinosaurusstriker]

I found him more human than David .

[@johnathonhaney8291]

I once called this film "the greatest film Stanley Kubrick never made". Never did tumble onto what was actually going on in the last scene...but did those details really matter? The ending was the same, regardless: David accepting the final piece of being human in "dying". And yeah, it's sad as hell. But his "descendant" does give a little speech on how, despite being utter shits who earned our extinction, we humans also mattered. That's a fairly Kubrickian thought as well. Haley Joel Osment left it all on the field with this performance. It's a shame he's better known for Sixth Sense because he gives the most capable child actor performance since Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver here...not even kidding.

[@jondstewart]

Johnathon Haney I wished Stanley Kubrick had lived longer to direct this movie, but it would have been a serious challenge. He wanted to use a real robot to play David and there was nothing more than metal boxes at the time. It would’ve not been all sad and depressing, Kubrick has made a lot of dark movies but you never feel bad for the characters on a personal level. Alex from A Clockwork Orange was the most sympathetic character he ever created and he was the villain!

[@ChrisMaxfieldActs]

@@jondstewart And Group Captain Lionel Mandrake. He almost saved the human race.

[@eventhorizon]

I couldn't understand how people didn't see the ending as being the way you stated... It seriously destroyed me when I watched it... I've seen it twice, and honestly, it hurt me enough the first time that I only watched it a second 'cause a friend threw it on. It's a great movie, but it's definitely not one I can handle too many times!

[@FreeTheTrolls]

I agree. It's heart breaking. But so is life...artificial life or not.

[@jondstewart]

eventhorizon I was trying to think positive when I saw the ending, because I honestly thought Monica was a good person inside, but very dysfunctional and angry. The hair strands only took her good side to let David experience from her what he really wanted.

[@xaicho]

This reading of the ending actually makes me feel better about it. I honestly could only watch this movie once because it gutted me so deeply (like, the clip in here of him pleading to his mom not to leave him drove me to cry and it was like not even 20 seconds) so I haven't watched it again to give it another critical dissection. Initially the ending sorta turned me off because 1, the CG looks really cheesy. 2, I thought it bookended everything too neatly as in, he finally got everything he wanted, the end. Thinking back on it, I don't think I caught the whole space time thing. I thought that they just programmed an experience with his mother based on his memory. Anyway, turning him off humanizes him even more because as a robot there's nothing lost, he can be re-created again. Turning him off signifies a life span, an acknowledgement that what he's experiencing has to come to an end. That allowing him to live with this visceral need that'll never be met because the one thing he wants is dead in the past is cruel. This actually allows me to reconcile the initial feelings I had about the ending to where I can say I honestly loved the movie as a whole. I just can't watch it again.

[@Yoseqlo1]

You are goddamn right.

[@nope5657]

Urgh, what? The CGI still looks great.

[@vidkidloserface]

Same! I could only watch this once because it gutted me so thoroughly. I watched it when I was young though, so I didn't think he was turned off at the end. I thought he had to live forever, but at least he had that one final day. I cannot overstate how happy I am that I found this video. It's given me a lot of peace. I was also traumatized by the end because, being young, it was a very upset by the idea that all humanity was dead. I've seen countless post-apocalypse movies, but I can't think of a single one where there wasn't at least one human still alive.

[@bennokraehe4470]

I've seen the movie three times over the past 20 years, once as a kid, once at 11, and then just recently as an adult. I reacted a bit differently each time but when I was 11 I just remember the final scene leaving me a very unique emotion. I got that same emotion after watching it recently and I think it's a kind of melancholy: a profound but almost calming sense of grief and sorrow. It's a healthy and natural emotion, melancholy, and it indicates a capacity for empathy. Needless to say, this movie is pretty deep if you stop to think about it.

[@meyerpictures]

Martin isn't wrong. He acts horribly, but he's still a kid (granted one not well behaved at all). Imagine you're in his place, where your parents got a "replacement" for you. They couldn't deal with their loss like adults. They had to run out and immediately get another kid because dammit they want one. The parents are the real villains. They aren't smart. They don't ever think about their kids, only what THEY want. Even when they drop off the robot boy, they don't communicate with him what they should do. They never communicate with them.

[@meyerpictures]

Great video by the way, I was recommended by Lindsay Ellis and it was not wasted.

[@meyerpictures]

I do think it's worth pointing out that the ending right before the aliens is pretty good in that David has technically achieved his programmed goal by finding the blue fairy, though the context of what it actually is makes it tragic according to human logic.

[@jondstewart]

jedisquidward Martin was an asshole, but many 11 and 12-year-old boys are at that age. It was definitely competition for him because he was an only child

[@Catcafeallday]

Please review bicentennial man Please review bicentennial man Please review bicentennial man Please review bicentennial man

[@Lady_in_Yearning]

And Gex continued to pray in the KZbin's comment section, forever. Eventually, his PC shut down due to unpaid electric bill, but Gex still adressed the dead screen, in hope. As everything around around him turned into a mess and rusted away, he prayed, ignoring a pile of eviction notices, locked together with a screen covered in dust. But he could still make it out, a black rectangle, always there, always awaiting him. Eventually He never moved at a-oh-kay, I gotta stop, this is DARK. Damn you, Kubrick!

[@patrickmann3123]

Gex The Stampede Book great,film massive let down for me.

[@thehorseformerlywithoutana2522]

Please don't x 5

[@beranx]

A.I. and Bicentennial Man are my favorite movies everrrr

[@peachscreams]

I remember watching this movie when I was 10, I openly weeped on my floor for 3 hours afterwards.

[@lfgarrocho]

I really hated A.I. ending. Now I like it. You showed me qualities that made me enjoy something and now I'm a happier person for it. Thank you.

[@nemowindsor8724]

This movie made me cry buckets when I watched it. I was with my family and I had to keep pausing it to sob uncontrollably (they were...much less affected). Even hearing you recount the end put a lump in my throat and pinpricks in my eyes. I love this movie. Love it so much. It's just a devastating piece of celluloid, I'm so glad you're defending it.

[@obedojeda7002]

I remember watching this as a kid and it really depressing me. Haven't seen the movie since then but It really stuck with me. I remember almost everything. That's the Mark of a good movie.

[@ShirDeutch]

When I watched this movie back when it was released, I pretty much had the same reaction you're describing here. By the time this review was done, I was tearing up from a movie I didn't particularly like at the time, and now I really want to watch it again. Congratulations! You managed to change someone's mind, on the internet!

[@starbrand3726]

KABOOM! That was my mind being blown. I never realized David died at the end or that Teddy would have been long dead. I also mistakenly thought those were aliens too.

[@leoelliondeux]

You can tell the first shot for the ending was completely Kubrick’s idea. So beautiful and iconic

[@ScottJohnHarrison]

I got the fact that David died at the end of the film...I just didn't realise that the robots put him out of his misery. It still is one of my favourite Spielberg films. I had to actually look up haley Joel Osment since I didn't know anything he did and also didn't realise he was the same actor as in sixth sense. And looking up his recent movies I guess I have to finally get around to watching Tusk.

[@gdawg2389]

+Scott John Harrison Yeah, I don't think the other AIs had anything to do with his death. That's just speculation on the part of the reviewer.

[@ProfDCoy]

Yeah I don't understand how anyone could have possibly fooled themselves that this movie had a Spielbergian ending. It gave away the premise of the ending just before it happened: you have a very very low percentage chance that the being we're about to (re)create (who will not be your actual mother, because she's long dead) will last for longer than a day. So enjoy that 24 hours I guess! That is bleak. Who the fuck thought that was a schmaltzy Spielberg ending? Even ignoring the implications and the conclusions this video and its creator makes, that is STILL not hopeful or happy. What kind of a fucking idiot thinks this was a cheeseball Spielberg ending? I was a literal CHILD and I got that this movie was desolating. If you can't see that then you're an emotional incompetent.

[@Spl1nter699]

Your "GOT 'EM!" gets me every-time.

[@tommclaughlin5360]

I know this is 3.5 years after the fact, but that's the beauty of KZbin right? I've always loved A.I. and it's almost like I've felt embarrassed for liking it. Almost had to treat it as a guilty pleasure movie. Watching it in secret on my day off every now and then. I've always argued the beings at the end were super-crazy-advanced robots of the future in a world where humans are no longer around. However I've never even remotely pondered David's future beyond the movie. The idea of turning him off... I'm just floored by it. I love it so much and I too wish that, at the very least if not David, the audience was made aware of this (remember, we need to be shown, not told). Also as a side note, you have far and away my favorite intro and outro sequences of any series I watch on KZbin.

[@DaveBarrack]

"But did you KNOoooOOW" kills me every time. Great review as always!

[@scms2528]

This film really moved me. The last scene had me sobbing.

[@ryanrod6990]

"This movie thinks people are dumb. BUT DID YOU KNOW? People thought that AI was A1, a steak sauce"

[@scoutboo]

I love this movie, it breaks my heart every time. I get so sad seeing Teddy sit on the edge of the bed at the end, abandoned just like David was

[@grandmotherproductions9380]

Your videos are so fun. They're also convincing me to go back and watch movies I hadn't seen awhile.

[@sealchan1]

Emotion motivated by self-preservation is indeed a most human quality...valuing time spent in relationship to someone else gives you a sense of value and meaning deeper than one can explain. David, as the last relic of an extinct race (humanity), is a fitting swan song of human ingenuity and represents so much of what it means to be human.

[@tastytuba1647]

I watched this in year 9 English. I have been confused about this movie for ages, and youve now cleared it up. Thank you.

[@lray801]

You freaking nailed it here. I've loved this movie from day one but I never thought of the ending as you explained it. However, the INSTANT you went down that path, my mind got there as if it had made sense all along. Good work.

[@SwitchFeathers]

teddy420noscope is my favorite film character. rest in pepperoni.

[@skippertrey]

I just found you through Lindsay Ellis's new video, and I can't believe I haven't seen any of your work until now. Love you analysis on this film, dude. I forget sometimes just how dark this movie can be.

[@ApollodoraTheExplora]

Ok... whoa. I’ve loved this film for a long time and I’ve been studying film for 12 years, but you really blew my mind in this one. I’m getting so many new layers of appreciation for it! Thank you so much for all your insight and wisdom!!!

[@megaroo6110]

Long story, but I had to write this. I think what messed me up so much, and I mean turned me into a sobbing, snot covered, puddle on my bathroom floor crying so hard I couldn’t catch my breath, was realizing, during that scene in the woods when David is abandoned, that somewhere on Earth there is a child that feels those exact feelings. Somewhere there is a child begging to be loved and some selfish adult is rejecting them. It doesn’t help that I have a little boy who looks almost exactly like Haley Joel Osmond. After rewatching that scene, despite my better judgment, I had to immediately run to my sons rooms and do whatever I could, at 9:30 at night, to make them happy. I begged them to let me do something for them, I needed to see a smile on a child’s face. That turned into going to three stores to find their favorite ice cream and batteries for the Oculus, but it was the only thing that could snap me out of the gut wrenching, grief monster this movie made me into. So yeah, this movie messed me up something awful, luckily I have very empathetic kids who sat with me eating ice cream while sharing stories about movies or video games that have messed our heads up.

[@PLACHZIG]

With ChatGPT out watching this movie is a completely different trip.

[@DennyLewis]

This is one of the most difficult movies to watch I've ever experienced. Thank you for the additional information on why it exists.

[@NicksKnives.]

I absolutely love this movie. Watched it for the first time as a kid and cried endlessly. This was also the first thing that ever made me think about my own parents mortality.

[@pdahandyman]

Mind officially blown. While I have long loved/feared this movie for its storytelling/emotional pummeling, I did not quite get the ending. You cleared this up for me, making me even more depressed, but satisfied.

[@sandstormxx]

I remember watching this movie as a young teen on tv. I thought it was so sad! It was a happiness, but only for a day. And then what after that day? The fact you say that they turned him off makes it even sadder, but also I'm glad because the idea that he's alone forever depressed me as a child. When I got older and discovered the internet, I found out people said the ending was 'happy'. What?????? In what world?? Because its been so long since I watched it I can't be a defender of the movie since I haven't seen it with adult eyes. But I'm an AI truther in that the ending is not fucking happy. I'm glad this review acknowledged this? I've seen a few defences similar to this and I'm glad that AI is getting more recognition now. It certainly left an impact on me as a teen, I should definitely rewatch it. SO. FUCKING. SAD.

[@TheBoromirDonkey]

Thank you so much. I was thoroughly freaked out by this movie when I first watched it. Really gut wrenching.

[@teruhiiko]

I watched this movie in the cinema when it came out, and I remember crying, really crying-tears-into-my-popcorn-bucket at the ending (ehem, that shit was embarrassing). Fast forward to this review, and I found myself again with tears flowing down my cheeks as you talked about it. The scene where David's mother abandons him IS indeed a masterhouse performance by Haley Joel Osment that tears my heart out, smashes it to bits, and throws those bits back at my face. Thanks for your review. I learned a lot about this movie, particularly Kubrick's contribution to it.

[@stephenrains6209]

i'm so glad you actually wanted to say something good about this movie. i watched this movie for the first time when i was about 8 or 10 and it absolutely shook me. it was the first movie that showed me how much weight and meaning films could carry. and years later i had heard people saying that "it's really not that great" or "it's one of Spielberg's worst movies" and then i saw the Nostalgia Critic review of it and i was kinda worried that i was the only one who felt this way about it. but it feels so good to hear someone else talk about it so passionately.

[@Samanosuke1138]

Two things. 1. You earned my subscription with this video. Its very informative, positive, and wonderful to listen to. I also love this movie, so watching this video really invoked a lot of emotion from me. Second, you must really really be angry at TGI Fridays lol..

[@fightmilk8870]

This movie gave me existential crisis for weeks 😩

[@elphiascutie3]

i thought the ending was heartbreaking before you got a hold of it. thanks i'm crying again... T.T

[@riparianlife97701]

My absolute favorite Jude Law performance.

[@DonatelloEsq]

I just can't get past how upset this movie made me in 2002. I went home and hugged my mom, she had no idea what the hell was wrong with me.

[@eseval]

This video is pure gold man.

[@Car1Sagan]

This film made me cry 21 years ago.

[@FD3St]

Great work as always, Mikey. I'd love to hear your take on Demolition Man, too. If nothing else, to know how to use the three shells.

[@louisrovegno542]

People were walking out of the theater in the third act when I saw this. The narration at the end was so jarring and over-the-top.

[@TigerThyme]

Ooh, I'd love to see one on The Fountain. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember it being very deep.

[@pescando]

Was that Edie Falco? And that ending man. Iced earth. Humanity is gone. That's heavy stuff.

[@JasonDeluna]

I only caught the last twenty minutes r so of this movie years ago. Made me cry Your dissection makes me feel better, this was a sad movie. On the other hand years later I am on the verge of tears again remembering the movie, Thanks

[@TheBetterGamer]

I just watched this movie and it wrecked me. Thank god they added that ending, or else I would have not been so emotional. See, without the ending we got that emotional attachment to his mother would have meant literally nothing; because she abandons him and we don't see her again! Getting closure like he did was a smart idea imo

[@cristonsloan]

Thank you for articulating in an emotional yet perfectly logical manner why this is such an amazingly good movie.

[@corlissmedia2.0]

Really enjoyed this video. Didn't know any of that ending at all. Thank you.

[@UndeadSlayer5]

Wow im watching one of ur videos for the first time and i have to im really impressed i thought i wouldnt see another really good reviewer in a while great job

[@barcodetheworld]

Love how you take a film that I'm 50/50 on and help me understand it better and love it.

[@markles1588]

I just realised that David doesn't sleep, robots can't sleep. And at the end is the only scene where he closes his eyes and sleep. Just watch the movie today and realising this I am bawling again

[@CodiacPhoenix]

PSA: super fun to watch his videos with captions on. Absolutely entertaining.

[@Merck088]

Wow. Next level review. Great work.

[@malcolmkiki]

Great video but that beat in the beginning is fire!

[@sparklesupreme8170]

I was very young when I watched this about 8 and it was so captivating. I didn't pick up the details then but the emotion it gave off is unique to this day

[@a.t.c.3862]

The King's Speech and Shakespeare in Love were fantastic 😍

[@31FilmTalk]

Very well done! I remember watching this on VHS back in the day when I was kinda young still. I thought it was something quite different. I know the episode of Nostalgia Critic made some good points and you did as well.

[@ohshiettszdope]

I loved this movie growing up. I saw it on HBO when they played it. I just wish you would go into a deeper dive into the film because there is so much to speak on.

[@evil-wombat]

Another major clue for the ending (even bigger than the silhouette, erm, foreshadowing) is Joe's line: "We are suffering for the mistakes they made because when the end comes, all that will be left... is us."

[@kawh8719]

Godamnit mikey, you break down another movie i have to rewatch now. ;)

[@LowGuppy]

I vote for Demolition Man. Saw it again a few years back and it held up way better than I expected. I think it fits the format the best too. I went into The Fountain really wanting to like it, and there was a lot of cool stuff going on, but I came away feeling like it didn't really deliver. It was visually impressive but the story was kind of a mess.

[@SnakeofJune]

Great review! I'd love to see your take on Zodiac!

[@jasonskelton5784]

Beautifully done.

[@adamkouzmanoff7733]

On my initial viewing of A.I., I thought that the ending wasn't too sweet, but just that it was too long, and that I felt like the movie ended like three times, the first two times I almost wish it had just cut to credits. I didn't even think to process that the "aliens" at the end were anything but, and I think that it severely impacted my view of the movie, because whatever they did or could do, it felt like an unnecessary deus ex machina. I really want to rewatch it now, and maybe drag someone along to watch the MwM afterwards to discuss.

[@superbleep]

I've never thought about the "euthanasia" angle, somehow I was too focused on David's momentary measure of grace after so much pain and suffering to even consider the inevitable conclusion. I'm glad "cinema wins" brought me to your channel !

[@CourtneyHelen1]

I always say this is my favourite movie because it was the first movie that made me cry, and that’s true. But I was quite young when I saw it (perhaps between 12 and 14? I’m not sure). Anyway, watching this has made me really want to re watch it as an adult. Great video!

[@dudeatos]

Even though this movie emotionally destroyed me as a kid, I love it to this day and will jump to it's defense in a heartbeat.

[@mattywilliams7016]

I haven't thought about A.I. in a very long time but I think after this I owe the film a re-watch. I remember being disturbed by the flesh fair and the ending definitely didn't register with me at the time, but I was impressed with the acting, especially Haley Joel Osment and Frances O'Connor. My vote for the next MWM would be The Fountain. I really wanted to like that movie but it just didn't work for me. As always, amazing work and I look forward to the next one!

[@nothingisforyouhere]

I watched this movie as a young child (like 7-9) and it gave me an existential crisis and is probably a contributing factor to my separation anxiety.

[@poratu.aremdaru]

The nanny meltdown scene still haunts me to this day.

[@adamhendrickson512]

I felt really really really sad for David when he got to spend just one day with his mum after praying for 2000 years. If I could ever make an alternate ending to the film, I would have had the aliens extract all the information from the DNA of his mum's hair and put David into a state of hibernation and have him experience his mother's love for eternity. A kid deserves so much after praying for 2 centuries. BRILLIANT film by Spielberg...

[@dwa9]

Just wanted to let you know, you make quality stuff. This is lit yo.

[@xenonglow4047]

This was like listening to the film studies bro from your extended friend group ramble about his favorite movie for the quarter of an hour before you manage to lose him in the crowd at the house party

[@sanguination]

Ahh, one of my unsung favorites from growing up. This, along with Sunshine and the Fifth Element, some of my favorite sci-fi movies finally getting the Mikey treatment. Thanks! Also, please do The Fountain, since that's (in my opinion) Aronofsky's best film, and I'd love to watch you prove me wrong.

[@jirris]

I remember that I saw this movie but couldn't remember anything about it. After watching this video, I remember why now. Seeing a child go through that much awful suffering fucking broke me.

[@ZChango]

This review was great and I appreciate the insights into its creation! Demolition Man please. Also I never posted, but your Ladyhawke review made me remember a childhood classic. I re-watched it and enjoyed it almost as much as the first time, maybe more so.

[@JoelChenFa]

OMG you completely changed how I saw this movie.

[@renaadams9369]

Even with a "But did you knooooooow" Andre Gregory role in Demolition Man, my vote is gonna have to go for The Fountain.

[@markzambelli]

"But did you knooooow?" LMFAO...Everytime!

[@sebytro]

I just watched this on HBO Max. I didn't get the ending the same as you mentioned, but more of it being David's choice and his way of going to a permanent sleep. Kind of like a shut down sequence, since his objective was complete. You also didn't mention that the ending makes a good circle around to the beginning of the movie: if an AI can love a person, can the person love the AI? The ending sequence confirms that and that's what brought me to tears.

[@blacksun45]

I remember seeing this movie in theaters when I was 10 and I bawled like no other

[@sameersyed5308]

honestly i watched this movie many years back and it broke me the fairy scene and last sceen torn my heart apart the boy acted oscar performance his stare i still remember

[@godlessgoth213]

I've only seen this movie once. I loved it. It moved me. If I watch it again I will most likely cry all the way through it or through most of it.

[@IronChuck]

Suddenly appreciating this film like I never had before...

[@liamearly4883]

Fantastic video

[@BstonJoker5]

Omg well done!!!

[@adamdavis4690]

I’m not crying! Your crying!!😭