“David had never had a birthday party because David had never been born.”
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Steven Spielberg’s movies have always been crowd pleasers. Throw in two Oscar nominations and nods from BAFTA and the Golden Globes, add a few giants stars, and you’ve got a surefire hit, right?
The sci-fi drama A.I. Artificial Intelligence had an extremely long journey to its 2001 release, one that even its director didn’t join until years after its inception.
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At first, Steven Spielberg’s A.I. was Stanley Kubrick’s A.I., which the late director based on the short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” about a couple who adopt a robotic child in a dystopian future.
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Kubrick began developing the adaptation in the ‘70s. Despite doing extensive pre-production into the ‘80s, he decided the special effects of the time weren’t up to the task.
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Through these years of production, Kubrick talked to his friend Spielberg frequently about A.I. After the release of Jurassic Park in 1994, Kubrick knew technology had finally caught up to his vision. He even asked Spielberg to direct it.
As Spielberg tells the Los Angeles Times, he deflected but ultimately signed on to A.I., then backed out again, feeling guilty for taking the movie from Kubrick. Only after Kubrick died in 1999 did Spielberg take on the project.
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It’s hard to think of a less likely film partnership than Kubrick and Spielberg. Kubrick was an intense, even abusive director to work with, and his films delve into dark psychological themes.
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The rest of the film follows David on a quest to become a “real boy” through a world ruined by climate change and characterized by cruelty.
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Kubrick was right to wait decades to make A.I. While its 2001 CGI isn’t perfect by any means, Spielberg creates a future that’s as compelling to watch as it is horrifying.