History YMMV / AIArtificialIntelligence

* BrokenBase: Among fans of the film, there is a disagreement whether the time-skip ending improves the film or weakens it.
%%* CargoShip:

* HeReallyCanAct: Haley Joel Osment seamlessly transitions from an UncannyValley robot to a lost and unstable child desperate to find his mother.

** Oh, and that sappy ending? Yeah, all Kubrick. Spielberg went through with it because [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Kubrick was his friend and he wanted to keep his vision alive, even if it meant he'd be given all the blame for it]].

** Oh, and that sappy ending? Yeah, all Kubrick. Spielberg went through with it because Kubrick was his friend and he wanted to keep his vision alive.

*** An ''intentional'' example for David: is his childlish innocence an genuine act of free will or is he innocent simply because he is programmed to be that way?

* NightmareFuel:
** When David eats spinach, his face starts to droop and sag in the most '''unsettling''' way imaginable.
** The Flesh Fair scene; both the graphic destruction of the mechas and the unabashed sadistic glee displayed by the patrons as the violence unfolds.
** David finding another prototype of himself and smashing it with a lamp.
** One of the boxes they package the David robots moved for a moment.

* VillainHasAPoint: Something that seems to have been left deliberately ambiguous with Brendon Gleeson's character, the Ringmaster at the Flesh Fair. Sure, he combines all of the most despicable qualities of a revival-tent faith-healing huckster, an AmoralAttorney, and a barker at a house of ill repute; and the audience ultimately denounces him as [[YouMonster a monster]] while [[ProducePelting showering him with projectiles]]. However, a question raised by his little speech warning his audience not to let the exceptional artistry by which David was crafted fool them into mistaking him for a real boy continues to linger: what if he's ''right''? Even if one can still make a case that pandering to one's baser instincts (blood-lust, sadism, and vandalism) by trashing robots is an utterly despicable occupation, doesn't his claim that David is just another robot replacement for real humans and that such replacements degrade humanity ("God's children") stand up pretty well to philosophical scrutiny, especially in view of what the story indicates ultimately happened to humanity?

* HeCanReallyAct: Haley Joel Osment seamlessly transitions from an UncannyValley robot to a lost and unstable child desperate to find his mother.

** One of the David boxes moved for a moment.

** Its not hard to see David during his tantrums and struggles, as less of [[NotAllowedToGrowUp a tragic victim of circumstance]], and more of a ''spoiled brat'' when his "love-centric programming" is thwarted. The ending cements [[ItsAllAboutMe his total selfishness]] [[spoiler: when he drags the long-dead woman (he's supposed to love), back to life, ''[[ResurrectionSickness for a mere 24 hours before she dies again]]''. Damned be the consequences]].

* FreudWasRight: David's entire journey is ultimately about winning the unconditional love of his mommy and when he does, he goes "to that place where dreams are born".

* CargoShip: Just a little?

* UnfortunateImplications: The Flesh Fair is essentially the lynch mob of the future, which, in the hands of an American filmmaker, makes it a little uncomfortable that the first robot executed onscreen resembles [[BlackDudeDiesFirst a black man]]. In what was probably a preemptive AuthorsSavingThrow, Spielberg includes a shot of a black human family cheering on the robot's demise from the stands.

* EndingFatigue: Some believe that the movie should have ended [[spoiler: with David continuously wishing to be a real boy to the carnival Blue Fairy underwater]] (and still others feel it should have ended [[spoiler: with David committing suicide]])... but it kept going... and going... AND GOING.

* FreudWasRight: David's entire journey is ultimately about winning the unconditional love of his mommy.

* OlderThanTheyThink: ''Pinocchio'' with robots? The idea's been done as early as the 1950s, thanks to [[Creator/OsamuTezuka Osamu Tezuka's]] ''Manga/AstroBoy''.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Martin as a JerkassWoobie, think about it: the kid comes out of the cryogenic coma he was in, only to find out his parents have replaced him with a RobotKid. JerkAss tendencies may well be justified there

* HateDumb: There's a VERY common--practically ''default''--mindset that Spielberg "ruined" Kubrick's original vision for the film--holders of such view making a point to verbally speculate on WhatCouldHaveBeen, had Kubrick lived to see "his" vision through. Just one problem: Kubrick ''wanted'' Spielberg to do the film--and even when he ''had'' been considering directing the film himself, Kubrick would regularly consult Spielberg for insight, as Stanley felt the subject matter was more up Steven's alley.

* InferredHolocaust
* MisBlamed: Surprisingly, Kubrick was the mastermind behind the fuzzy Pinocchio subplot, while Spielberg introduced the dark grittiness of stuff like the Flesh Fair.

* NightmareFuel: When David eats spinach, his face starts to droop and sag in the most '''unsettling''' way imaginable.

* UncannyValley: Turned on its head here, as most of the humanlike robots are played by live actors - but used to very good effect with CGI-enhanced, partially-broken androids, and many scenes where David just doesn't... seem... quite... human. Like the one where he "breaks" after eating human food.

* VindicatedByHistory: The film was viewed as good, but not as highly received as Kubrick's previous films, [[MisBlamed with some of the blame being given to Spielberg's "meddling"]]. However, that response has softened since and the film has been received along with Kubrick's others as a masterpiece, a pattern that been carried with almost all of his filmography.

* TheWoobie: Oh, come on. Who didn't want to reach through the screen and give poor little David a hug?

* UncannyValley: Turned on its head here, as most of the humanlike robots are played by live actors - but used to very good effect with CGI-enhanced, partially-broken androids, and many scenes where David just doesn't... seem... quite... human. Like the one where he "breaks" after eating human food. This troper recalls hearing that Osment suggested that David should never blink.

** Notably, Creator/RogerEbert initially gave it a score of 3 stars out of 4, and criticized the ending, but now has included it in his "[[RogerEbertGreatMoviesList Great Movies]]" list.