And there, farther along, is a Pinocchio exhibit, complete with a Blue Fairy-or, at least, the statue of one. Finally, ahead, he sees the remains of a sunken Coney Island. David is horrified and in a Luddite frenzy of his own destroys one of them, by now aware that he is hardly the unique creation he had supposed himself to be.įleeing in an amphibious helicopter, David and his Teddy bear plunge into the watery depths surrounding Manhattan. Hobby praises David’s unusual “human” abilities and explains that he is manufacturing a new line of duplicate “David” robot models-all designed to bring love to childless families. There David meets Professor Hobby, his maker.

Armed with information about her whereabouts, they head for the “city at the end of the world where the lions weep.” That destination turns out to be a ravaged, deserted, half-submerged Manhattan. Anxious for information about the whereabouts of the “Blue Fairy,” David persuades Joe to take him to “Rouge City,” a frenzied, neon pleasure palace, where they consult an electronic oracle named “Dr. David and his new friend, Joe (Jude Law), a “lover” robot-read that, gigolo robot-flee the area. But when these latter-day Luddites mistake David’s pleas for help as coming from a real boy, they demand his release. He is captured by a robot hunter named Lord Johnson-Johnson (Brendan Gleeson) and taken to a “Flesh Fair,” where spectator– filled bleachers cheer on the ritualized destruction of discarded robots. Several adventures await the young vagabond. David is convinced that if only he can seek out the Blue Fairy and become “a real boy” (he’s by now familiar with the story of Pinocchio’s transformation into a real boy with the assistance of the Blue Fairy), he can return and earn his mother’s love. Frictions immediately develop as Martin teases and taunts his robot “step-brother.” When David seems unable to blend in with the family, Monica abandons him in the woods and tells him to wander out into the world and not come back. David comes to Henry and Monica Swinton (Sam Robards and Frances O’Connor), who are facing the seeming loss of their cryogenically frozen, terminally-ill son, Martin.īut no sooner do David and his “parents” try to adjust to each other, than Martin is resuscitated and reunited with the family. In an attempt to correct this failing, robotics scientist Professor Hobby (William Hurt) of Cybertronics Manufacturing devises “David,” an eight-year old robot, a “mecha,” the first robot that can do something no artificial life form has ever been capable of doing-of experiencing love, and, hence, of being able to speculate, to dream. Yet, no matter how sophisticated these synthetic creatures are, they do not have feelings. Machines clean the house, tend the garden, babysit the kids, even provide sexual satisfaction for lonely men and women. In particular, robotic sciences are producing appliances that serve every human need. Although natural resources are limited, technology has advanced rapidly to serve the reduced population. In the world of the near future, the greenhouse effect has melted the ice caps and submerged many coastal cities, including New York. Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O’Connor, Sam Robards, Brendan Gleeson, and William Hurt. Visual Effects by Dennis Muren and Scott Farrar of Industrial & Magic. Production Design by Rick Carter and Bob Ringwood. Screenplay by Steven Spielberg, based on a screen story by Ian Watson and the short story, “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long,” by Brian Aldiss. Executive Producers: Jan Harlan and Walter F Parkes. Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Bonnie Curtis.

Artificial Intelligence (2001)Īn Amblin Production.

Observer system redux robot