A.I.: Kubrick vs. Spielberg

There is quite a difference between the two men in the title. Imagine, if you will, a war scene directed by Kubrick and then one directed by Spielberg. If you need some help, I've got a couple in mind. For Kubrick, there are the films Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket. In these films, the camera stands outside the scene, peering inside at the horrors of the wars depicted, Vietnam and World War 1.

For Spielberg, on the other hand, there are numerous films, perhaps more because he likes the subject or knows it well. The most famous examples of Spielberg war movies being Saving Private Ryan. In this film, the opening is the stellar example of Spielbergian war. The viewer may close their eyes and simply peak, but they are there. In the scene. They walk on the beaches of Normandy and hears the cries for mother that expel from the mouths of the soon-to-be-dead. They see the blood as it spatter into their collective eye, the lens of Spielberg. Spielberg lets you know that war is hell and hell can be necessary, but the film makes sure in the end that you must earn to love outside the hell. Live well, the film says, because so many young men can't.

So there's a bit of a difference between all out condemnation and acknowledgement of necessity involved. Those don't seem to mesh. In my opinion, they certainly don't. These two directors had vastly different viewpoints on the world, yet somehow, they collaborated. AI is the culmination of this collaboration. You've never seen it, dear reader? There's a reason. It doesn't live up to Kubrick's filmography nor Spielberg's better films. While there are some pieces that show adaptation of Spielberg's style to Kubrick's, they are scant and not worth the overlong runtime.