School of Social Sciences and Education

GED104 Cluster – Science, Technology and Society

Instructions and Guide Questions for Film Analysis 1 (FA 1)

Name: Regil Kent O. Roldan_____________ Date: 05/07/22_____

Section: REM03__________________________ Course: BSCE_____

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
      
BEFORE DO NOT
COMPLETING THIS REVIEW PLAGIARIZE!
ASSESSMENT, RESPOND TO THE ANSWER IN YOUR WORK
FOLLOW THE TYPE YOUR
PLEASE READ ALL OF REQUIREMENTS ESSAY BEFORE PLAGIARISM IS A
INSTRUCTIONS. ANSWERS WELL.
THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE TASK. FORM. SUBMITTING MAJOR OFFENSE
THOROUGHLY AND IT. THAT LEADS TO
CAREFULLY. EXPULSION.

Instructions: In a film analysis, you systematically evaluate a film’s effectiveness including

what it does well and what it does poorly. It can be used to discuss a science and technology
documentary film. You must review the film carefully and may need to look up terms or
concepts you are unfamiliar with or research related reading prior to writing your analysis.
Watch the film, A. I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) directed by Steven Spielberg available in
Netflix.

Write a short film analysis using the format below and answer the following guide questions as
concisely as possible.

1) Introduction

A. I. Artificial Intelligence is a sci-fi drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film
was released worldwide on the big screens on June 29, 2001. The major characters for the film
were starred by Haley Joel Osment as David, the main A.I. character in the film, Frances
O’Connor and Sam Robards as Monica and Henry Swinton, respectively, Jake Thomas as Martin
Swinton, and Jude Law as Gigolo Joe. The film has won 17 awards and was nominated 71 times.
The film showed what would happen if an A. I. was given feelings and was made to love
parents. In this case, David had never-ending love for his adopted mother, Monica. I sincerely
believe that A.I.s should not be given feelings but should be treated fairly and not be abused,
which was shown in the movie.

2) Plot Summary

The film was set in the not-so-distant future where the polar caps have melted which
caused ocean water levels to rise and drown most of the world’s coastal cities. Because of this,
humans were forced to move inland but that didn’t hinder the advancement of human tech. It
even reached the point where humans were now able to create robots that they call mechas, to
serve people who take them in. From what I have seen in the movie, there are different types of
mechas. There was a lover bot, named Gigolo Joe, whose purpose is to give love and attention to
females and act as their partner. There is also a nanny bot who David, our main character, met.
And then, there is David, the very first mecha built by humans to have human emotions and
know how to love. He was taken in as a substitute son for Monica and Henry since their real son
was in cryostasis. David really loved Monica and wanted to be by her side every time. But that
all changed when Martin, Monica and Henry’s real son, came back to their lives. Feeling jealous
about the attention Martin was getting from Monica, David wanted to be a real boy so that his
mother would also love him.

3) Description

I was born on May 2002, almost 1 year since the movie was released. If you compare that
movie to most of the movies that I have seen during the 2000s decade, I can really see a big
difference. Even though technology and movie editing are still not advanced back then as it is
now, the movie was still really well made. The lighting on every scene was very clear and made
sure that the background and the place where the shot was taken to be clearly seen. The audio
and voice acting of every actor in the movie was really good. Every emotion they wish to convey
has definitely reached me. Since this was a really old movie, I thought that I wouldn’t be
impressed as much because of what I could watch today. There were also times in the movie
where I get creeped out by David simply because of his personality and behavior. Seeing an A.I.
with feelings is very weird for me.
What stood out to me the most is the way how filmmakers back then see the future. The
vehicles are very different from what I would imagine in a future earth where technology has
advanced by a lot. From most sci-fi movies I have seen, for example, the movie Avengers from
Marvel studios. it may not be that far ahead in the future, but the character Tony Stark has
created a suit of armor that probably cannot be recreated with today’s technology. A.I.s are
definitely one of the main things that will always be seen in most futuristic sci-fi movies. The
settings for most sci-fi movies are really different compared to old sci-fi movies.

4) Analysis

At first, I didn’t expect much from this film since it was an old one and they movies of
today would obviously be better in everything, editing, cinematography, acting, etc. The film
may not have blown me away, but it did impress me. For me, I liked the way how the movie
started with a narration explaining what the situation of the world is. It made me understand the
setting of the film way easier than starting it off with no narration.
The film starts with a narration from Professor Hobby stating that “to create an artificial
being has been the dream of man since the birth of science.” I agree with this statement seeing as
where we are in the modern era where we have helpful A.I.s with us almost daily. Example of
these A.I.s are Bixby from Samsung, Siri from Apple, Alexa from Amazon, and Google’s
Assistant. A.I.s help us automate most of our work just from telling them what to do. Thus,
making our lives easier.
The film’s introduction narration mentioned that the depletion of natural resources led to
the strict control of human reproduction that allows only licensed couples to have children. In
our current situation wherein we can already observe depletion of natural resources, I will never
agree that parents must be licensed to have children. That was one thing I absolutely hated in the
movie. Why should parents be stripped from their freedom to have children? Having children is a
proof of the parent’s love and trust for each other. Having children also means that you can still
continue your bloodline. I sincerely believe that this is the reason why the human race went
extinct. They were using most of their resources towards A.I.
Everything about the film made me think of the future where robots will be living among
us and we wouldn’t even know whether we are talking to robots or humans since technology
may be so advanced that those robots would learn how to act and feel like a real-life person. I
think that all of the techniques used in this movie really helped make this an award-winning
movie.

5) Conclusion/Evaluation – End the film analysis by sharing your general thoughts and
impressions of the film. You may also implicitly or explicitly state whether or not you
recommend the film. Make sure to remind the reader of why the film is or is not worth seeing.

I give this movie a rating of 7 out of 10. It reminded me of a video game that I played
back then called Detroit: Become Human. Basically, the game was set on the year 2038 where
androids are seen all around the world. These androids were made to aid humans. Even though
they were supposed to help humans, the people hated them because they were stealing their
purpose. Androids were taking jobs from people, because of that, a lot were suffering because
they have no income. The game lets you see through three different playable characters, what
they do during their everyday lives, and how they adjusted after the fact that androids were
starting to deviate and gain a consciousness of their own. They eventually gained emotions, and
became very human like.
Robot Abuse is one of 2021 Riley Center 10 Emerging Ethical Dilemmas and Policy
Issues for Science and Technology. This was also depicted in the “Flesh Fair” scene in the
movie wherein unregistered mechas are destroyed before a cheering crowd. Just like I said a
while ago, this film, especially the “Flesh Fair” reminded me of the video game that I have
played. People will never be able to live with robots since they are at a higher intelligence level
than us and definitely more superior than s in anyway possible. We will never be able to live
with robots because eventually, they will take our place, take our purpose, and maybe even take
our identities. Technology is always evolving. It may be helpful, but it is also very scary. I don’t
think that there will ever be any abilities or traits that a robot can possess so that we can treat
them as our equals.
I believe that the movie is worth seeing if you are really interested in technology. It gives
us an insight on how a robot with feelings can live in our world. I still believe that robots should
not be able to feel emotions. They are already way too smart, having emotions that can control
that intelligence will make them unstoppable.

References:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212720/
https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-intelligence
https://detroit-become-human.fandom.com/wiki/Detroit:_Become_Human#Premise