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Retro SciFi of the Week…
AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Like last week’s movie, this is an epic that spans a period of time. It also has a theme of liberty and justice, among many other topics. The production quality and special effects are among the very best.
Nearly all of the actors do a tremendous job in this film. Haley Osmont gives an amazing performance for a child actor. It also stars William Hurt, who has appeared in many great science fiction films and who just recently passed away.
Ironically, for a film that deals with the topic of justice, this one has significant racial bias, which is all too common in Hollywood movies. Otherwise it’s a great, classic scifi with lots of futuristic technology and special effects.
@Pat
I remember thinking that it was really plausible. And at the time I was not yet aware of how wide is the transhumanist movement. 🙀
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Yes – not to be confused with humanism – transhumanism is a major part of this film, and many other works of science fiction. I remember a TV series called “The Six-Million Dollar Man” back in the mid-70s which I think was an early attempt at transhumanist science fiction. (I had no idea what transhumanism was back then.) Current thinking is more about improving the brain or making a better brain or hive-minds, that kind of stuff. I think they’re still missing it though.
This film, “AI: Artificial Intelligence” is kind of in the middle. It’s about creating an AI, but it still depicts those minds attached to human-looking machines. Even the far-future AI robots at the end of this film are stuck in bodies that look kind of like the original, with arms and legs and brains in their heads and they fly around in ships and physically do archeology. I guess that’s how they were thinking about transhumanism 20 years ago when this film came out.
A more realistic (or more current) depiction is the film “Her (2013)”, which features a disembodied AI.
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@Pat
Also starring Scarlett Johansson, and going beyond cybernetic additions, there is Lucy (the film).
I still have not watched, but want to, Ghost in the Shell (film)
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Those were very good -- lots of cool special effects. I was not familiar with the comics before I saw Ghost in the Shell, so I didn't totally understand it, but the special effects and acting were great.
If you like Johansson, I highly recommend The Island (2005). Not really about transhumanism, per se, but a very well written and produced film.
That whole subgenre about improving/altering the mind traces its roots all the way back to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the19th century. I think my next Film of the Week will have a pivotal film in that subgenre's family tree.
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@Pat
Thank you for the suggestion. I've watched already The Island.
Johansson stars on two of my favorite movies, The Horse Whisperer and Girl With a Perl Earring.
I watched the 2nd one twice, the second time mostly to percieve the light and color effects that try to recreate those of Vermeer painting. It's fascinating.
