We have no Spielberg here. We’re sure you know his work.
Mr S has made a large number of crowd-pleasing blockbusters. Ask people (we did) what their favourite Spielberg film is and you get “Jaws”, “E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Star Wars” (and yes, we do know that was George Lucas, but that’s what they said).
We might include “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind”. In it, Richard Dreyfuss plays a character obsessed with UFOs. At the end, when the aliens come, he gets a chance to enter their spaceship, surely a place of wonder. So, he does, and… end of film, “When You Wish Upon A Star” plays (yes, “Pinocchio”). It’s a shaggy dog story. It was revised and a ‘proper’ end was added, but too late.
More recent efforts by Steven S have been technically clever but not great films. Ever seen “Ready Player One”?
But we wanted to mention “A. I. Artificial Intelligence” from 2001. This was originally a Kubrick project, but he died and Spielberg took it over.
In it, Hayley Joel Osment plays David, a robot boy who wants to be real. He is told that the Blue Fairy can do this for him, so he searches for her (yes, “Pinocchio” again) and has adventures. Eventually he, and Teddy, find her but get stuck under the ice for a long time.
He is found and rescued. All the humans have died and the only living beings are the robots descended from David and his like. (This is not a spoiler, just a clarification of the plot as many people think they are aliens). The robots are interested in David as he is the only thing alive that had direct knowledge and interaction with real humans.
There’s lots to admire about this film, and lots to not admire. Osment is wonderful, as is Jude Law. The scenes with Professor Hobby (William Hurt) could easily be mostly removed.
But the highlight of the film, and a good reason for watching it, is the last section with the wonderful John Williams music. We’ll say no more, just find it.
And Teddy is a hero.