18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good movie gets a sublime transfer to Blu-Ray!, March 13, 2008
I own 56 Blu-Ray movies, and I have to say, this one is the way I wish all of them looked. Jaw-dropping detail, vivid colors, and no artifacts to be seen anywhere. A flawless transfer to HD, and a equally excellent audio track (I can only hear the 1.5 mbps DTS right now, but I can imagine how much better the lossless track will be once PS3 can decode DTS-MA.) Highly recommended, assuming you like the movie itself.
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20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Perhaps this is my purpose", May 14, 2005
My first reaction as this film began was "Wait! This isn't Asimov." The Asimov I grew up reading was a weaver of ideas, more mind candy than adventure story. But here I found myself in Will Smith's bedroom, and then suddenly catapulted into a wild chase after a purse grabbing robot. A far cry from the delicacy used by Asimov. It took a while for the shock to wear off but eventually the conflict between Smith's gritty performance as Del Spooner and his original inspiration in the reminiscences of Dr. Susan Calvin (played by Bridget Moynahan) wears off and the view settles into a film that is inspired by Asimov, but does not imitate him.
The sooner that happens, the better, because this is an exceptional film in its own right, even if it does proceed with the speed of a video game. Smith creates a wisecracking character with a deep mistrust of robots. He is called in to to investigate what appears to be an impossible killing - robots can't kill humans, it's the first law of robotics. But Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell) lies dead and the only suspect is 'Sonny' a Series 5 robot with some surprising circuitry (played by Alan Tudyk).
The death is declared a suicide, but Spooner refuses to give in. suddenly the automated world turns on the detective, whose unlikely ally is Dr. Calvin, a robopsychologist responsible for the psyches of masses of robots about to be distributed around the planet. One hair-raising escape after another propels the story along until viewers find themselves at a surprisingly reflective conclusion. Not exactly classical Asimov, but a great story nonetheless.
Will does a good job as Spooner, but he is upstaged by Moynihan's performance. And both are blown away by Tudyk and the animators performance as Sonny. As you watch Sonny develop from being slightly more simpatico than the scenery into a full-blown personality there are countless moments of surprise. Moynihan and Smith do their best, but from the moment Sonny turns to Spooner and says "Thank you... you said someone not something." The film belongs to the robots.
Excellent animation and CGI create a world that is a retro version of the future - perhaps exactly what Asimov imagined rather than what we would now. The result is a compelling mix of the outré and the mundane that sticks in the mind just as Sonny's wink does.
This is not just an action film. Threaded through it are the same questions that Asimov raised about the nature of self and intelligence. Robots may never be human, but there are far more than furniture. And if their thought processes are alien, they are more than the sum of their programming. The result is one of the more carefully thought out science fiction films in recent times.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great entertainment, March 5, 2005
First of all, if you're an Asimov fan, you're probably aware that the script of "I, Robot" is only tangentially based on Asimov's robot novels and stories. The screenwriters, though, make no attempt to disguise that, claiming the script was "Suggested by Isaac Asimov." If you are not an Asimov fan, I should warn you that, for example, his "starter" robot book, "The Caves of Steel," is so totally different from this movie, it's like they're not even from the same universe.
My work schedule is such that I can only see movies during the summer, but each summer I see dozens and dozens. Last summer, for example, I saw practically everything playing at the theaters within the space of a few days. "I, Robot" was the film I liked the most. I vowed I would get the DVD as soon as it became available.
What I liked most about this movie was the script. It was by turns funny, suspenseful, thought-provoking, etc. In fact, it's a really good script to study if you're into writing your own: it can boast textbook models of how a writer should handle reversals, foreshadowing, payoff, character arc, etc. And the conclusion and the prelude both made sense, total sense! In short, not a line out of place.
Other things that could sink the movie are held in check: Will Smith, while perhaps not the ideal candidate for the job, delivers a believable and versatile performance.
The special effects shots help the movie along, rather than drag it in their wake. What noticeable shots there are really do more to creep you out than overawe you (e.g., the horde of evil robots scaling the USR building).
I was very surprised to read many reviews of this movie (after I saw it), which panned it. It is very difficult for me to see how somebody could see this as a stinker, and I'm the kind of guy who usually only likes about 1 out of every 20 movies I see.
Naturally, there's zero depth to the film, of course; as long as you know this beforehand, you'll be unlikely to regret investing a couple of hours in this movie.
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