It was July 25th, 1998, when my feet found their way into the daylight as I stepped out of the movie theatre after watching the most realistic and horrific war film ever made. Saving Private Ryan was Steven Spielberg's World War II epic that documented the true brutality of war and made us all its prisoner. Since that very day, I have been looking forward to the next Spielberg film. Not knowing what it would be at the time but certain that whatever it is going to be, it will win the hearts of people once again. For almost two years no one knew about his next project, but then on March 15th, 2000 Steven Spielberg announced that he would write and direct Late Stanley Kubrick's long developed project A.I.

My expectations for A.I. had been extremely high since the beginning of its production and they took a step further after the second trailer was released, which really got viewers thinking.

So what is A.I.? Is it more than what it seems or does it seem more than it is? It all depends on how you look at it; personally, I think its beyond what anyone can imagine. By far, this is the most different project Spielberg has done to date and will certainly become a milestone in his career. Is it good? Yes. I will discuss it in depth in my spoiler free review of this great film.

A.I. is a fairy tale of "a boy on a journey to find his place among humans and machines". A simple yet complex screenplay touches every genre in the film and covers all aspects of life. It revolves around themes like love, hate, acceptance and discrimination.

The performances in a film are what make any film a great one. The same thing can be said about A.I.. A case in point is the brilliant and heart breaking performances of Haley Joel Osment and Frances O' Connor. I really want to see both of them get nominated for Academy Awards. Every moment they share on screen is heart wrenching. Especially a particular scene which is the pivotal point in the film and is one which will bring tears to your eyes.

Haley Osment (David Swinton) delivers a performance of a much bigger caliber and scale than he did in The Sixth Sense. From his first robotic steps into the Swinton's family until the unsettling ending you will be awed by this young actor's capabilities. The expressions on his face as a robot and as a real boy are self evident. Although his acting dominates throughout the film, there are three particular scenes where he will capture your undivided attention; all gut wrenching, full of passion, love, anger, retaliation and hate. This is the one kid actor whose career will ascend to the highest mountain rather than disappearing into the deepest valley. A performance that must be recognized by the Academy this year.

Frances O' Connor's (Monica Swinton) role as a mother of Haley (David) is larger than life in this fairy tale love story. She is your ordinary mother who is torn between her love for her son and the bitter reality of his identity. Another Oscar Worthy Performance but for a Supporting Role.

Jude Law's character as Gigolo Joe is a great addition to this film. For me he delivered the best android performance after Data in Star Trek The Next Generation. Jude Law's supporting performance is not an Oscar worthy one but definitely is a step forward in his career.

Other performances, including those by William Hurt (Professor Hobby), Sam Robards (Henry Swinton) and Jake Thomas (Martin Swinton) were also well done. Especially Jake, whose character was rather alarming. There are also celebrity voices for other supporting characters, such as Teddy and also for the narrator and some of the Mecha characters.

Without giving away anything let me get into the plot of this film. The story and screenplay is si mple yet extremely complicated. Spielberg wrote this as a love and hate story. Its about a relationship of a robot child with his human mother. It is about the relationship of man and machine. Personally, I believe that Spielberg and Kubrick have addressed a subject matter that has been an important one in human history and will be a significant one in our future as well. As history tells us, humans have come a long way in accepting each other. In the early beginnings Whites mistreated the Blacks. It was long after when whites began to accept the black race as humans rather than slaves. Then the issue of women's rights came about. Women were not treated equally until the late 19th century. Then World War II brought hatred against Jews. We also overcame that. We are now in the era of creating a Gender Equality environment. What's after this? Most likely a man vs. machine era. Spielberg has done a brilliant job in showing us how man's hate towards other groups and races can bring suffering to individuals within the society. It is hard to say when the era of man vs. machine will come about but I think I can easily say that it will be very similar to Spielberg's and Kubrick's vision. It is a subject matter that we should all take seriously and understand that these unfortunate hate issues will always be with us in one form or another.

The music by John Williams is his best piece yet. Parts of his music can be heard in the Third Trailer and all the TV Spots. The haunting woman's voice (as heard in the trailer) is mesmerizing. One of the surprising elements of his music were the two scenes where he composes unlike anthing he has ever composed before. These two pieces, very similar to each other, reminded me of some of the stuff that Hans Zimmer has done. The pieces also resembled the fast paced music featured in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Certain segments of the music are similar to the themes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jurassic Park. This is one soundtrack that fans must buy.

Janusz Kaminski who has been working as a Cinematographer with Spielberg since Schindler's List, tells us that he can create visuals as haunting and glorifying as the film itself. The most beautiful yet horrific piece in the film is just before the climax. Every fan would be able to identify the scene when they see it. His work in this film is quite simple and unique.

The Special Effects used in this film are absolutely dazzling. I am so glad that Spielberg did not over utilize the effects as he did in The Lost World. Now I know Star Wars fans are not going to be happy with this but in all honesty I can easily say that this is the best work ILM has done to date. The environments they created (especially the one in the closing chapter of the film) will leave you breathless. For those who don't know PDI/DreamWorks also worked on this film.

Now let's get down to Spielberg's work as a director and producer. I'm sure that by now you have heard this thousands of times but I'd just like to point it out one more time: This film is unlike what Spielberg has ever done before. The performances he brought out of the leading stars are worth the ticket price. Despite all the previews and the reviews that clearly implied that this would be the darkest film this brilliant director has ever made, you're still in for a surprise. The tone, the subject matter, the dialogues are all extraordinary.

Is this Spielberg's most memorable and best film to date? In my first review, I said "I don't think if I can classify it as the best but certainly the most different work he has created". But now, having seen it more than once, I am beginning to uncover the wizardry and mastery of Kurbrick and Spielberg. This film is a piece of art that will be remembered for decades to come. Spielberg utilized the Kubrick style of "no spoonfeeding the audience" throughout the film, especially towards the finale. Since my second viewing, I have been pondering about the ending and trying to understand as much as possible. The more I think about it, the more it haunts me. Especially the last 20 minutes of the film which initially were a disappointment for me but now are the most haunting images I have ever seen on the big screen.

My dear fans, this is the type of film where each viewing will raise more questions than it will give answers. Many people have called this film a Hollywood broganza and not your typical Spielberg film. But I disagree; I've already mentioned that it is not your typical Spielberg film but neither is it your typical Hollywood film.

Overall this picture gets 9/10 on my scale. It is a passionate tale that some people will love while others will hate. After reading many reviews and e-mails I have come to the conclusion that you have to see it more than once before you can make a fair judgement. It requires multiple viewings, perhaps even more. For me, A.I. has become an important part of my life, similar to 1993 when Jurassic Park aroused in me a passion for moviemaking and an awareness of Spielberg. A.I. delivered the same effect. What exactly is that effect? I'm not exactly sure but I do know that it will bring lots of changes in me as a person and my future film creations.

A.I. is a fairy tale of love, hate, affection & jealousy that will haunt audiences for ever. It is a masterpiece of epic proportions that will provoke your own beliefs.