Posted by Eidolon at ip-216-25-202-168.vienna.va.fcc.net on July 10, 2001 at 13:26:06:
In Reply to: Except... posted by sean on July 10, 2001 at 09:38:29:
I think you are forgetting the fact that Spielberg is attempting to emulate Kubrick's style, and Kubrick was notorious for leaving in ambiguous(sp?) endings in his films, especially 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hell, I watched 2001 four damn times before I began to get the ending (I had an idea before, but the fully flesh out what is going on, it takes multiple viewings). To say Spielberg rushed this is a bit callous, don't you think.
: : Plus when the SuperMecha find David they refer to him as "one of the original robots, he knew actual humans!"- plus the way they "interfaced" with each other was decidedly non-biological and machine-like in nature. Hell, the dialogue that the one has with David I thought made it pretty clear what they were. Yeah, they didn't come out and SAY "We are advanced Mecha", but it was clearly inferred. The only reason I can come up with for some people thinking they are aliens is because they look kinda like the aliens at the end of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.
: ...that they seem to speak telepathically, the shot introducing them is straight out of STAR WARS, and the interest that they show in humanity seems more archaelogical than religious.
: Mind you, I'm not disagreeing with Harlan; I agree the ending of the film only properly works if the beings are robots. My point is just here's why I initially made the mistake that many people seem to, because Spielberg was sloppy and rushed through the ending just like he rushed through the film. Maybe if he weren't anti-test screenings, he would've found out the flaw of interpretation at the end of the film and been able to fix it. My vote would be for a big, computer animated arrow that says "robots!" pointing at them. Or a change in dialogue. Whatever.