PRODUCT DESCRIPTION It is the near future. The polar ice caps have melted as a result of global warming leaving many coastal cities underwater. Man has created machines that are aware of their own existence to help US with the increasing environmental damage that we are doing. One of these machines, a young boy, is the first robot programmed with emotion. Now his "love" is overpowering his robotic programming. He seeks answers as to whether he can ever be more than just a machine. SET CONTAINS: A perfect movie for the digital age, A.I. finds a natural home on DVD. The purity of the picture, its carefully composed color schemes, and the multifarious sound effects are accorded the pinpoint sharpness they deserve with the anamorphic 1.85:1 picture and DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, as is John Williams's thoughtful music score. On the first disc there's a short (12 minutes) yet revealing documentary, "Creating A.I.," but the meat of the extras appears on disc 2. Here there are interesting, well-made featurettes on acting, set design, costumes, lighting, sound design, music, and various aspects of the special effects: Stan Winston's remarkable robots (including Teddy, of course) and ILM's flawless CGI work. In addition, there are storyboards, photographs, and trailers. Finally, Steven Spielberg provides some rather sententious closing remarks ("I think that we have to be very careful about how we as a species use our genius"), but no director's commentary. --Mark Walker
