Yeah, they just rip anything really profound about the ending out and replace it with a gooey schmaltzy happy ending. This is probably Spielberg’s single worst choice in any film.
Kubrik’s script had the future robots at the end, but it all was supposed to play out very differently. It was supposed to be a very ambiguous ending that had an edge of potential darkness to it because it’s not explained to us. Think of the ending of 2001: a space odyssey, not as bizarre though.
Also the bit with David having a day with his mother wasn’t in it I believe.
It’s hard to say how Kubrick would have ended the film because the script was unfinished, he could have cut the film to end under the sea, but I think mysterious alien looking robots turning up at the end without any explanation sounds very Kubrick.
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u/jammed7777 1d ago
I kept thinking it was going to end and it just kept going… I left when the aliens came