Average Rating: 
Rating: - Great Nano-Futuristic Experience!
"Minority Report" creates a compelling future world where a system of pre-crime has succeeded in ending violent crime in Washington, DC. The technology and special effects are top-notch, but the plot has a few holes. In one scene, Tom Cruise is on the subway and a newspaper headline reads "Nanotechnology Breakthrough". The idea that the assembler breakthrough would occur after these technological advancements is shakey at best. More likely it would cause them. Overall, however, the movie leaves its viewers with a burden of questions with which to grapple. A far better representation of a future America gone awry with technology is Britt Gillette's novel "Conquest of Paradise". Set against the backdrop of the war on terror, the assembler breakthrough plunges the world into an era of promised peace, prosperity, and abundance. It's much more realistic than "Minority Report" which is a thoroughly entertaining movie, but highly unrealistic and a movie that seems to travel along the same lines as innumerable forcibly-constructed dystopian plots, all trying to become the next "1984". I highly recommend "Minority Report".
Rating: - The Dark Vision of MINORITY REPORT
Those who choose to give up their freedom to gain security often find that having done so, they have sacrificed the former in vain not to gain the latter. The dark world of MINORITY REPORT explores this theme in both visuals and in a vision of justice that leaves the term bereft of the meaning with which we usually associate it. Director Steven Spielberg abandons the sense of wonder that usually accompanies his epics. In JURASSIC PARK and ET, Spielberg allows his inner child to present a vision of humanity that allows his cast to face danger knowing full well that the danger has a wonder indelibly etched within. In MINORITY REPORT, however, he harkens back to one of his earliest efforts in DUEL to show how one man can be beset by a sneaky violence totally beyond his power to control or to predict. Tom Cruise, as policeman John Anderton, is a composite of many roles that he has done over a long career. He is dedicated, action-oriented, smart--and flawed. When his child is kidnapped and killed, he takes to drugs to forget the pain and guilt that he carries for allowing it to happen. Immediately after his son's death, a scientist discovers a way to use human precognitive abilities to spot a murder before it happens, thus allowing policemen like him to arrest them, but before the crime actually occurs. This police state power of course comes into conflict with the ACLU, who in one all too brief scene, argues that it is simply wrong to do that. During the course of his investigation, Cruise as Anderton, comes too close to the hidden flaw in the entire setup--that the ability of the precogs is not as infallible as trumpeted, and he is set up as one who plans his own murder and thus must be apprehended by his own men. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with taking the basic premise from the story by Philip K. Dick, but Spielberg, in his attempts to imbue his film with a gloominess not present in the story presents a movie that is at once a darkly spectacular treat for the eyes if not a test for the patience of a viewer who soon enough recognizes the oldest of tricks in a detective thriller: the placing of false clues and even more false clues to keep the viewer involved. As I watched, I tended to overlook the grimness of the photography. Much of the film seems to have been shot with a filter that screened out any color brighter than light tan. The spectacular car scenes that show Anderton plunging from one vertically placed vehicle to another while at supersonic speeds are a sight to behold. Then there is the acting of both Cruise and Max von Sydow as the police chief, both of whom bounce off each other at all the right moments. There is a father-son subtext between them that gives their relationship a resonance not seen since Dustin Hoffman had his molars examined by Sir Lawrence Olivier in MARATHAN MAN. MINORITY REPORT is the sort of fine science fiction film that thrills the first time one sees it, but I suspect that its witheringly dark grubby underside will prevent one from wishing repeated viewings.
Rating: - Minority Report does not disappoint...
The latest from the master of film, Steven Spielberg, Minority Report is a very entertaining film. Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell and others, is about a man in the future, who is being hunted for a Pre-Crime he does not believe he will commit. He has a certain amount of time before the pre-crime is supposed to take place, and tries to search for answers before it is too late. (This is a very, extremely, dumbed down version of the synopsis)Spielberg tried to draw on the film noir genre to make the film, and doing this definitely gave the film a much more dark feeling overall. There was a certain sense of mystery to the whole movie, and while it is fairly predictable who the villain is,(there are only a limited amount of main characters in the movie, which is why it is predictable) the ride to get to that point where the movie reveals the villain is altogether thrilling, and visually astonishing. As much as others have said the movie is loaded with action, I have to disagree. The movie has a couple nice action sequences, yes, but in reality, considering the movie's long running time, there weren't that many. The reason why the movie seemed action filled from beginning to end was really because Spielberg truly was able to convey a sense of excitement and intrigue through the dialogue. It reminds me of what the movie "The Beach" wanted to be -a thriller without the action, but where "The Beach" failed, Minority Report has succeeded. That is not to say there aren't some nice scenes with action of course. The one I loved the most was the sequence where John Anderton (Tom Cruise) has to jump from one car to another, while all the cars are going down a literally vertical highway (the futuristic highways remind me of rollercoasters). Many felt that the ending to this was way too drawn out, and similar to Spielberg's last movie AI, should have cut out the last 20 minutes or so. I disagree, as I felt the last part of the movie gave it that finishing touch that makes it even more film noir like. Spielberg has also revealed a darker and more morbid sense of humor that may have come from his tangle with Kubrick in AI. One of the scenes that perfectly illustrates this new Kubrickan Spielberg is one where a man in the movie has to chase after his own eyeballs, bouncing down a hallway -something that is sickeningly funny, and definitely a type of scene that was previously not part of Spielberg's film vocab. Overall, Minority Report is a thoughtful thriller that definitely warrants at least one viewing.
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