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Minority Report (Widescreen Edition)

Minority Report (Widescreen Edition)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brilliant direction/cinematography overcome flawed script
Review: "Minority Report" is Steven Spielberg's second foray into Sci-fi in a row, following last year's "A.I." The famed director made his mark in this genre with "ET" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Today we have a more mature Spielberg, albeit one still obsessed with gadgets. The themes are darker, more complex, more ambiguous. The wonder the younger, rather naive Spielberg held for technology has turned to suspicion. The earlier films were more accessible and certainly drew larger audiences, but his current work does more to cement his reputation as a master filmmaker, as well as a master of the technology he now cautions us about.

"Minority Report" takes place half a century from now. A genetic experiment has created 'precogs', a small group of people who can see a murder before it happens. Computers can read their thoughts, and by using these, the government has been able to establish its Pre Crime division. In Washington DC, the murder rate has fallen to virtually zero, and there is a big push to use this program nationwide. Pre Crime's chief detective, John Anderton [Tom Cruise] believes the 'precogs' are infallible until the day they give his name as the soon-to-be murderer of a man he's never heard of. What ensues is a thrilling story of a man on the run who is caught up in a web of mystery and deception.

There are some flaws in the movie. These include a couple of rather large plot holes, some improbable escapes, and the tendency to have the computer generated special effects make the hero jump higher and fall further than is humanly possible. What a master like Spielberg is able to do it to succeed despite the problems inherent in a project. He is able to add layers which distract, intrigue and challenge us. He can take a present day phenomenon, such as the explosion in media technology, and imagine where it might take us in the future. He can take an ordinary, familiar action hero type and make him memorable. He can make us think while also entertaining us.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Crimefighters of the future
Review: Tom Cruise stars in this sci-fi thriller as the captain of a Pre-crime unit where precogs, beings who can see future murders, warn the unit as to what is about to happen, so they can prevent the murder from occurring. His private life is full of angst because of the disappearance of his young son and the subsequent divorce by his wife. Matters become more complicated when Cruise's character appears in the precog's thoughts of a future murder which he will commit. His own unit turns against him and tries to capture him. Using some clever tricks Cruise eludes them, and discovers that he is being set up, but he doesn't know who is targeting him. The movie is set in 2054 and so it contains a lot of clever technology and special effects. It moves at a fast pace and is just what the sci-fi fan ordered.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great movie but too dark.
Review: This movie is one of Spielberg's great movies and it always has that Spielbergian way with a father and a son. The plot is that Tom Anderson (Tom Cruise) is committed for a crime he "will" committ in the future. So he starts running to find out who framed him and escape from the Precrime force. It sounds kinda repeated but the future side makes it great. The plot has more twists than 1,000 knots which makes it really cool. I haven't tried the DVD yet but I only count it for story but sometimes the DVD matters. But one big problem is the story is very, very dark in the way things happen inside this world. My grade: B+, Great plot, idea, action, and intellengent dialouge but way, way too dark.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An Ace!
Review: When I realised that Steven Spielberg was going to direct Minority Report, I wondered if he were to direct a predictable & boring action movie, where the main character always triumphed against the baddies. I started to make assumption that the once great director has gone soft, and that he had run out of ideas of producing & directing great classics that we have had come to watch since toddlers. Naturally, I went to the cinema with great trepidation. Anyhow, I wasn't disappointed at all. Whilst Jurassic Park, ET, Indiana Jones Trilogy were catering more for the family audience, this movie is definitely targeted at a more matured audience. It entertained and provoked us at the same time by offering gray scenarios, asking questions like how are we to trust the system when it is not necessarily perfect and that there are loopholes to be explored, and how are we to trust the system if the integrity of the enforcers is dubious, to say the least. In some ways, I am feeling apologetic for Tom Cruise because he can actually act and look good at the same time. Just hope that this doesn't limit his range somewhat. Furthermore, for an Oscar veteran, Max von Sydow, Colin Farrell (from Tigerland), even the 'Eugene Young' character from TV series, The Practice, & even the gray hair fellow from 'The Band of Brothers', this movie is well supported. But the final compliment must go to none other than Steven Spielberg for his vision in creating a grand spectacle of what future might look like. Lexus is featured prominently in this movie throughout, and one can't help wondering if soft sponsorship occured in this instance. Highly recommended. My trust in Steven Spielberg prevails!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This film made me sleepy
Review: Minority Report was produced by Dreamworks SKG, which is run by the three most powerful men in Hollywood (Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen), and it has a very over-rated but somehow extremely popular movie star in it (Tom Cruise) so you would think it would be a big-budget blockbuster, but this is not the case at all. In Minority Report, We are expected to believe that Washington DC in the year 2054 is a very clean and sterile metropolis, with no run-down buildings or graffiti on the walls. Precrime, the department that uses genetically-gifted "Pre-cogs" is entrusted with arresting murderers before they kill. The pre-cogs look like every other alien in Spielberg's movies (most noteably AI), and Tom Cruise is always shown running around with very little meaning or purpose to his actions. The ending was weak and predictable, and it was WAY too long, considering it was a very mediocre movie

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Angry Black Man Did You Pay Any Attention To This Movie
Review: Hey Angry Black Man,Did you pay any attention at all?If you hated it-That means you found it too Complicated.You Must of just Played around while watchimg it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: One of the more interesting Sci fi's
Review: I will admit to not viewing this willingly: My best friend is a rabid Tom Cruise fan, and insisted we rent it. It wasn't bad, but could have used some changes or 'tweaking' to make it more interesting.

The use of technical elements was actually pretty cool. I can actually envision some/most of these gadgets being in use in the not-so-distant future, and it was just cool to see a high tech movie not weighted down by the technese. The personalized ads were also pretty cool as a plot device. I did find the eyeball switching to be a bit contrived and a stretch to believe...but it didn't detract from the overall premise too much for me.

I do think that, had Spielberg's name not been attached to it, it probably would have registered a little lower on the overall critical scale. One major problem with this movie is it could have benefitted largely from more editing: you can lose 20 - 30 minutes of this movie and it would have flowed so much better!!!!
It got very draggy at certain points and, under a less-respected director/production team, critics would have made note of this.

This is a good movie, but bring your attention span.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Cruise+Spielberg=Bland
Review: I really wanted to like this film. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise, and Spielberg has been on shakey futuistic ground(AI, anyone?). But I have to give them points for trying. However, for a movie that focuses on being a big thinker, there are so many plot holes in this one that I was taken completely out of the film and just sat there wondering how the hell each one got by Spielberg, who, if nothing else, knows how to craft a story well.

Cruise plays John Anderton, the head of the DC Department of Pre-Crime. In the future, you see, murders can be predicted ahead of time by three psychics called "pre-cogs", that visualize them and give their visualizations to the pre-crime cops, who stop a murder before it happens. In the film's one spectacular scene, the opening, Cruise and his team race against the clock to stop a cukoled husband from killing his wife and her lover. It's a nail-biter, and the movie may be worth a view based on that, but that's it.

The system is unique to DC, but a national referrendum on a nationwide pre-crime system is up on the ballots, and Cruise and his mentor, played by the always excellent Max Von Sydow, want nothing more than to see it pass. Howeever a Dept. of Justice official, Colin Farrell, is looking into the system to see if it's as perfect as it says. This is where things go bad for Cruise. You see, there are these little wooden balls that have the names of who is going to commit a murder inscribed into them. One color if the murder is unpremeditated, one if it's premeditated. A premeditated ball comes down with Cruise's name on it, and he, of course, runs, trying to find out who is framing him and trying to save the system he built at the same time.

This is the story, and it's a good idea. The problem lies in the plot, and it's many gaping holes. Any time-related film will have them, but a director as good as Spielberg should have realized how blatant they are. For example, we are told that the Pre-Cogs who see the murders are genetic mutations, accidents. And they can only see in the area around DC. How then, will the program go National? There is no explination as to where the other Pre-Cogs will come from. Secondly, for a man wanted by the law, Cruise gets in and out of Pre-Crime HQ pretty easily, using his own eyeball. He had to have it removed to avoid the optical scanners that are everywhere(More on that in a moment). Still, wouldn't his security clearance be voided by the fact he is a wanted man? Finally, there is the circumstances of the murder that Cruise is supposed to commit. He says he's never met the man, and logically he shouldn't go looking for him, right? Avoid the man and you avoid the crime? Well, he goes looking for him, and what happens throws everything else we know about the Pre-Cogs, their visions, and teh little wooden balls into a blender and destroys the logic of the film. There are many, MANY more plot holes. A drinking game could be devised around them.

The final act is a paint by numbers game that any intelligent person would have seen coming, and again Spielberg avoids the big risks for his patented uplifting ending.

As for the films Big Ideas-They are payed lip service to, but never really discussed or addressed. Privacy is a big issue, and it is mentioned, but nothing of substance is ever discussed about them. It's as if Spielberg thought that by mentioning privacy issues, his film could address them. But no discussion is made. Also, what of the Pre-Cogs? These are Human Beings kept in a tank, with no concern for their lives. Ethical standards exist in medicine, and since the government of this future doesn't appear to be Big Brother, why would the medical community allow these poor souls to be trapped? Finally, what about the people arrested for crimes they didn't commit? No judgement is made on them, or any comment on their fates. How long are they kept locked up? Are sentences any different in different cases? How does the Constitution, still in place in this future, allow for this kind of punishment? Since it's not national law, wouldn't the Supreme Court say something? A thinking person comes away from this film with more questions than answers, and that is a shame. The movie doesn't develop it's world enough to give you any insight on the way it works. Sometimes, more questions than answers is a good thing, especially in Science Fiction. But this film fails to even address the questions that it's makers claim it raised. It is a noble effort, but much more attention should have been payed to plot development, and the ending should have been riskier. I really wish Spielberg would stop playing it safe. If you've heard what the last line of the film was supposed to be, you know that my review would be more favorable if it had been included. As it is, the film dissapoints. Spielberg needs to morph out of Kubrick mode. It doesn't suit him.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Huge Disappointment
Review: This was probably the worst movie of 2002. Steven Spielberg has definetely lost his edge. Minority Report started out promising only to fade to the ranks of " miserable" after the first hour. Tom Cruise tries to give a fresh performance, but he, along with all the other actors in the film, end up giving performances that are as exciting as cardboard cut-outs.
Visually, the movie is stunning, however all the special effects cannot hide the fact the movie is doomed from the start- doomed by a hideous script. In short, Minority Report is a film that is a total contradiction of itself.
In the film, in the year 2054, murder can be prevented through the use of psychics or as the film calls them " Pre-Cogs", who can predict murder before it happens. Cruise is the top lawman of the agency which apprehends suspects before they can kill. One day at work, Cruise discovers that the "Pre-Cogs" have foreseen that he will commit a murder in less than 2 days. Soon, we are watching the futuristic version of " The Fugitive". However, Cruise is no Harrison Ford.
Cruise, finding himself on the run, has no choice but to hunt for the man he will supposedly kill. From here, the movie begins to fall with Cruise making alliances that are unbelievable, characters than come and go on a whim, and plot developments that seem to have been pulled out of the air.

Plus, the movie is a massive contradiction. Cruise sees a "Pre-Cog" vision, showing Cruise killing a man( A MAN CRUISE HAS NEVER EVEN HEARD OF ) a few days in the future. I'm not going to give away any major plot points, but, the only way Cruise would be in a position to kill this person was because he saw the vision from the " Pre-Cog's". If they would not have had this vision, Cruise would never meet this person. And, if he would never meet this person- there would be no murder and therefore, there would be no vision.
Again, like "The Fugitive", there is a conspiracy, and there is a frame-up. The reason for the framing of Cruise had absolutely nothing to do with the film's villian or the villian's crimes.

Steer clear of this film. After 2 1/2 hours, I felt as though I should have been paid to see this movie, instead of putting out my own money.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A real stinker
Review: Just awful. This is one of those ridiculous, nothing-but-loud-noises action movies with little plot and less point. The basic premise seems like a good idea, but it's quickly abandoned, and the story becomes an oh-so-conventional revenge flick with the bad guy obvious from his first appearance. The movie reminded me a little of L.A. Confidential except that L.A. Confidential was a far superior movie, and it was in color. "Minority Report" might as well have been shot in black and white, as nothing but black and neutral shades were used, even in the greenhouse. Wait a minute. There were the balloons (like the little girl's red coat in "Schindler's List"), but that's it. Tom Cruise was once an actor, but this movie didn't require any acting, so he didn't do any. He just looks stupid. How can he watch himself in this kind of dreck? I was stunned when I heard Roger Ebert say it was his favorite movie of 2002.


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