Rating: Summary: An Interesting Mystery and Lots of Special Effects Review: What more can you ask for - a mystery, special effects, and Tom Cruise. When the powers that be in Washington, DC develop the ability to foretell murder, they also develop a bureaucracy to hunt down the potential killers. The murders are foretold by three young "precogs." The chief policeman, Tom Cruise, is skilled at using the random pictures received from the precogs to pinpoint where the murder will occur. And the Chief's unit then swoops down on the perpetrator before he/she can carry out his/her intentions to kill.When one of the precogs predicts that the Chief will kill a man unknown to him - the hunt begins. The pre-crime unit is hunting him, and he's hunting the person who set him up. Director Spielberg keeps the tension mounting step by step right up to the scenes where resolution happens. Like any good mystery, the clues are disclosed to the viewer as the protagonist receives them. If you like a good mystery, lots of suspense, and good sci-fi, this movie is for you.
Rating: Summary: Best Film of the Summer! Review: 'Minority Report' is one of those rare films you can watch and later say, "I've never seen anything like it before." Spielberg has done it again. He gave us an extraordinary future world in last year's 'A.I.' Now Spielberg's vision combined with Philip K. Dick's short story give viewers a look at 2054 Washington, DC, and it's a look that's hard to forget. Tom Cruise plays John Anderton, a cop in the DC Precrime division. Precrime is a DC pilot program that's ready to go nationwide as the story opens. By using precrime methods, police can determine who is about to commit a murder and arrive on the scene in time to prevent the murder AND make an arrest. Everything looks great for Precrime until the division falls under an investigation and Anderton is wanted for "pre-murder." But he doesn't even know the person he's supposedly going to kill in 36 hours. 'Minority Report' is literally like nothing we have seen before. Spielberg has filmed nearly the entire story in muted grays and shadows, with nothing in sharp focus. As we have come to expect from Spielberg, every last detail is perfectly in place and well thought out, making this futuristic DC very believable. Spielberg shows us that while the future holds many technical advances and changes, the GAP and stores like it will be with us forever. Oh well, you can't have a perfect future. 'Minority Report' is an exciting, intriguing sf/mystery that pulls you in and makes you believe that when you step out of the theatre you'll be seeing all the innovations you just saw on the screen. It's a real rarity these days: Eye-popping special effects AND a riveting story. The film falls just short of masterpiece status by being cursed with a weak ending. Yet, even with this flaw, the film is Spielberg's best non-war tale in a long, long time. Somehow he keeps delivering the goods in a way that only he can. Long live Master Spielberg.
Rating: Summary: See This One! Review: Yes, this was actually a good movie! Better then Spider-Man to me anyways. And if you are going to start that "they are missing LAN, they have no robots, they haven't landed on Mars yet", well, go and make your own movie, let's see how many awards it will recieve. In "2001: A Space Odyssey", humans had landed on Mars, and there were a base on the Moon + the Societs hadn't collapsed so.... you get the point. Just try to enjoy this movie as a movie, or just forget it.
Rating: Summary: I Am Finally A Fan Review: I was not a fan of Steven Spielberg's movies prior to "Artificial Intelligence." I liked his films ok prior to that one but the schmaltz factor in them was too much for me. However, with both "Artificial Intelligence" and "Minority Report," he brings intelligence to his films plus a visionary look at our futures that I find spellbinding. So I am now a fan. There is "Precrime" law enforcement in this 2054 Philip K. Dick envisioned world. It is reliant on 3 human "precogs" in an isolation tank. They are able to envision murders before they're committed. Precrime officers arrest perpetrators right before they murder and the supposed offenders are confined in isolated tanks for the rest of their lives. But are the precogs infallible or is there free will right up to the final moment of crime commission? Tom Cruise, as the top policeman of Precrime, is about to find out. Someone wants him out of that job and having the precogs "see" him kill someone in the future is a darn good way of achieving that. With that, the movie is off and I was enthralled every step of the way. The effects are incredible and I am not someone usually taken with special effects. Cruise is magnificent as is Samantha Morton as the chief precog, Agatha. Speilberg picks the perfect supporting cast to put behind them too every step of the way.
Rating: Summary: "Minority Report" is one of Spielberg's best films ever Review: "Minority Report" is, without a doubt in my mind, the best film so far this year. I will even go as far as saying it is one of Steven Spielberg's most ambitious, creative, visually stunning and best films in years. He has created a film that redefines him as a director. Much like Spielberg's last film "A.I.", this is a far step away from his previous films. This film is dark and gritty at times and has a very gloomy tone to it. But this is not a bad thing. It actually adds to the greatness of the film. It was nice to see Mr. Spielberg stretch his talents to new heights and make a different film that you would not expect him to make. The film reminded me a lot of Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner". I guess concidering that they are both losely based on stories by Phillip K. Dick, but the look and set design really made me think of that film. The visual effects come into play a lot in this film, much like they did in "Blade Runner". The amazing visuals help in telling the story and bringing the new technology used in the film to life.The performances in the film a great all around, especially Tom Cruise who gives one of his best performances in years. The entire supporting cast is equally good, especailly Colin Farrell who is fantastic and Samantha Morton as the female Pre Cog who Cruise's character gets help from. I truly hope that the Academy does not over look this film when Oscar season starts because it truly is a gem and should not be missed.
Rating: Summary: Fluffity Fluff Fluff Fluff Review: Only three things were fabulous about this film: 1) The curious and fascinating concept of "precrime" and the prevention as a moral issue 2) The computer graphics of a futuristic highway 3) Tom Cruise's maintainance of his hotness. The direction wasn't really flawed so much as there was no story to care about. A couple scenes showed real promise, but all in all...the plot was The Fugitive, minus Tommy Lee Jones's wacky presence.
Rating: Summary: Spielberg continues to spoon feed us morals. Review: Spielberg is a master film maker. No doubt about it. Some of the effects, shots, and parts of this film show us that he knows what he is doing and he knows how to do it. He takes subtle scenes and makes them extraordinary. He takes complex scenes and shows us how intriquet and poetic he can be with objects on screen. The way things move, the camera's view, all of it is magnificient. A.I. did not fail on this aspect either, but it did fail on the same level this film did. The only difference is A.I. at least didn't have as many plot holes as this movie did, such as: 1)If John was wanted, why did he still have access to the PreCrime base? Even when he was arrested he still had acess. This company needs a better security system. 2)How is a set up considered precrime? How did the villian know he would end up where he did to kill the man he supposedly kills? Technically it's a crime of passion, so 72 hours was a ridiculous amount of time to give John. Another complaint is with Tom Cruise. Once again he get's the award for playing himself better than anyone else can. His character is not bad but it's just Tom in a different setting and a new haircut. Unless you count the hair cut as character research? The Ending: Spielberg dares not to leave any movie goer confused or disturbed by his moral questioning tales. He makes them very loud and clear and leaves them to be resolved on screen in the last 15 minutes just like A.I. His conscience is his weakness. This is a movie that was begging to teach the John Anderton character a less about putting ALL your trust in the system. (A good democratic lesson if you ask me) But instead it's all wrapped up in a neat bow by the time the credits role. Once again he wastes a perfectly good ending that is INCLUDED in the film (also like A.I.) and instead goes for the heart strings and makes you feel all gushy inside. So much for Master story teller. It's moments of brilliance are destroyed by 15 minutes that should have ended up on the cutting room floor. Spielberg should give it a rest, if he can't deal with the harsh issues his movies bring up, he shouldn't start at all. I miss Kubrick more and more these days....
Rating: Summary: Good but missing something Review: This movie was good, it had a great story idea and some really good action scenes and the special effects where amazing but something was missing from it to really make it amazing. I could never put my finger on it but as I was watching Minority Report I never felt overly interested in the movie. I tried to figure out why this beautifully made movie wasn't pulling me in but I couldn't, all I can say is that it was missing something that made it fall short of being one of the great movies. I would definately recomend seing this movie, and I didn't feel cheated as I walked out of the theatre, but I did turn to my friend and say "this is definately not a purchase (when it comes out on DVD)". I wasn't alone in this feeling of incompleteness. My friends felt the same way and neither of them could put their finger on what it was either. Also, the whole theatre full of people seemed to walk out in a daze as though they had just finished watching a documentry in history class, not as though they had just seen a great movie. It seemed to me that everyone was impressed with the movie; it's original story, it's great special effects, but no one was overly impressed with the movie itself. Please, if you think you might like to see this movie, by all means go see it at full price, it is worth that, but if you can wait, see it in a dollar movie theatre, it'll be much better at that price.
Rating: Summary: Character Mystery in an SF Setting Review: There is no love lost between me and professional pretty-boy Tom Cruise. Early on I grew weary of his brand of "acting," which is usually little more than posturing to exhibit his solemn expressions and good looks. I went to see "Minority Report" because of my fondness for Philip K. Dick, from whose short story this movie was liberally adapted. I still bear no fondness for Cruise, and my opinion of Max "The Presence" von Sydow is also pretty static. However, this reasonably entertaining and thoughtful movie did satisfy my interests both as a science fiction fan and as a thinker. Rather than the SF spectacular that often graces summer movie screens (including "Star Wars: Episode II" this summer), this is actually a murder mystery in a science fiction setting. The "framed victim" stereotype dominates the story as in any number of mystery paperbacks, but this time the framed victim must unravel the mystery BEFORE the crime is actually committed. Parts of the movie tend to make the viewer feel slightly manipulated. The rapid-fire product placements (including Pepsi, Lexus Auto, Century 21 Realty, and even Ben & Jerry's) sometimes make you feel like the movie is broken up with commercial breaks. Sporadic action scenes seem to be an attempt to pander to the summer sci-fi-flick audience. However, these problems are generally outweighed by the story. Careful attention to events is necessary if the payoff is to make any sense in the end. This rather long movie, sometimes hampered by its cast of thousands, is paced at a very rapid clip, as much the product of editor Michael Kahn as of director Steven Spielberg. There are also some eye-popping visual effects, courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic, which occasionally distract from the events taking place. Attentive viewers, though, should be able to ascertain what's going on, and, rather satisfyingly, will grasp who the ultimate culprit is at about the same time our hero does. This always is pleasing, when you realize you're at least as smart as the characters on screen. The convoluted plot may overwhelm typical summer movie fans, and the SF elements may alienate the mystery fans that stand the most to gain from this film. Thoughtful moviegoers and fans of old-style character mysteries (including those of Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie, and Arthur Conan Doyle, all referenced in the movie) will be reasonably satisfied with the finished product, and will consider it a worthy new venture into the world of mystery fiction.
Rating: Summary: Minority Report Review: Minority Report was just spectacularly amazing! When you think you know what's going to happen next, they completely alter it by throwing in something else! This movie takes place in the year 2054, where John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise)works for a police service called Precrime, which uses psychics to read the crimes before they happen, so they can arrest the criminals, before they actually commit the deed. He doesn't really care to think whether or not the criminals might have had a minority report....until he is set up by Precrime itself.....This movie was suspenseful, intriguing, one of the best I have seen!
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