Rating: Summary: This is NOT your sappy Spielberg! Review: In the past, Spielberg was well-known for delivering two kinds of movie: the (often sappy) feel-good movie like "E.T." and the dark, devastating film like "Schindler's List." Lately, he has begun to mature as a director/producer with offerings that give the viewer more variety. "Minority Report" is one of those films. Set in the future that is recognizable just as often as it is not, Spielberg adds comedy to desperation, heart-felt grief to adventure, accident to calculated science.The gist of the movie can be explained simply. John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the chief of Pre-Crime, a police experiment that results in a murder-free Washington, D.C. The secret behind the success of Pre-Crime is three "pre-cogs" who foresee murder before it happens, giving the police time to intervene. When the pre-cogs finger John himself as a premeditated murderer even though he does not even know the supposed victim, he realizes his only hope is to run. Although the special effects are interesting, they sometimes clutter a movie that is, after all, about predestination, exploitation, and the meaning of innocence. We don't need a fantastical future to feel these themes. While the futuristic cars and their highways are cool, a greenhouse of bizarre botanical specimens is too much, even to point out how far the geneticists of the future succeed in their quest to manipulate life. The comedy in some of the darkest scenes works well as both relief and set-up of greater tension. "Minority Report" contains some major holes, but all in all, comes off as an entertaining and, more importantly, original story. The characterization is surprisingly detailed for a sci-fi adventure, creating a future that feels more truthfully human than I expected. The acting is generally solid, and the cinematography often above-average. My biggest complaint about the DVD specifically was the quality of the sound - it never exploited the capabilities of my surround-sound system and often sounded dull. "Minority Report" is an excellent choice for both teens and adults, especially for those who like a thrill with their flicks.
Rating: Summary: SO much better than expected Review: I had seen AI shortly before this and thought that movie was boring, I was sorely disappointed. I went in to this thinking it was going to be similar - but it was great! It's about a police officer in the future, working in a unit called "Pre-Crime." They have the ability to see crimes of the future due to these three pre-cognitive beings. When the message comes that the main character (Tom Cruise) is the next murderer, he has to rush to clear his name. The story has a lot of suspense and twists, but not too many to make it laughable. I thoroughly enjoyed it - I bought the DVD as soon as it came out!
Rating: Summary: "Minority Report" is a heterogeneous film that's a bit wierd Review: When I first saw this film at a theater with some of my family members and friends, I was expecting a scintillating-performance from Tom Cruise's prolific-prowess on being a good actor and all. Having appeared in "Mission Imposible" and "MI-2" he really shined-through, with his impeccable-acting, and his propensity for being "partners-in-crime" with the law, to warding-off his arch-nemisis rivals, with deadly-precision. "Minority Report" is a heterogenous film that's a bit weird. To be honest with you, it's pretty dark and depressing. The films premise is "Precrime Law." As the title of the film suggests, the main focus of "Minority Report" are the [Precrime Unit's] precogs "keen-sense" of being aware beforehand of the illicit-pretenses of a single individual - who are about to commit a crime - precisely determining where and when the event will occur on any given-day. As I watched this movie with trepedation, wondering what the hell was going on, in the minds of the "precogs" which were there for the sole-purpose of being brain-washed to death. (I couldn't believe that anyone would do such a terrible thing, by messing with someones head like this.) In the real-world, something like this would be out of the question and be considered as a very unethical practice, in law-enforcement. Nonetheless, the cognitive-minds that these characters possess are noteworthy: they're able to look-in to the future by ultimately discovering the unsrupulous criminal-intent of masterminds who live in this futuristic-metropolis. Moreover, the Precrime Unit quickly employs the preemptive strikes nessecary (security measures) to insure that these "would-be" criminals don't "wreak havoc" on society. There's some riffraff going-on when the cops find out that the main character (Cruise) has some dubious intentions of killing someone. Frankly, it's a bunch of balogney! Someone had illegaly hacked the computer system - which documents the behavior of it's people - altering the precogs premonitons somewhat, thereby making him the scapegoat. Some of these idiots have conspired with this relentless-pursuit of puting him in jail. It's a bunch of nonsense! He's there to "serve and protect." (Some of these cops relish the thought of putting people in the slammer, despite not having done a thorough investigation.) There's this ... [Lexus] which was designed exclusively for the film, it works much in the same manner as the kit-car from Nightrider, or something from a James Bond action-flick. It has all the gizmos and gadgets, to help fight crime. There's all sorts of ingenious contraptions, to tickle your fancy. This movie dissapoints, in a couple ways: the action-sequences dragging-on for so long; with the perilous-condition that the precogs find themselves in being severely malnourished, getting stuck in this pool of water for so long (being hooked-up with the electrodes to their brains) it's the kind of relentless punishment they're subjected to on a daily-basis, is what makes it so bad ; and all the flaws in the film, with the shoddy investigational police work. Why couldn't the director of the film make the precogs look at least halfway-decent? The precogs in the film look a little-bit like the aboriginal dude from "Powder." I thought they looked horrible, it's like they've gone days, without food. I've seen "Gattica" and "The Matrix." these movies are put together so much better, based upon the technical-merit of the believable action-sequences. This is not one of the best movies I've seen of Tom Cruise's thus far, which is why I give this ***3-stars***.
Rating: Summary: A Film That Is So Real, It Is Possible! Review: An absolutely spellbinding experience to watch. Chilling to the core. A beautififul portrayal of the future, and great plot based on the novel. Tom Cruise performs better in this film than in any of the Mission Impossible films to date. Stephen Speilberg's genius shows though every aspect of this film. And what better touch than John William's music adding luster to the magnificent camera shots and colors portrayed in the film. Bravo, Speilberg!
Rating: Summary: Thank God it wasn't A.I.! Review: I really came away from A.I. feeling let down and Minority Report relieved that feeling. To see how our world could very possibly look a few years from now was amazing! They really did their homework on this one and I think the story was awesome. There are some authors that don't translate well to film and not because of their lack of talent but a director's lack of vision and I think Philip K Dick would be pleased with this adaption. Aside from the technical mastery and effects wizardry, the emotional content of the film really hit me. I was really impressed with Tom Cruise's performance as a grieving father and the phone call between him and Max Von Sydow's character showed how deep the pain ran. I've heard some people talk about Spielberg's trademark "warm fuzzy" approach to this film, but would have to disagree. This film blended action, humor, drama, suspense and a serious message of free will over destiny that I think a lot of people overlooked when it hit the theaters.
Rating: Summary: Great plot makes up for poor quality effects. Review: Surely in a few years, people will look back on the special effects in Minority Report and wonder what all the fuss was about. And I agree with the 1 star reviewer about the overuse of color filters. But where the effects fall short, the sheer inventiveness and suspense of this intelligently crafted plot will keep viewers coming back to this film for decades. While police captain Anderton may perform some unbelievable stunts that put him in the same category as a comic book superhero, he comes off as being much more believeable than, say, James Bond. Are there logical flaws and imperfections? Who cares! This is entertainment, and insofar as one enjoys a good show, Minority Report delivers. I will not reveal any of the plot since this is one of the few movies that I have seen recently that has kept me guessing until the end and you should experience it in just the same way. Enjoy.
Rating: Summary: Average Tom Cruise Review: I hate to say this because I really enjoy Tom Cruise movies (and he looks eerily like my little brother) but this movie was not all it was cracked up to be. The plot would have been so much better than this. So much better. With just the right imagination, more chase scenes and intricate plot could have been added to fill in the gaps of the storyline. Rent it but only when it's on sale or you have a free movie credit.
Rating: Summary: Best Sci-Fi of 2002 Review: This is easily the best Science Fiction of 2002, and one of the better of the genre. Tom Cruise leads a great cast with Colin Farrell. Steven Spielberg does a fantastic directing job with amazing special effects. It starts in the year 2054 with the three Pre-Cogs seeing a future murder and John Anderton using the visions to figure out where the murder is going to take place. But something happens he never expected, he sees someone familiar in the next murder vision. Minority Report is full of suspense and action. Again, the special effects are awesome in this movie. The crew did a great job asking experts on what the future might look like in the year 2054, and they did a great job putting it into the film. What else makes this movie so good? Originality. Originality combined with a great cast, equals a great movie. This is definately a must see.
Rating: Summary: Minority Rapport Review: Incredible visuals. Stunning special effects. Edge-of-your-seat thrills and spills. Yep: Steven Spielberg, all right. Yet MINORITY REPORT is more glitter than it is gold. It is an uneven, inconsistent, often incoherent film, set in a future so imposing and Orwellian I'm darn glad I'll never live to see it. And what on earth was with mainframe computers being controlled by dramatic hand gestures? The future looks solid for all you budding musical conductors out there. The premise of the film on its face is illegal and unethical: arrest someone before he or she commits a crime--a crime as foretold by three troubled clairvoyants floating in water. At least I appreciated the discourse--however brief--between the advocates of Washington, D.C.'s "Precrime Division" and a concerned FBI investigator (Colin Farrell) regarding the feasibility of metaphysical crime prevention. It was interesting stuff, then promptly discarded for the next chase scene. Tom Cruise, as usual, is solid as Precrime Detective John Anderton, an enthusiastic proponent of hauling people away before they commit murder until he himself is the target of a relentless manhunt by his former colleagues. Max von Sydow as Precrime Director Lamar Burgess looks exactly like the aging priest he played in "The Exorcist" thirty years ago (that was all I could think about as I watched him). Sure, there's plenty of heart-pounding action, and Spielberg also throws in a few gross video wedgies to make us recoil uncomfortably, yet MINORITY REPORT falls short of effective storytelling, and even dissolves into a contrived, constipated ending. --D. Mikels
Rating: Summary: Unlogical Review: If Steven Spielberg is going to make a movie about how the in both directions infinite timeline punishes murderers he should also include those who are responsable for poverty.
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