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Minority Report (Full Screen Edition)

Minority Report (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $13.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Badly cast protagonist & predictable but...
Review: It was a great plot... a great potential. But Tom Cruise as a grieving drug-addicted father? Plu-eez!! That's why I think it's badly cast. I cared more about Danny in the movie than I did Tom Cruise's character. Great idea, loved the idea of the pre-cogs and would have liked to see more of their work catching pre-criminals etc. and more of the pre-cogs' past. But it was a good story.
I figured out who the "baddy" was very early on in the movie, so that's why I call the movie predictable. Good story overall, but too flawed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: New Combination: Thriller and Comedy
Review: Steven Spielberg's masterful use of special effects in this futuristic film is not the slightest bit distracting because the effects are not where he places the film's focus; rather, his direction places it on the thrilling and often comedic storyline. For example, the scene in which Tom Cruise's character jumps from a magnetically-powered car into an apartment perfectly illustrates this, as his defiance of both death and authority at high altitude conclude in arrival, partially upside-down, in a yoga exercise class. Brilliant! Watch this film, and perhaps you, too, could agree with Roger Ebert that this was the best film of 2002.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You control your faith!
Review: Here's the story: A woman who sees the future, predicts that Cruise will commit murder, so he escapes capture from the cops and attempts to find this man he is suppose to murder. Is this man an innocent victim or is he part of a conspriacy to frame Cruise ? On his way to find the truth, he meets new allies and old foes. He is also trying to find the where-abouts of his 10 year-old son who was kidnapped ten years prior.
This movie has a lot of suspense. The story held my attention from beginning to end. There is also a few scenes with great special effects. In my opinion, this is Tom Cruise's best film. Its much better than Impossible Mission 2.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Extras are ok, but not great
Review: First, lemme just get this part out of the way right now. Personally, I like the movie, but I assume that if you're reading this right now, you're more interested in what the DVD has to offer and have already seen the movie. There are pleanty of other reviews that will give you the basic idea of the plot. However, what I'm going to tell you about is the technical pros and cons of this DVD...something that most people seem to forget to mention (oddly enough). First off, the 2:39:1 anamorphic video transfer is flawless...those of you with luck and money to have a 16x9 ratio digital TV will marvel at how beautiful this film looks, and amazingly enough, on a 10 year old mitsubishi non-flat screen, it still looked amazing. That says a lot. Second, the Audio, the 5.1 Dolby Digital audio is impressive. Good, clean, and the levels are right on with no ambients or hums or hissess, which is always good. All that's left to the ears is the wonderful sound recordings of the original footage. As for extras be prepared to be dissapointed. If you were expecting a director commentary, or any commentary at all, forget it, speilberg doesn't do them. If he didn't do one for the special edition DVD of ET, his claim to fame movie, that pretty much sets the tone for everything else. Also, none of the little, and I do mean "little" behind the scenes are really worth the price of the DVD. They show "some" parts of the behind the scenes, but only three minutes for each little montage? Altogether it comes out to about an hour to two hours of "going into less than expected detail" footage with some other non-video extras thrown in for good measure. Personally, knowing Spielberg and his skill as a director, I would have like to see some more "umph" thrown into this look into what he did with the movie. The movie is so good and did so well, they can afford to give the people buying the dvd more stuff...hell I would pay the extra just to have the small featurettes be even a couple of minutes longer. Either that or give me more of them, like on the T2 DVD, where there are 40 some odd mini-featurettes that give more about the movie than any of the ones on the Minority Report DVD.

This is not to say that everything is a total loss. I did give it four stars. What they have here is a good start with a great movie and great transfer, and ok extras. If this thing had a commentary, it would make up for it.

In closing: If you love the movie, it's a must buy. If you've never seen it before, save it for a rental.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Movie Perfectly Suited for Cruise
Review: Minority Report is a triumph that pairs up the talents of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise. Set in the year 2054, the story has scenery very similar to that presented in Blade Runner.

Without giving any of the crucial elements away, I will summarize the description of the movie by saying that it is essentially Gattaca meets The Fugitive, in the sense that the protagonist, John Anderton, is involved in several chase scenes, perpetually eluding authorities who are maintaining a conceptually flawed, futuristic, Brave New World society.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Greatness through name recognition
Review: I'm sorry, but this film did not live up to the hype. The special effects were plentiful in this movie, but I guess paying Tom Cruise ate into the budget a little bit because the CGI was sub-par.

The name of the film is probably the most ludicrous part. There is no mention of a "Minority Report" until half-way through the film. By the time it is mentioned, it isn't twenty minutes until you find out that there is no "minority report". So the title has no bearing on the film to begin with.

This is a movie which owes it's success and hype to 1 thing...names. Tom Cruise, I mean come on. Who doesn't want to see a Tom Cruse movie? Well, not me anymore. And then there is Steven Speilberg...the man behind that lovable E.T....can't seem to churn out anything lately that is worth a hoot. This is truely a film on par with A.I.......hey, "A.I", "E.T", perhaps this should be called "M.R." for the director's cut.

Save your money. If you must see it, wait for HBO.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A few complaints...
Review: I read the back cover of this DVD in the video store, saw the comparison the critics made to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and instantly wanted to rent it... It's no "Raiders," let me be the first to say it...

The first complaint I have is the visual quality of the DVD. Was it me, or was the movie filmed with a blue filter over the camera lens? Also, at times it seems like the editors of the film forgot to reset the contrast on brighter scenes. At times, the sun shines out everything on the screen (what's funny is that the oval-shaped digital lens flares are caustically visible - probably cgi lens flares at that!), and some dark scenes are too dark to view. Very strange. There's also a general lack of color in most scenes (mostly just blue); I'm still trying to figure out if this is an artistic approach to sci-fi films which depict the future, or if it is just poor cameras/film/cgi.

My next complaint is the rating. This film evokes VERY strong images and emotions, probably too many for a PG-13 rating. I was very disappointed this film isn't rated "R" (I wouldn't have rented it if that were the case, I have a child at home). It definitely pushes the envelope (even at the very beginning of the film, images of graphic adultery and brutal murder are introduced), so if you're queesy or have children at home, take my advice and just see something softer or nothing at all.

My next complaint is about some of the problems in the story. A) Why don't the pre-cogs see Burgess' murder of the federal agent sent to watch over precrime? B) If Anderton was disavowed, why do his old eyeballs still open doors and allow him and his wife entrance to the "temple" and the prison holding areas? C) If Agatha and the twins' precognitive powers are symbiotic, why can Agatha still "see" the future when she is removed from the "temple" (where the twins remained) while she's with Anderton? D) Why were the police officers tardy when Anderton "killed" the individual set up to look like his son's abductor?

All in all, you may want to think twice about this film. I'm very disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Cool
Review: In the future Earth has found a new way to deal with murder. Three super-humans (genetically enginered(known as Precogs)) make telling the future a reality. By identifying murders before they occur, criminals can be arrested and victims remain safe and alive. This movie really does give you a scary image of the future. Could you imagine waking up in the morning drinking a cup of coffee and all of a sudden the police break through your door. You have never broken the law but in five hours you will commit murder and there is no questions about whether or not you would have done it. The only complaint I did have with this movie was all the twists and turns with the plot at the end. The movie almost teased you into thinking you knew what was going on then it threw you off. Some people may like this, but the movie does it a lot, it only frustrates me. All in all a great movie. I am starting to love Spielberg's work, let's hope he keeps it up.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good sci-fi flick, but a disappointing DVD set
Review: Worthwhile sci-fi is hard to find and for those who love the genre (and love a decent mystery), "Minority Report" is a fine place to start.

Others have thoroughly covered the plot of the film, so rather than tread where others have trod, let's look at the DVD set itself. It's a two DVD set, the second DVD being bonus material. There are two feature options, fullscreen or widescreen, so choose your film wisely. The feature disc gives a limited set of options, mostly the typical sound choices and subtitles. Nothing spectacular - no commentary tracks and such. For that you'll have to see the second disc.

And what a terrible disappointment the background disc is. While some bonus DVDs have in-depth analyses of the different aspects of the film, nothing satisfies here. We are treated to little vignettes that feature interviews with crew members and cast, but they get little time to say anything or to go into any deep discussions of their particular specialty. Compare this to the "Making of the 'Lord of the Rings'" bonus DVDs in that set and you'll see how weak this DVD is. And where are Spielberg's comments? Well, he makes a few here and there in the various sections covered here ("Minority Report: From Story to Screen", "Deconstructing Minority Report", "The Stunts of Minority Report", "The Digital World of Minority Report" and "Final Report"), but they are largely inconsequential. For such a noted director and actor in a well-received movie, couldn't the DVD producers put out a better product?

Give the movie four stars and the DVD set two and split the difference on the rating here.

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.


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