MINORITY REPORT (2002)
Plot:
The science-fiction thriller MINORITY REPORT, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, is based on a short story by renowned writer Philip K. Dick. In the year 2054, in Washington, D.C., murder has been eliminated thanks to Precrime, a program that uses the visions of three psychics, called Precogs (an abbreviation for precognitive thinkers), to arrest and imprison would-be murderers before they have a chance to kill. Tom Cruise plays John Anderton, a Precrime enforcer who believes in the system for his own personal reasons--years back his young son was abducted, and he has dealt with the loss by becoming a high-strung Precrime officer. The director of Precrime (Max von Sydow) is eager to take the program national, and feels threatened by an ambitious federal agent (Colin Farrell) who is bent on finding a flaw in the system. When Anderton finds himself accused of the future murder of a man he's never met, his faith in Precrime is instantly shaken. He goes on the run, and is trailed by the relentless Precrime police. In the tradition of BLADE RUNNER (also based on a Dick story), MINORITY REPORT is a dark, brooding vision of the future. Spielberg expertly mixes thrilling chase and suspense sequences (the best of which involves Anderton being pursued by eye-scanning mechanical spiders) and stunning special effects with a challenging look at society's willingness to sacrifice privacy and the notion of free will for convenience and security. MINORITY REPORT is a thought-provoking and exciting film that ranks with Spielberg's best.
Cast/Crew:
Written by: Philip K. Dick (short story) Scott Frank (screenplay) and Jon Cohen (screenplay)
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring:
Tom Cruise .... Detective John Anderton
Colin Farrell .... Detective Danny Witwer
Steve Harris .... Jad
Max von Sydow .... Director Lamar Burgess
Samantha Morton .... Agatha
Kathryn Morris .... Lara Anderton
Jessica Capshaw .... Evanna
Notes:
Three years before production began, Spielberg assembled a team of sixteen future experts in Santa Monica to brainstorm out the year 2054 for him. This team included Neil Gershenfeld of the Media Lab at MIT; Shaun Jones, director of biomedical research at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency); William Mitchell, dean of the school of architecture at MIT; Peter Calthorpe, the New Urbanism evangelist; and Jaron Lanier, one of the inventors of virtual reality technology.
Both Matt Damon and Dutch actor Yorick van Wageningen were considered for the role of Danny Witwer.
Apparently,
Colin Farrell had
a lot of trouble delivering the line "surely you understand
the fundamental questionability of Pre-Crime methodology".
In
the scene where John kidnaps Agatha, Colin Farrell's character
asks, "How much time do we have?" (Asking how much time
until John commits the murder). The man responds, "51 minutes
28 seconds." This is exactly how much time remains until the
end of the movie as well (until the credits begin to roll).
Cameo: [Cameron Crowe] Tom Cruise's director from Jerry Maguire (1996) and Vanilla Sky (2001) appears as a commuter on the train who looks at Anderton over the top of his newspaper and recognizes him.
Cameo: [Cameron Diaz] Tom Cruise's co-star in Vanilla Sky (2001) plays the blonde woman sitting just behind the man who looks over at Anderton on the train.
"Minority Report" was the recipient of this year's Hollywood Movie of the Year Award™ The Hollywood Movie Awards Gala Ceremony was held Monday, October 7, 2002 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Here is a link to a great interview with Colin Farrell on FILMFORCE.IGN.COM
Official Minority Report Website
Reviews:
'Minority Report' a Thriller for the Majority
By Desson Howe Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 21, 2002; Page WE44
LET'S PRETEND the over-explanatory conclusion of "Minority Report" doesn't exist. That way, I can tell you the latest Steven Spielberg movie featuring Tom Cruise (or is it the latest Tom Cruise picture featuring Steven Spielberg?) is the very model of a summer sci-fi thriller.
It's a mystery – as in, who's the dark presence behind all this? – but it's not too difficult to figure out. It has an incredibly sleek look, in terms of cinematography, editing and production design. And there's just enough of that Philip K. Dick feel (his short story inspired the screenplay) to lend artistic class (but don't worry, multiplex denizens, not too much) to the story.
Of course, it has the high-dollar presence of Mr. Cruise, whose intensity and muscle definition should inspire theater lines at least until "Men in Black II."
The movie's set in Washington in 2054, a futuristic metropolis where the elite Pre-Crime unit has been operating for six years. Under the control of the soft-spoken Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow), the unit is a fascinating composite of classic and cutting edge.
Its sophisticated techno-lab is informed by a 21st-century-style Oracle at Delphi, an immersion tank where three psychics, known as "Pre-Cogs," lie in a liquid suspension chamber, their brains (and all their visions) hot-wired to the mainframe. Chief John Anderton (Cruise) and a SWAT team of airborne detectives use this Pre-Cog intelligence to bust would-be killers before they commit their murders.
In most cases, would-be murderers are arrested before they even know they're about to take a life. The Pre-meditated homicide has abated because of this preventive technology, but murders of passion continue.
Anderton, who processes the hologram-like data with the same swagger a certain bartender named Brian Flanagan displayed in "Cocktail," is on top of his game. Or so it seems. But when his Pre-Cog imagery shows him shooting someone dead in the near future, he becomes an instant fugitive.
Chased by his own unit and Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell, a Fed who has taken over the investigation), Anderton reaches out to his sympathetic boss Burgess (I can't quite refer to the Swedish-born von Sydow as "Lamar"), his estranged wife (Kathryn Morris) and Agatha (Samantha Morton), a sort of Joan-of-Arc psychic with a mystical, divine look in her eyes.
With the usual gifted team at his disposal – including composer John Williams, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, editor Michael Kahn and costume designer Deborah L. Scott – Spielberg takes assured control.
In his hands, "Minority Report" is a classy, chilly quasi-Hitchcockian affair. There's at least one nod to "Rear Window," as an overhead camera pans across a building of open-view apartments showing its motley residents undergoing involuntary retina inspections by some scary metallic spiders. And at times, Williams's score seems to reference Hitchcock's favorite composer, Bernard Herrmann.
Everyone's too busy shooting, firing, running away or cajoling someone for information to get down and act. But that's another key component of the summer sci-fi thriller. Sudden death, spectacular escapes and special effects (well integrated here) are the attractions. Acting isn't part of the fast-moving deal. After all, the world's in big trouble. And it's going to take dedication and muscle definition, not Shakespearean heft, to save it.
Trailers:
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DVD info:
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Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
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Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
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Rated: PG-13
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Studio: Universal Studios
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DVD Release Date: December 17, 2002
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DVD Features:
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"Minority Report: From Story to Screen": Steven Spielberg recounts his approach to the film's characters and storyline
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"Deconstructing Minority Report": learn how Spielberg brought together a think tank of some of the world's most renowned minds and how this elite group conceived the near-future world of the film
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"The Stunts of Minority Report": how the thrilling action sequences and stunts were created
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"The Digital World of Minority Report": ILM explains the visual effects
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"Final Report": a discussion with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise
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Minority Report Archives: production concepts, storyboard sequences, production photographs, production notes, and bios
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Widescreen anamorphic format
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Number of discs: 2
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- Details from Amazon.com