Customer Reviews

Minority Report (Widescreen)

5 star:		(138)
4 star:		(86)
3 star:		(48)
2 star:		(30)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

Minority Report combines an elaborate plot you can never really pin down until the very end, loads of summer blockbuster-type action, all sorts of nifty futuristic technologies and special effects, the star power of Tom Cruise, and the direction of Steven Spielberg. Given all that, this movie was virtually guaranteed to please audiences, and it does not disappoint. While the plot is loosely adapted from a short story by Philip K. Dick (who truly belongs in the upper echelon of science fiction writers but is still vastly underappreciated), it does manage to embody much of the sociopolitical questions and concerns related to technological advancement that animated Dick's body of work. In the world of Minority Report, set in 2054, privacy has basically disappeared. Retinal scans trace your every move, your mind is constantly bombarded by customized advertising (it's like having your brain infected by unlimited and infinitely invasive spyware programs), and you can be arrested and put away (in a comatose cocoon) for a crime you did not commit - if you live in Washington, D.C., at least. The experimental precrime unit set up in the nation's capitol six year ago quickly reduced the murder rate to zero, employing a trio of exceptional young people gifted (or cursed, depending on which way you look at it) with an uncanny ability to see murders before they happen - thanks to the milky liquid they lie in, their prevision powers are significantly boosted and translated into electrical data the precrime authorities can view themselves. Detective John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is the lead investigator, and he interprets the signals of the precognitives' visions in order to locate and stop each impending murder before it can happen. Things are going very well - until the federal government sticks their noses into things. A national referendum will soon decide whether precrime will be adopted nationwide, and Anderton finds himself having to deal with an annoying little runt from the Attorney General's office - Danny Witwer, played by a silly-mustachioed Colin Farrel. Anderton and his boss, Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow) do not want their project turned over to the feds, but things get unimaginably complicated when the precognitives identify Anderton himself as a soon-to-be murderer. Anderton runs, anxious to prove his innocence and desperately anxious to understand what is going on. Convinced he would never murder anyone (especially a predicted victim he has never even heard of), he has to face the troubling fact that the precognitives are never wrong. His friends and coworkers now face the unusual task of going after one of their own, and Anderton proves himself quite difficult to catch.

I thought the ending of the movie was superb; in many ways, Minority Report is a mystery, and the film plays its cards pretty close to the vest up until the final few scenes. If you like action and dazzling special effects, you'll find that here in spades, but those who crave an intelligent story behind all the bells and whistles will be doubly pleased by this film. Apart from the heart of the story itself, Minority Report provides food for thought that you may still be chewing on days later - e.g., the whole privacy issue and the Constitutional implications that, while not really addressed in the film, come across loud and clear; then there's the whole matter of the isolated precognitives, three young people denied a real life in the outside world and forced to live and relive horrifying previsions of murders day in and day out. Tom Cruise turns in another sterling performance, and his character is remarkably human and complex, as the loss of his son six years earlier and the problems he continues to have adjusting to that loss make of him an incredibly human type of hero. I should also mention the fact that the film boasts several very funny scenes, serving to release the viewer's tension momentarily - that's a good thing because things get pretty tense as the story progresses and you'll want to be mentally ready for the twists waiting for you around the final few bends.

The movie itself runs almost two and a half hours, and a second disc features an impressive number of featurettes examining the origins of this first Cruise-Spielberg project, the making of the film, and somewhat technical looks at the special effects that bring the world of 2054 to vivid life on the screen. This all adds up to a DVD that will appeal to almost everyone out there who enjoys good movies.

Minority Report definitely ranks as one of the best future-theme movies of all time. Although not as groundbreaking as The Matrix or visually stunning as Blade Runner, it has it's own pro's.

In a future where future crimes are predicted using triplets or 'Pre Cogs' with the ability to foresee events yet to come, the Police Officer in charge and support of the device himself (Tom Cruise) is accused of a murder that he has yet to commit. Though he believes that he is innocent, the squad doesn't, so Cruise sets out on his journey to find the truth.

The storyline for the movie is interesting, very thought provoking. A lot of what is talked about sounds complicated at first, but listening closely will reveal that they are really talking about the Minority Report of Cruise. Listen even more closely and you'll understand the entire movie, otherwise you will be lost.

Good actors playing good characters, impressive special effects, quality action, and a deepening plot - Minority Report is definitely worth the price of admission.

I am so glad my husband dragged me to see this movie. From the advertising, it did not look too interesting, although I love action and sci-fi. Minority Report is magnificent. One of the most original, thought-provoking, and entertaining movies to come along in twenty years. This is a true classic.

Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell are wonderful in their roles as Precrime Police, stopping crimes and charging "criminals" even though the crime has not taken place. The Precrime Police have three empaths who provide them with information. The empaths are suspended in water solution, and although they are not slaves, have never seen the outside world. One of the empaths is female. She is one of the most compelling characters, although she does not say much or get much screen time.

The last scene had a few women in the theater crying.

Tom Cruise is John Anderton, a cop in this futuristic thriller. Together with Burgess, they developed PreCrime, a state-run programme which utilises biological and technological advances to predict crimes even before they happen. Three "precogs" (human "mutants" with extraodinarily acute psychic-like abilities) are at the center of this technology. One day at the swimming pool, John's young son is abducted by a mysterious stranger, whom John has never been able to trace. Through a string of premeditated circumstances, John ends up killing a man who was responsible for abducting and (he assumed) killed his son. He gets put away, but that is not it. One of the "precogs" keeps having flashback memories of a woman getting killed, but nobody has been able to trace the killer. Eventually, (I don't want to spoil this for you!) justice is served :)

This movie is about the future, but it does make you think : what if one day we can all predict everything that's going to happen,and change them before they happen? Can that be a good thing? I think not. Life is full of choices and possibilities. Once these choices and possibilities are taken away from us, then really, why should we even bother to live it?

Premeditating the future is an interesting idea but imagine if someone told you you're gonna kill someone tomorrow. Given the right circumstances, you end up at the point where you are going to kill someone but haven't yet. If you recognise the fact that life is about choice, you know you can prove the prediction wrong by not killing. But if you do not recognise the fact that you can choose what you do and change what they predict about you, then you have really lost the plot - i.e. you'd be just a pawn in someone else's game.

Great sci-fi thriller. Very fast paced, very meaningful theme, you never really know what's gonna happen, and great special effects.

There hasn't been a murder in 6 years. There's nothing wrong with the system, it is perfect.

This movie is not science fiction the way I thought of science fiction. The movie is very suspenseful, and it's action packed. This movie is about a cop who is dealing with the loss of his son, but trying to be on top of his game in his field. He is a cop, who can pick out the clues of a crime BEFORE it happens, and stop that crime. That in itself is an interesting concept. When Anderton, becomes one of the criminals he is in the fight of his life!!! Watching this movie you are led to believe one person has framed Anderton, but then you will find out you are wrong. I was really into this movie, and if you don't have super high expectations, you will find this movie to be a really good one. I was very impressed. The precogs were a nice twist in the film. The other aspect of the movie that grabbed me was "choice". There is a certain part of the film where choice plays a huge part in the film. You can make the right choice, or you will make the wrong choice. How will that choice truly affect your life? I really liked that philosophical aspect of the film.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Cruise, Max Von Sydow, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton.
Running Time: 140 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for violence and some language.

Steven Spielberg is perhaps the only director in the history of film who has the ability to extract almost every human emotion in all of his films, whether its true terror ("Jaws"), utter anguish and despair ("Schindler's List"), absolute awe ("Jurassic Park", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"), pride ("Saving Private Ryan"), laughter ("Hook"), and love ("E.T."). "Minority Report" is a film that promotes suspicion, and more importantly, how greed can deteriorate the soul.

In the year 2054, Tom Cruise stars as a prominent law enforcement agent who has the uncanny ability to envision murders and crimes before they are committed. Because of agents such as Cruise, the criminal justice system is impeccable and without failure, saving lives and putting those who endanger others into jail. With the tragic loss of his lover (Samantha Morton), John Anderton (Cruise) feels as though life can get no worse; until he becomes the subject of a pre-cognitive murder that he did not commit. With an FBI agent (Colin Farrell) only a step behind him, Anderton must come to realize why he has been framed, how he has become a suspect, and who the real killer is.

Cruise is dynamite as the heroic officer of "PreCrime", jumping from flying, hovering aircrafts (yes, it is 2004 for crying out loud) and blending a poignant, confounded ingredient to his character that not many others would have pulled off. Spielberg delivers his most authoritative picture since "Saving Private Ryan", enchanting the audience using superb special effects and a cerebral screenplay based off Philip K. Dick's brilliant short story. The film can often be superiorly confusing for those who do not follow all of the technological jargon, which may throw many viewers off. With that shoved aside, this latest Spielberg effort has a little bit of everything. Not a classic, but not a small, futuristic, step from it.

There isn't a movie that is half as bad as this. Enough said.

One of the things I've admired about Steven Spielberg is that he doesn't necessarily stick to the same genres that made him who he is today but when he returns to them he does so in a manner that is stylistically and creatively much different from his original attempts. Obviously the improvements in technology make this much more possible, but Spielberg, for all the special effects in a film like Minority Report, manages to keep the characters at the forefront and everything else in a supporting position.

A lot has been said and written about this film so I won't rehash old news, but here's what I thought made it an enjoyable viewing experience. First, it was completely believable. Even though it's set 50 years in the future, there's nothing so incredible or far-fetched to force a viewer to disrupt his/her suspension of disbelief. Enough familiar elements remain to think that this could be a logical future. Second, the story, originally a creation of Philip K. Dick, is very well done because it takes a complex situation and turns it on a very simple premise - what happens when you arrest people for crimes not yet committed and then discover that you yourself are a suspect? We've seen Cruise in this type of role before but now that he's getting a little older we're seeing him bring nuances to the role (i.e. the death of his character's son) that simply wouldn't work a few years ago. Lastly, the numerous plot twists, including what turns out to be at least two false endings by my count, keep you on the edge of your seat. Okay, it does drag the film's running time to well over the 2 hour mark, but it ties all the loose ends up very nicely and provides a satisfying ending.

If anyone recalls when Spielberg received the AFI Lifetime Award he mentioned that his directorial output was far less by a large margin from other recipients and he had to "get off his ass". With Minority Report (AND Catch Me If You Can AND A.I.) it looks like he's off to a pretty good start.

It seems that most people either really hated this movie or really loved it. There doesn't seem to be much "in between" where this movie is concerned. Personally, I loved it.

For several years, the Washington, D.C. area has been murder-free thanks to three kids, called precogs, who can see the future. Technology allows the Precrime Unit, led by their chief Detective John Anderton (Tom Cruise), to harness these visions and apprehend would-be murderers before they commit the crime. All seems well with this system, until.....

It seems that the Precrime unit is on the verge of going nationally, much to chagrin of the creator of the Precrime Unit, Director Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow). Fearing that he will lose control of the Precrime initiative, he hatches a complicated, but brilliant, plot to bring John down.

After the precogs show a vision of John committing a premediated murder of someone he doesn't know, John must race against time, and against his own unit, to figure out who the person is he's suppose to kill and stop it.

The special effects are nothing short of amazing in this movie (as would be expected). Unlike many other special effects laden movies, it is not the main reason to watch this movie. The story will grab your attention and hold on to it throughout the movie.

The two-disc version of the DVD release comes with hours of extras, including how many of the stunts were performed, how the special effects were created, and a large archive of sets, costumes, props, and vehicles used in this movie.