Minority Report : Spielberg's Bladerunner?

[Melange 446]

Ok sorry guys. My review of this film is a little late considering its been out for Eons now (only got to see it for the first time on DVD last night). I was impressed though and enjoyed it. Very early on i kept on thinking "wow, this reminds me so much of Bladerunner" (lone cop who is a little depressed, futuristic cityscape, corporations etc ). Then i noticed at the end of the film that it said "Based on a short story by Philip K Dick, so that explains everything. I thought Cruise was a great choice because he has that ability to be a super cool handsome type and also has no problem with being looking comical (he's a classic "panic" actor). I thought spielberg made a wonderful synthesis of a serious story and humourous moments (talking of similaritys with Bladereunner, i noticed the eye transplant thing and it brought me back to the scene in the chinese replicant parts shop). I liked JW's score, but did'nt hear it so well, as it was on a big screen in bar. I need to have a proper listen sometime. In all, i felt the film was a synthesis of Bladerunner,THX 1138, and that lowish budget film from the late 90's called "Millenium" with Kris Kristofersson. I have one question about a scene which confused me a bit as it was a bit noisy in the bar and i missed the thread of some dialogue. It was when they are holed up in that house near the end, with the Precog, John and his wife. The Precog goes into a vision and is talking about John's son, and then she was suddenly talking about him being 21 and living on a university campus and making love with some girl etc. Somewhere in this i missed the meaning, and was confused about if she had seen an alternate future, or if his son was infact still alive today??. Then she goes on about something else, and then i got really confused. Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Lurker 5]

if she had seen an alternate future

Yes.

Neil

[Melange 446]

Thanks Neil

P.S : My ST motion picture and Poltergeist CD's are still patiently waiting.

[Romão 2,274]

One thing though, pre-crime was not a national thing yet. So how come didn't the precogs also predict murder in the rest of the country or the rest of the world for that matter?

[scissorhands 16]

MR and BR are VERY different, IMO.

Blade Runner's main topics are a.i., existensialism and life.

Minority Report, however, deals with security and privacy.

I would say Minority Report is a Spielberg's "North by Northwest" or "Fugitive".

[JoeinAR 1,949]

to refer to Minority Report as Spielberg's Blade Runner is an insult to both Spielberg, and his far superior film. IMHO.

[King Mark 3,631]

Joe,Blade Runner is an excellent movie whatever you say,equal or superior to Minority Report considering the time it was made.

Sorry

K.M.

[tpigeon 3]

Minority Report, however, deals with security and privacy.

and much much more.

Ted

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Joe,Blade Runner is an excellent movie whatever you say,equal or superior to Minority Report considering the time it was made.

Sorry

K.M.

uh, yeah, whatever you say KM.

Joe, who has never and never will like Blade Runner, no matter what time it was made, as if that had anything to do with it.

[Melange 446]

to refer to Minority Report as Spielberg's Blade Runner is

an insult to both Spielberg, and his far superior film.  IMHO.

Well..Excuuuuuuuusssse me...LOL

Who got out of bed the wrong side this morning?

[Melange 446]

One thing though, pre-crime was not a national thing yet. So how come didn't the precogs also predict murder in the rest of the country or the rest of the world for that matter?

Good question.

[Morn 8]

AI is Spielberg's Blade Runner.

[ocelot 508]

hhhmmmm.... I'm not sure anyone wants a blade runner. I mean it;s a great film but it's on it's own. Hated the music though, One of the worst things about it. nearly ruined it for me.

[Morn 8]

I agree about the music.

[Melange 446]

Hated the music though, One of the worst things about it.  nearly ruined it for me.

:cry: NOooooo..Please dont say .That is a classic score by Vangelis

[tpigeon 3]

i think it works very well within the limits of the film, but doesn't hold up at all outside it, like much of Vangelis' music.

Ted

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Hated the music though, One of the worst things about it.  nearly ruined it for me.

:cry: NOooooo..Please dont say .That is a classic score by Vangelis

Classic in the same vain as fake dog poop, or fake vomit?

Joe, wishing Melange would go back to his creepy avatar if only for Halloween.

[Justin 2]

Hated the music though, One of the worst things about it.  nearly ruined it for me.

:cry: NOooooo..Please dont say .That is a classic score by Vangelis

Really says somethin' about the composer doesn't it?

Justin -Who thinks Vangelis has made some nice themes but not much more than that.

[IrishCal24 0]

Melange, if you liked Blade Runner and Minority Report, try to find Harrison Bergeron on video. It's based on the short story by Kurt Vonnegut. I know it's available in the US and Canada, but I'm not sure about elsewhere. It originally aired as a Showtime original movie in '95, and stars Sean Astin and Christopher Plummer.

Here is a plot summary from IMDb:

"All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.

[Romão 2,274]

I think Blade Runner is a very good movie, just not the Sci-Fi masterpeice so many say it is. Harisson Ford gave some of his worts acting in that movie.

The score was quite awful.

Romao, who is a big fan of the score from 1492

[Melange 446]

Classic in the same vain as fake dog poop, or fake vomit?

Joe, wishing Melange would go back to his creepy avatar if only for Halloween.

Baaaaaasstttaaaarrrdsss!!...Nobody likes Vangelis's score. :cry: I cant believe this. I felt his score was very original. It was a mood enhancing score (especially pieces like Tales of the future and Damask Rose), not so much a scene by scene painting of a scenes movements. His work on 1492 was great too. Cant go back to my old avatar for now i'm afraid Joe. I'm on the road and these PC's dont ever have any graphics programs for me to make a picture smaller. Erotic lady will have to stay until i return home to Britain.

[Morn 8]

Originality is only half of greatness.

[King Mark 3,631]

i think it works very well within the limits of the film, but doesn't hold up at all outside it

Ted

Pretty much the same can be said about the score to Minority Report IMO.

K.M.

[tpigeon 3]

true. some people may not particulary like that, but i like dark music. i think a lot of film score fans expect nothing but extravagant, beautiful music or bold, brassy action music. Minority Report, in my opinion, is a very good score that i may not always want to listen to but perfectly captures the essence of the film. i do think it is a layered score with many faces, but it's an acquired taste. like a lot of great movies/stories, you gotta dig deeper. but i understand that it isn't for everybody though. it's perfectly valid why someone doesn't like it, but people often don't say why, other than "it's boring." i'd like to know what some of your feelings are, people who did like not the score. i don't want to argue with you, i just want to have a perspective of where you're coming from. and maybe we can discuss it like intelligent human beings. sometimes that doesn't happen here and people choose to bicker and argue about it instead.

Ted

[King Mark 3,631]

It's just plain loud and incoherent,and listening to it gives me a headache,like a lot of the music in Goldsmith's "Alien" or "Planet of the Apes".It's that simple.

K.M.

P.S.:Alien is loud and almost unlistenable for most of it but it does contain some of the most beautiful cues or passages Goldsmith ever penned.

[Morn 8]

Huh? What part of those scores do you mean? :?

[Melange 446]

Just have to say that Poltergeist and ST motion picture are my favourite Goldsmith scores..That Re-Birth piece is one of my favourites in scoring. Anyway i'm drifiting. I agree that Alien is not the most listenable score outside of the movie. As Ridley scott says on his commentary on the DVD, the scene where the space jockey is revealed has some wonderful scoring. But its not something that has much impact outside of the scene.

[charlesk 0]

I always feel bad for Goldsmith. He had some moments of absolute genius. I love The Omen I , II and Final Conflict. The Hunt music in Final Conflict is in my top ten favorite film music tracks.

But for reasons I don't know (maybe a lot of deceptions), his talents come and go, from very good to very bad.

Now to the subject of the thread:

Bladerunner vs. Minority... I don't see similarities except that both find their source in Phillip K. Dick's stories, and the main character is a cop with "problems".

Bladerunner is one of the very few films in which you can see a Harrison Ford that is not "likeable", and actually, you like more the bad guy, the clone that only wants to be able to live more.

In Minority the character was more likeable, but I personally have difficulties with Cruise, I find him cold and distant in all his characters. I saw Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut, MI, Interview with the Vampire, The Firm, Born on the 4th July, Rain Man, A Few Good Men, etc. and I always liked better the character (and actor) opposite to him. I'll check this with my psychotherapist.

As for the score, it worked well with the movie, but please, do not compare Vangelis' atmospheric new age with Williams' Herrmannesque music.

[Morn 8]

The similarities are really just that both are sort of action serious sci fi films with 1 main male character. You could compare them to Total Recall too. But really, Blade Runner and AI compare best because they touch the same themes.