Steven Spielberg. Tom Crusie. A science fiction epic. Sounds good, doesn't it?Well, Spielberg is obviously treading new terrain here, exploring new styles. You'd never know this was his work unless you saw the credits. It got a cold, sterile tone and the photography is nearly black and white. It looks almost as if it were shot with a one-chipped consumer camcorder!The plot of this flick deals with Cruise being the head of a team of cops that can prevent murders from happening in 2054. A trinity of psychics project the events to come on a video screen and Cruise and company stop the carnage before it happens. The system is perfect, it never fails.Until Cruise is framed for a murder to come...and he has to run, proving the system he believed in is indeed capable of being wrong. Will Cruise save himself?This movie isn't bad, I'd definitely call it a sci-fi murder mystery more than anything. There's some standout action scenes (three or four) that really get the heart pumping, so that was exciting. What is it with factories, though? Seems this is the summer of action chases with futuristic factories, with ATTACK OF THE CLONES and this flick...Cruise is good in this film, in his TOP GUN/MISSION IMPOSSIBLE mode. The effects are wild, the futuristic vision is bleak and sometimes unbelievable, but I liked the computer/video technology that played into things. Risky move making the lead character addicted to a futuristic form of crack.This film is worth seeing, especially on video. Should play nice on the small screen. Like most of Spielberg's recent work, this isn't something that will make you want to see it again, like JAWS, DUEL, or the RAIDERS films. It's just too oppressive. Looking forward to the just-announced Indiana Jones sequel, myself...
Steven Spielberg. Tom Crusie. A science fiction epic. Sounds good, doesn't it?Well, Spielberg is obviously treading new terrain here, exploring new styles. You'd never know this was his work unless you saw the credits. It got a cold, sterile tone and the photography is nearly black and white. It looks almost as if it were shot with a one-chipped consumer camcorder!The plot of this flick deals with Cruise being the head of a team of cops that can prevent murders from happening in 2054. A trinity of psychics project the events to come on a video screen and Cruise and company stop the carnage before it happens. The system is perfect, it never fails.Until Cruise is framed for a murder to come...and he has to run, proving the system he believed in is indeed capable of being wrong. Will Cruise save himself?This movie isn't bad, I'd definitely call it a sci-fi murder mystery more than anything. There's some standout action scenes (three or four) that really get the heart pumping, so that was exciting. What is it with factories, though? Seems this is the summer of action chases with futuristic factories, with ATTACK OF THE CLONES and this flick...Cruise is good in this film, in his TOP GUN/MISSION IMPOSSIBLE mode. The effects are wild, the futuristic vision is bleak and sometimes unbelievable, but I liked the computer/video technology that played into things. Risky move making the lead character addicted to a futuristic form of crack.This film is worth seeing, especially on video. Should play nice on the small screen. Like most of Spielberg's recent work, this isn't something that will make you want to see it again, like JAWS, DUEL, or the RAIDERS films. It's just too oppressive. Looking forward to the just-announced Indiana Jones sequel, myself...
