Minority Report

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Based on a short story by the late Philip K. Dick, this science fiction-thriller reflects the writer's familiar preoccupation with themes of concealed identity and mind control. Tom Cruise stars as John Anderton, a Washington, D.C. detective in the year 2054. Anderton works for "Precrime," a special unit of the police department that arrests murderers before they have committed the actual crime. Precrime bases its work on the visions of three psychics or "precogs" whose prophecies of future events are never in error. When Anderton discovers that he has been identified as the future killer of a man he's never met, he is forced to become a fugitive from his own colleagues as he tries to uncover the mystery of the victim-to-be's identity. When he kidnaps Agatha (Samantha Morton), one of the precogs, he begins to formulate a theory about a possible frame-up from within his own department. Directed by Steven Spielberg, who hired a team of futurists to devise the film's numerous technologically advanced gadgets, Minority Report co-stars Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow, and Neal McDonough. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Audio: Dolby Surround
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Features:
  • cc
  • Minority Report Story to Screen: an in-depth discussion between director Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise on the controversial premise behind the film. Additional commentary is provided by the film's producers and screenwriters
  • Minority Report Archives: fascinating imagery - including storyboard sequences, production photographs and more - reveals how the future was brought to life through the film's sets, costumes, props and vehicles

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Sound Editing - 2002 (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Director - 2003 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Won Best Score - 2003 (John Williams)
•     Nominated Best Composer - 2002 (John Williams)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2002 (Steven Spielberg)

• French Academy of Cinema

•     Nominated Best Foreign Film - 2002

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Tom Cruise - Officer John Anderton
       Colin Farrell - Danny Witwer
       Samantha Morton - Agatha
       Max von Sydow - Director Lamar Burgess
       Lois Smith - Dr. Iris Hineman
       Peter Stormare - Dr. Solomon Eddie
       Tim Blake Nelson - Gideon
       Steve Harris - Jad
       Kathryn Morris - Lara Clarke
       Mike Binder - Leo Crow
       Daniel London - Wally the Caretaker
       Spencer Treat Clark - Sean at nine
       Neal McDonough - Fletcher
       Jessica Capshaw - Evanna
       Patrick Kilpatrick - Knott
       Jessica Harper - Anne Lively
       Ashley Crow - Sarah Marks
       Arye Gross - Howard Marks
       Jason Antoon - Rufus Riley
       Caroline Lagerfelt

• Director:

  Steven Spielberg

• Producer:

  Jan de Bont, Gerald R. Molen, Walter Parkes, Bonnie Curtis

• Screenwriter:

  Scott Frank, Jonathan Cohen

• Cinematographer:

  Janusz Kaminski

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Williams

• Editor:

  Michael Kahn

• Production Designer:

  Alex McDowell

• Art Director:

  Leslie McDonald

• Supervising Art Director:

  Chris Gorak

• Art Director:

  Ramsey Avery

• Associate Producer:

  Michael Doven, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

• Executive Producer:

  Ronald Shusett, Gary Goldman

• Set Designer:

  Anne Kuljian, Maya Shimoguchi, A. Todd Holland, Aric Lasher, Hugo Santiago

• Costume Designer:

  Deborah L. Scott

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins

• First Assistant Director:

  Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

• Animator:

  Industrial Light & Magic

• Casting:

  Denise Chamian

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Gary Rydstrom

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Scott Farrar

• Visual Effects:

  Industrial Light & Magic

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Brian Smrz

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Richard Hymns

• Short Story Author:

  Philip K. Dick

• Sound Effects Editor:

  David C. Hughes

• Storyboard Artist:

  David Lowery

REVIEW:

• In adapting one of Philip K. Dick's dystopian tales, Steven Spielberg has a tough act to follow after Blade Runner (1982) survived its box office death via E.T. (1982) to become one of the 1980s' most revered films. Rising to the challenge in eye candy and entertainment, if not philosophical depth, Minority Report (2002) finds Spielberg in top action form. With the desaturated photography lending a steely-gray cast to the deliriously high-tech activity, Spielberg neatly lays out the workings of the ominously potent Precrime outfit that sacrifices the freedom of the individual for the safety of all. The film really kicks into gear, however, once Tom Cruise's Precrime honcho John Anderton is fingered by the super-psychic Pre-Cogs and, true to Cruise form, runs. The pure cinematic pleasure in Cruise's adrenaline-rush escape from spirited G-man nemesis Colin Farrell through Washington D.C. is matched by his arrival at the lushly verdant mutant paradise cultivated by Precrime godmother Lois Smith; the rampant product placement throughout becomes a witty comment on the perils of bureaucratic omniscience. Spielberg sabotages the ending, however, by refusing to let the audience get a thought in edgewise. After over-explaining the paradoxes of Precrime, Spielberg and company negate the prior 90 minutes of sublimely bleak sci-fi noir by giving Cruise his obligatory star hero moment before ending on a vision of bucolic freedom strikingly at odds with the story's apparent implications. Sleekly crafted nevertheless, Minority Report is still an engaging walk on the safely Spielbergian dark side. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi