MINORITY REPORT

Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Ferrell, Samantha Morton, Tim Blake Nelson, Peter Stormare and Max Van Sydow
Director: Steven Spielberg
Running Time: 148 mins
Certificate: 15

Out to buy on DVD 2nd December

2054, the future can be seen. The department of Pre-Crime has stopped every single murder in Washington DC for the last six years before any of them have even happened. Three precognitives see the extreme acts of violence before the actually take place and a team of specialist police officers, headed by John Anderton (Cruise), are dispatched to arrest the potential killer. When the precognitives reveal that Anderton will commit the next murder, he goes on the run to clear his name but can he change the future?

The biggest star in the world and cinema's most successful director join forces for the first time. The coming together of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg is a match made in heaven and makes you wonder why it hasn't happened sooner.

Based on a short story by Sci-Fi guru Phillip K. Dick, who bought us Blade Runner and Total Recall, we are transported fifty years into the future to a world that is as believable as it is remarkable. Spielberg and the special effects wizards at ILM have created a world that looks futuristic but also it's too far fetched to be beyond anything mankind could accomplish within the time frame. Commercialism and personal identification gone mad, if you think Internet popup adverts and text message advertising were bad, wait until you see what a possible future holds for the consumer.

The action sequences are breathtaking, as you'd expect from Spielberg, but the movie is not the roller coaster ride you might have been expecting however. This is definitely not another Jurassic Park but an intelligent piece of science fiction that, in parts, is very dark. Cruise's character has many flaws and vices but is driven by a tragic event in his past which he has difficultly letting go of. Not you typical movie action hero by any means.

The performances are very good. Cruise is his usual dominating self, commanding your attention ever time he is on screen. Colin Ferrell gives another 'look at me, I'll quite good' performance and is definitely a star to watch. Max Van Sydow and Tim Blake Nelson steal every scene they are in and Samantha Morton proves again that she is a great character actress. The story is the only slight disappointment however, as there is nothing really new here to push the film into the truly great science fiction category. The setting may be futuristic but the basic underlying story is as old as time itself.

The amalgamation of Spielberg and Cruise produces an experience that is more A.I. or Blade Runner than it is Star Wars or Jurassic Park. Fans hoping for an all out sci-fi version of Mission Impossible will be disappointed but for everyone else who was just looking forward to an intelligent science fiction movie will not be disappointed.

Minority Report: From Story To Screen: Steven Spielberg recounts in vivid detail his approach to the film's complex characters and storyline, and how the talented group of actors and filmmakers collaborated to bring this vision to life. .

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 Minority Report. .

The Stunts Of Minority Report: Keeping viewers on the edge of their seats, Minority Report features some of the most ambitious stunts ever put on film. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage of Tom Cruise, who performed many of his own stunts, this program reveals how the combination of physicality and animation brought the film's gripping action sequences to the silver screen. .

ILM and Minority Report: See how the Academy Award(r)-winning team at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) used countless visual effects shots to create a seamless representation of Spielberg's vision. .

Final Report: An intimate conversation with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise discussing their working relationship and revealing how Minority Report's complex storyline challenged the very way they thought about life and the near future. .

Minority Report Archives: A virtual gallery that includes nearly every preparatory element needed to bring the story to life; storyboard sequences that show the entire layout for the action-filled sequences; plus one of the most impressive selections of original illustrations and production stills ever taken on a set; production notes and bios .


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