Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: June 21st, 2002
Rating: PG-13 (for violence, brief language, some sexuality and drug content)
Minority Report captures something that has been lost in many Science Fiction films: The ability to make you think.
Sadly, most moviemakers have come to the conclusion that a few new gadgets is all that is needed to make a good Science Fiction film. This conclusion has produced movies with dazzling special effects, but no depth.
What classic authors like Ray Bradbury and George Orwell taught us is that Science Fiction is not just there to impress people over new inventions, but to make people analyze themselves, their current lot in life, and society itself. Science Fiction is not just about killing aliens and flying through space at light speed; it’s about humanity.
By looking at potential futures, alternate presents, and alternate pasts, Science Fiction causes us to look at ourselves and see what is and what could be.
Minority Report catches this “true spirit” of Science Fiction.
A thought-provoking plot
Minority Report takes place in Washington DC, circa 2054 AD. Murders have been completely eliminated in DC due to an experiment called Pre-Crime. Using the dreams and visions of three gifted individuals known as Pre-cogs, murders are predicted and stopped before they happen. With Pre-Crime in place there hasn’t been a murder in DC for six years.
While a bill is going to Congress to make Pre-Crime nationwide, Detective John Anderton, the lead detective of the Pre-Crime division, is predicted to commit a murder. Not knowing who, where, and how he is supposed to kill, Anderton goes on the run believing that he is being set up.
Anderton sets out to discover how the Pre-cogs predict acquired their gifts and if they could ever be wrong. His discoveries make for a very intricate plot that causes the viewer to ask themselves some tough questions.
Plenty of cool toys and action
Although it’s not the cool toys and gadgets that make a remarkable Sci-Fi film, there are plenty of them in Minority Report. We see everything from A.I. controlled cars, to credit card sized video players, and walking spider-robots with eye scanners. Minority Report doesn’t push anything too revolutionary in terms of special effects, but the effects employed are top notch.
Minority Report has some great action and chase scenes. What is more intense than being on the run in a futuristic society with eye scanners at every corner that can identify you? While John Anderton is on the run to determine who has framed him, he is chased through a car manufacturing plant, flies around with a jet pack, and jumps from car to car on a road that runs vertically.
Although the effects and action are incredible, they are not an attempt to steal from the quality of the story itself. On the contrary, Spielberg has done a superb job of making the special effects, action, and acting compliment the story.