Plot: What’s it about?
The summer of movies in 2002 was bigger than many could’ve imagined. Spider-Man was slinging his web of choice, Yoda did battle with the giants in the 2nd prequel installment of the Star Wars series and a collaboration between the most bankable director and one of the most bankable actors combined along with a short story by Philip K. Dick to make an eagerly anticipated film that, in retrospect, did respectably but ultimately got lost in the summer blockbuster shuffle.
It is the year 2054 and in Washington D.C., the crime rate is at an all time low. This is all thanks to a trial run of the Precrime division, a unit specializing in foreseeing a crime happen, with the assistance of 3 “pre-cogs,” and then preventing it before it occurs. Captain John Anderton (Tom Cruise) has devoted the majority of his time doing what he does best with this division until one day when the foreseeing of a shooting shows Anderton as the shooter and thus begins the good captain on the run from his former colleagues to root out the missing pieces of a puzzle that could delve even further into the past than Anderton’s accusations in the present.
Steven Spielberg’s dark and grainy futuristic vision shows a different style to his filmmaking plus a return to the wide scope aspect ratio that had loomed him 11 years earlier with the disastrous “Hook”. Even though the film is categorized as a sci-fi film noir, it has a little bit of everything (drama, intrigue, suspense, mystery, whodunit) to keep the viewer hooked both visually with the vast array of visual effects, musically by John Williams reminiscent of some of the great Twilight Zone scores, for which this movie represents a good big screen version of one, and narratively not knowing which corner it’s going to turn next.
The screenplay by Jon Cohen and Scott Frank goes from one twist to another uncovering the many pieces to be filled in the past of Captain John Anderton. He is an authority figure and he is the best, but he has flaws and throughout the film just when you think his flaws work against him, they actually work for him. When it comes to him leaving a trace behind in any spot, it happens to result in a twist or a way for Anderton to be one step ahead of his pursuers.
Tom Cruise brings his talent to this multi-faceted role of the accused captain. It amazes a viewer pulling off such a physically demanding and multiple lined role successfully and Cruise does it beautifully. The rest of the ensemble, including Colin Farrell as a representative from the Justice department on the pursuit of Anderton, works well from start to finish to offer a more than satisfying film and another highly recommended title from the Spielberg collection. The film also stars Max Von Sydow, Kathryn Morris and Tim Blake Nelson. (Watch for the cameo of director Cameron Crowe in the train sequence, the girl with the blonde hair next to him *blink and you’ll miss* is Cameron Diaz).
Video: How does it look?
It’s been a while since the 2012 Blu-ray from Paramount made this movie seem “new” again. But here we are with a new 4K transfer that breathes new life into the movie. Set in the future, this one seems like a film that was destined to be/look good on any disc format, but oh my does is sparkle in 4K. The Dolby Vision 2160p gives us detail that I’d not thought possible, blacks are jet black and colors seem to have more “pop” than in previous versions (with good reason). The seemingly ageless Tom Cruise looks great here as does the supporting cast. This is one of the few instances in which I’d say “if you like this movie, owning this on 4K is a no-brainer.” Minority Report has never looked better.
Audio: How does it sound?
Sadly, we don’t get a Dolby Atmos mix for this movie and the picture is the only thing that saw any improvement. The same DTS HD Master Audio mix found on the Blu-ray has made the leap to this 4K disc, but that’s not to say it sounds “bad” by any stretch. The film was nominated in only one category at the Oscars, the Sound Editing award and although it did lose to the 2nd installment of the Lord of the Rings, the disc provides a booming and clear track that provides a satisfying soundtrack. The score livens up the majority of the track and the dialogue is never drained out at the same time with a nice balance of the sound effects on all channels. A very impressive track.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Like the video, we also find that the supplements have made the leap (on the second disc, which is a Blu-ray, though no Blu-ray of the movie is included – odd.)
Disc One (4K)
This disc contains no supplemental material.
Disc Two (Blu-ray)
- The Future According to Steven Spielberg – A 30 minute segment culled from other parts of the disc and features that allows you to jump to them.
- Inside the World of Precrime – An ad for how the pre-crime system works.
- Phillip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg, and Minority Report – The acclaimed author’s works and how they culminated into what we now know as Minority Report.
- Minority Report: Future Realized – A look at some of the tech/gadgets used in the movie.
- Minority Report: Props of the Future – Essentially more of the same like the wood balls, the “data glove” and so forth.
- Highlights from Minority Report: From the Set – Two key scenes: the hoverpack and the car factor are analyzed.
- Minority Report: Commercials of the Future – What seemed “futuristic” at the time is now commonplace for us. We get a look at the personalized ads depicted in the film.
- Previz Sequences – Pretty self-explanatory, we get some very rough footage.
- From Story to Screen – This chronicles the cast and how the story came to it’s 2 main players in between high profile projects.
- Deconstructing Minority Report – We delve into the design, score, costumes and a few visual effects sequences showing how they were modeled and the final results.
- The Stunts of Minority Report – Three key sequences and its many stages are shown.
- ILM and Minority Report – Five different Visual Effects scenes from their incarnation to their finished form.
- Final Report – Cruise and Spielberg sum up their satisfying experience in close to 4 minutes.
- Production Concepts
- Storyboard Sequences
- Trailers
The Bottom Line
Spielberg’s films tend to be (overly) sentimental sometimes. Not here. This is an all out action film that eerily predicted many of the things that we now see/know as commonplace. This is Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg at their finest and it led to another collaboration between the duo a few years later with War of the Worlds. Paramount’s 4K disc gives us a much-improved picture, though the audio and extras are the same as the previously-released Blu-ray.
