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?
Minority Report is filmed in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio (it says so on the cover) and it provides a pretty solid transfer capturing the drained color and the desaturation without any speckles of grain or very little edge enhancement. There are some scenes that let the vibrant color out and the colors are not too soft, but in the end result in a clean print.
Audio: How does it sound?
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 trilogy, 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. The disc also has a Spanish and French language track along with English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
On this 2 disc set, the 2nd disc is solely devoted to the extras and there are many in documentary form courtesy of Spielberg documentarian Laurent Bouzereau. From Story To Screen chronicles the cast and how the story came to it’s 2 main players in between high profile projects. Deconstructing Minority Report delves 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 show 3 sequences and its many stages. The ILM and Minority Report section examines 5 Visual Effects scenes from their incarnation to their finished form. Final Report: Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg sum up their satisfying experience in close to 4 minutes. Finally, we have the Archives section showing storyboard sequences with the scene playing audibly to trailers, cast bios, filmmaker bios, and production notes that provide more information than a standard production notes section on most DVDs. Overall, a very satisfying movie with a very satisfying DVD transfer and satisfactory extras.
