Minority Report: A Nova Lei

So - can you be arrested for a crime that you haven't actually committed yet? I suppose that is conspiracy - but this cleverly crafted crime drama questions even the morality of that stance. Tom Cruise is a policeman in the "pre-crime" unit who uses information from three people who are able to see into the future, to arrest the spiralling crime rates by intercepting the perpetrators on the cusp of their criminality. Murderers, rapists, bank robbers - you name it, and this has a profound effect on the crime rate. All looks plain sailing until Cruise "Anderton" becomes embroiled in a potential killing of his own, and his erstwhile colleagues - not least Colin Farrell ("Witwer") and Max von Sydow ("Director Burgess') are on his trail using his own techniques against him. Steven Spielberg has concocted a plot that, though complex, is relatively easy to follow with plenty of action and thriller elements that do exactly what they are supposed to. The ending is maybe just a bit disappointing - far too tidy for my liking; but Cruise, Farrell and von Sydow combine well to generate a fair degree of menace and suspense to keep it interesting. The CGI hasn't really stood the test of time so well and I hope Bulgari (amongst others) got their money's worth - I wouldn't rush out and buy one, but I would watch the film again.

The best film to date so far this year as of 8/02! This film is about a John (Tom Cruise) who is haunted by the disappearance of his young son many years ago. To cope with the grief he works at a crime pervanetion network founded by Lamar Burgess (Max Von Sydow) that can predict murders and stop them before they occur. However, one day while at work Tom Cruise is shocked to discover that it is saying he will be the next person to try and commit murder. John thinks that an agent named Danny (Colin Farrell) who is investigating the the unit is trying to set him up. To add to the problems, the person John is accused of trying to murder is a person he does not even know and it says John will kill him in 48 hours.

Fast paced, exciting and deeply moving & thought provoking film. Tom Crusie does good work here. Colin turns in a deliciously nasty performance. However the film belongs to Max Von Sydow who is absolutely genius here. Director Speilberg treats the audience to some highly original and creative visual effects and has presented us with a fun story that covers all the bases. The ending is especially good.

Rated PG-13; Violence and Profanity.

Before they joined forces to give sci-fi fans their hugely disappointing version of War Of The Worlds, Spielberg and Cruise worked together on Minority Report, a near-future tale based on a short story by Philip K. Dick in which violent crimes can be predicted and prevented from occurring, the perpetrator intercepted before they can carry out the deed. Star Cruise plays pre-crime cop John Anderton, who finds himself on the run after it is predicted that he himself will commit a murder.

The good news is that Minority Report is a lot more enjoyable than the duo's H.G.Wells debacle, with an engrossing murder mystery plot, lots of great visuals, excellent production design, and some well executed and extremely fun action set-pieces, all of which help detract from the story's inevitable paradoxical issues and Spielberg's occasional, frustratingly unrestrained direction (Cruise leaping from car roof to car roof on a towering vertical road stretches plausibility a bit too far, but at least it's not 'nuke the fridge' bad).

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for the 'sick stick' a police baton that makes the victim projectile vomit.

May be this film has some flaws but while watching it I wasn't too distracted by that. Here we have one of the greatest directors alive (Steven Spielberg), a very big star (Tom Cruise) with a great ensemble (Max von Sydow, Colin Farrell, Peter Stormare, Samantha Morton, Tim Blake Nelson) around him, a good cinematography (Janusz Kaminski) and a nice score by John Williams all packed in a great story (based on the novel by Philip K. Dick) with perfect visual effects.

In the year 2054 murders can be predicted and stopped before they happen. If you were about to kill but stopped you are locked. Tom Cruise is one of the agents who stops those murders. Then he discovers the next murder they have to stop will be committed by himself.

I will not reveal more of the plot. The story itself is great. It is intelligent, but also exciting with great action scenes. The visuals are truly beautiful and perfectly support the sci-fi story. If you like action thrillers and you don't mind they are set in the future (with some futuristic gadgets) this is your film. 9/10.

This gets high marks for being an involving film that, despite a long length of almost two- and-a-half hours, keeps ones interest all the way. Being a Stephen Spielberg-directed film, it's no surprise that the photography is first-rate. This is nice-looking movie. Tom Cruise also was very good in here, not the obnoxious character he sometimes portrays (or did more often in his younger days.).

The film is a good mixture of action and suspense. Only the one chase scene was overdone with Rambo-like mentality of the good guys not getting hit when they should, and vice- versa.

The subject matter is interesting, too: what would do you (or the police) had very reliable information on crimes that were about to be committed, that you could prevent things from happening before they actually did?

I recognized two people in here who went on shortly thereafter to become recognizable in TV series: Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") and Neal McDonough ("Boomtown"). Add Colin Farrell, Max Von Sydow, Samantha Morton and you have an interesting cast. I am of the opinion that this is one of Spielberg's underrated gems.