User reviews

Like Total Recall, Impostor was based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick. (Dick's stories were also the inspiration for Blade Runner and Minority Report.) In my opinion Impostor is a solid science fiction film.

The core of these stories by Dick has to do with the nature of reality and Impostor is no exception. If we have memories implanted in our minds, how can we tell what is real and what is an artificial memory? Added to this in the movie is the change in a society that comes from years of war. Can we have freedom and human rights when anyone can be a spy? This combines two great traditions in sci-fi; illusion vs. reality (Total Recall) meets taking over our minds and bodies by an alien power (Invasion of the Body Snatchers).

Add to the great story concepts is superior acting by Gary Sinise and Madeleine Stowe. The supporting cast is good with Vincent D'Onofrio playing a complex character. Is he a villain? Nothing is as it seems.

With all of these positive comments, I cannot give the film a 10/10. This is a low budget film which first started as a short film and grew into a feature. While the story of Impostor IMHO is superior in some ways to Minority Report and much better than typical sci-fi, the lack of money for Impostor shows.

The director, Gary Fleder is no Speilberg, Ridley Scott or even Paul Verhoeven. Sometimes the pace of the film seemed to need tighter editing. The script in the central part of the film could have used more work to learn more about this world. And the music was just ok in supporting the action and emotion of the film.

Still Miramax was right to decide on making this a feature film rather than a short subject or straight to TV film. Impostor has some great sci-fi story ideas and good performances. 8.5/10

I was surprised to see that IMDB users had rated this movie as low as they did. This movie really exemplifies the paranoia that is typical of the works of Philip K. Dick much better than the more expensive and more widely-seen "Minority Report". As much as that movie had going for it (great visuals and action, leavened by the right amount of humor), it let the viewer off the hook at the end by resolving the story with a tidy, happy, feel-good ending. "Impostor" is a much lower budget film and very grim but remains true to its Phildickian origin throughout, with the plot unfolding layer by layer until the end, which is both shocking and inevitable. It's the kind of stuff great "Twilight Zone" episodes were made of.

Impostor is a Sci-Fi movie mixed with some elements of action & mystery. This was better than I thought it would be. I even put off watching it for awhile because I did not have very high hopes for it, but it turned out pretty decent.

Gary Sinise plays Spencer Olham, a doctor along with his wife, Maya, played by Madeleine Stowe. Spencer wakes up and goes to work the next morning to find that he is a wanted man. It appears that the military and the U.S. Defense department think that he is actually a cyborg with a bomb placed in it's heart, with a mission to kill the Chancellor! Pretty far out stuff. The visuals explaining this were pretty cool, too.

Spencer manages to escape but always has the military hot on his trail. This is where the mystery comes in. The viewer is forced to wonder whether or not Spencer is actually himself, or the cyborg programmed to be Spencer. The movie does an excellent job of placing doubt in the minds of those watching, no matter which way they are leaning. If they think Spencer is really himself, it still makes you wonder. Major Hathaway, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, claims that the cyborg is merely programmed to act human, as if it really wants to live.

The special effects here are pretty good as well. At the beginning, I thought we would have another Starship Troopers (visually) on our hands. Since the story takes place in the year 2079, it would not be a good science fiction without the cool household gadgets and such. We see plenty of that here, especially in the beginning. Parts of the movie reminded me of I, Robot, Demolition Man and at times, even Star Wars. This comes recommended for science fiction fans.

This movie has a low rating for a lot of very good reasons. The main user comment on the IMDb home page (at least as of now as I write this, John DeSando's) spells them out well. It's a failure.

But--there's a real gem here. What happened was, they set out to make a short, the studio liked it for good reason, had the film makers expand it to a feature-length film, and the end product was the dog of film that failed with critics and audiences and goes down in history as a big collection of mistakes.

But if you rent the DVD, the original short is on there. It's well worth renting just for that. It's riveting, tense and provocative. Really ALL the problems users such as John DeSando rightfully point out (quoting him "a plot twist you can see all the way from Mars....The plot holes are as many as dot our own moon....") are in the parts of the feature-length version that are added.

Rent the DVD. Go right to the short. Skip the long version. Too bad the stupid studio had to ruin something good. (Shocking, I know--a movie studio took something good and tried to milk it for more and ended up spoiling it. Hard to believe, but true.)

"Impostor," a variation of the spelling "imposter," is a "good guy running" movie. That would be the movie in which the good guy is on the run. Barring scary movies, the good guy usually has to run for one of four reasons:

1. He knows something

2. He has something

3. Mistaken identity

4. He's been set up (usually because he knows something or has something)

Think of all of the "good guy running" movies you know: "The Fugitive," "Minority Report," "Enemy of the State," "Total Recall," "U.S. Marshals," etc. They all fall into one of the four categories. In "Impostor," Spence Olham (Gary Sinise) is presumably running because of mistaken identity.

Earth has been at war with an alien race called Centoris for years. Now, in the year 2079, mankind has built a weapon powerful enough to rid them of the Centoris forever. One of the main scientists working on the weapon was Spence Olham. Before we know much about him he was nabbed by Major Hathaway (Vincent D'Onofrio) of the ESA and deemed a Centori clone. The Centori have figured out a way to make a synthetic clone so well that no test mankind had could detect it. Except Spence is convinced he's not a clone. If only he could prove it.

"Impostor" is a cool dystopian sci-fi. At times it looks sophisticated and big budget while at other times it looks skimpy. It is perpetually dark which also defines the mood. It is virtually non-stop running by Spence with a barking Hathaway hot on his trail. Many of the elements of this movie would be seen again in the movie "Minority Report." Waiting to see what the truth was was the real suspense. I think the ending delivered.

Behind of the creative strength of the Egghead Philip K. Dick who gave us high class masterpieces as Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall had his short story has been adapted in this fine Science-Fiction, having the charismatic Gary Sinise as leading role and as Producer as well, the futurist writer Philip conjure up in a recurrent motif, as displayed on Blade Runner and Total Recall, those Replicants, on Impostor the same premise is applied, the Earth was in war with Alpha Centaury, a shied dome is build around the globe to protect Earth against the flying weapon from Centaurians, the reputable scientist Dr. Spencer Olham who finished a powerful atomic weapon is accused to be an clone made by the evil Centaurians with a bomb hidden in the own heart, arrest without any fair trial he gets to escape, finding a hideout on the wrecked demilitarized zone, there he finds a forgotten disease people, help by one of them he must prove for himself what he really is, as the story took place at 2057 at advance time, enhanced devices and tools, sounds weird and paradoxical, they didn't ascertain it by scientific methods, there are others minors flaws as well, which decries the movie, the casting are great with the still sexy Madeleine Stowe and awesome Vincent D'Onofrio, worthy to see it gain!!

Resume:

First watch: 2003 / How many: 3 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5

"IMPOSTER" is loosely based on the 1953 novel of the same title written by Phillip K. Dick (also responsible for sci-fi classics such as "BLADE RUNNER" and "TOTAL RECALL") and is actually the second story in a trilogy titled "THE LIGHT YEARS TRILOGY", loosely based on the relationship between humans and aliens.

Originally planned to be released as a 30-minute short, Miramax was apparently so impressed with what they saw, they requested extra footage be shot so that it could be released as a full-length feature film.

Unfortunately, "IMPOSTER" would have been better off left as a 30-minute length feature.

Several problems plagued the production of this film, including several attempts to 're-title' the film as "IMPOSTOR", "THE IMPOSTER" and "CLONE" and the infamous release dates that were juggled around based on the general public's appetite for a film of this genre.

"IMPOSTER" could be described as a sci-fi thriller mixed with some drama. The film takes place in the year 2079. Gary Sinise portrays Spencer Olham an engineer who has the perfect life: a good job, a loving family and a beautiful wife (Madeline Stowe). Unfortunately, "IMPOSTER" takes the tired route (ie. "THE SIXTH DAY", "TOTAL RECALL") where Spencer wakes up the next day and he is public enemy number one. It appears that he has been accused of being an alien spy and he spends the rest of the film trying to prove his identity and innocence while also dealing with paranoia.

"IMPOSTER" certainly isn't a slick piece of work, but it wasn't the worse thing that I've seen either. Most of the sci-fi films released lately have been mostly hit-and-miss (ie. "JOHN CARPENTER'S: GHOSTS OF MARS", "A.I.", etc) and "IMPOSTER" is certainly no different. While watching this movie, it isn't hard to see that this was shot on a very tight budget. The sets are almost 'cardboard-like' and it is a little hard to believe that this could be the very society we could be looking forward to living in 80 years from now. But this is where your imagination is supposed to come into play, but the movie doesn't provide much to support it. The characters are very wooden and I'm getting a little tired of seeing Vincent D'Onfrio portraying the bad guy all the time (sans his television role in "LAW & ORDER: CI"). This time he plays a nasty man named 'Hathaway' who makes it his mission to hunt down Sinise and have him bought to justice.

The whole outcome of this movie feels like something that was intended for a 'straight-to-video' release. I couldn't seem to take anything seriously in the movie. In some scenes, the special effects appear as if they were created on someone's home computer. But while the acting was a bit wooden, I do give many kudos to Sinise for trying on the role that has been played to death in so many other films. He gives "IMPOSTER" his best shot... but your best shot would be to watch this on home video.

I give "IMPOSTER" 3 out of 10. Read the book instead!

The previously posted comment for this film would have successfully steered me away from it... If I weren't such a huge fan of "Criminal Intent" (Vincent D'Onofrio) and "Monk" (Tony Shalhoub) that I had to see it anyway.

I wondered throughout the movie, "Is this guy (Gary Sinise) a robot or NOT???" The sets and direction (not to mention the performances of Gary Sinise and Vincent D'Onofrio, which were intense) sucked me in. D'Onofrio makes a fabulous driven investigator. Shalhoub's role was small, but I was too busy grooving on the plot to care. My one regret in the performances is that Madeline Stowe didn't have much to do, except alternate between the roles of a stereotypical uber-doctor and a limpid, grieving wife. The one scene that hints at her acting talent occurs when she confronts her husband at the abandoned park.

Granted, the film does start out like it's going to be typical sci-fi schlock, but once it was past the first 15 minutes, I almost forgot it's science fiction.

The bottom line: This movie WORKED for me! 9 / 10 stars

I have no idea why this movie is such underrated. Yes, Gary Fleder is no Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott. He doesn't have the excellent imagery or visual wonders of the other directors' films. But at the same time, he has been more faithful to the original short story than Scott or Spielberg could have been. He has added only one major twist which made the film rather more interesting. And one major credit of the film is that it could capture quite obviously the feel of paranoia that's been the mainstay of Philip Dick's most stories.

Gary Sinise is always pleasure to watch on screen. And in this case his performance is flawless. D'Onofrio plays the tough security officer with enough passion. Madeline Stowe is rather frigid in her role.

In short, 'Impostor' is a gripping tale with solid plot and enough substance. A must see for every genre fan, regardless of the fact that one of the greatest sci-fi writer has penned the story.

The film concerns a weapon engineer (Gary Sinese) and his wife (Madeleine Stowe) in the future world , as it takes place in 2079 . Then he's framed to be a traitor and serve to Centauri aliens by means of an explosive in his body . He flees and being helped by a young (Meki Phifer) of the slums . They'll take on a clever security agent (Vincent D'Onofrio) until an unexpected and surprising conclusion .

From start to finish the twisted intrigue , thrills and action-packed are unstoppable . Runtime is adequate , it's fast-moving and is neither tiring , nor dull , but bemusing . In the motion picture there are pursuits , emotion , thriller, shootouts and being interesting enough. The final confrontation between the starring and the contenders is very thrilling and really stimulating.

The storyline from original novel by Philip K. Dick , author of great novels and being well adapted the following ones : ¨Blade Runner¨ , ¨Screamers¨ and ¨Total recall¨, among others . The film plot is pretty twisted and the ending has an extraordinary surprise . The picture takes parts here and there of other films , as in the opening scene of the film , footage of some soldiers is taken from the 1997 film Starship Troopers¨ Paul Verhoven , including some security forces who wear similar helmets ; and footage of a volcano and craters , with other explosions is taken from the film ¨Armageddon¨ . State-of-art Special effects , FX , are extraordinaries , they are made by the powerful enterprise ¨Industrial Light Magic¨ , courtesy of George Lucas Corporation . Interpretation by Gary Sinese is riveting , Madeleine Stowe is enjoyable and enticing . Vincent D'Onofrio is outstanding as his acting in ¨Full metal jacket¨.

The flick will appeal science fiction buffs and action fans. The movie didn't obtain success and failed at the box office in spite of the big budget. Rating: 6,5/10 . Well catching.

Well, I wasn't expecting much from this movie seeing as it is a lower-budget production. It had the problems one would expect: poor direction, including lots of unnecessary slow motion shots and cheap looking camera techniques. It really cheapened the movie and detracted from the viewing experience. If you've seen Behind Enemy Lines, you know how bad direction can ruin a movie like this one. Besides that, the plot was passable, acting was fine (maybe a little overacting by D'Onofrio) and the pace was good, so it wasn't a total loss. The ending was a bit confused - on the one hand, they didn't want to have a totally predictable ending, but on the other hand, the ending made it look like the script writers were arguing over what should happen and made an unsound compromise. They really could have done a lot better, first and foremost by firing the director, but the short story this was based on (by a true genius, Philip K. Dick) was really fantastic and a movie based on it had potential. My rating: 4/10.

5.5 out of 10

Impostor was the first of 2002's futuristic thrillers (the other two being Minority Report and the Equilibrium) and it's also easily the weakest, which is no surprise when you consider this is essentially nothing more than a blown-up short film. Not surprisingly, critics were harsh on this one, and while many of the complaints are valid, Impostor is still a bit better than its reputation.

The film's concept, that of a seemingly normal man accused of being a replicant, is a fascinating one, but it's unfortunately drowned by director Gary Fleder's obsession with shaky camera movements and quick cuts. The script, written by a committee (or at least a group of people who had a hand in it), suffers from too many logical flaws to fully work as the cerebral sci-fi it obviously aspires to be. Most importantly, the question of identity and what it means to be human is never fully addressed and only touched upon briefly.

But flawed as the film is, the cast is solid, with Sinise delivering yet again another terrific performance, and the special effects are actually convincing (the cityscapes are genuinely awe-inspiring). The movie's fast pace ensures it's never dull and there are even a few exciting action sequences (most notably the hospital fight/chase). But best of all is the climactic plot twist, a no-holds barred surprise that boosts the film up a notch. As a whole, the movie is mostly middling, but there are enough inspired moments to make this an enjoyable viewing.

"Imposter" is an entertaining, old-fashioned action sci fi flick, based on a Philip Dick story that I had to track down in an out-of-print book because I wasn't 100% sure I got the final twist.

Good cast of Gary Sinise, Madeline Stowe in her usual wife role, Vincent D'Onofrio in an unusual sort of bad guy role, and Mekhi Phifer in I think his first non-teen role.

The futuristic special effects and constant chase scenes are ably handled by a director formerly of TV's "Homicide."

The search for a terrorist and images of ruined cities ring differently now than they might have before 9/11.

(originally written 1/13/2002;

This movie has gotten a bad rap mostly from folks who just didn't get it. Of all the movies based on Philip K Dick stories, this one actually is most true to the plot line. And as a fan of Philip K Dick I give this movie a lot of credit for that. He visualizes a dark, grim future world at war with aliens and the fear and confusion that comes from the impostor accusations. The movie reflects that very well. They did add some material just to make it a full length feature flick, since the original literary work is a short story. Sinise is excellent, Stowe is pretty and sensual as usual and D'Onofrio is over the top , as usual. A good cast, good photography and an interesting set design. I give the movie high marks, and recommend it especially to any fans of Philip K Dick.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Impostor" (2001) is not bad B movie sci-fi flick. It's nice one actually, if you don't set your expectations high. The story is the strongest point of the movie, and yes, you have already seen it many times i guess, but it's a nice one, even if not the most original one. Acting was just OK, although i really liked Vincent D'Onofrio - he's a true actor, and he did the best he could given the material. The movie settings were kinda dark, and given the budget, they could came up with something more colorful, although it represents dark future, so it's forgivable.

Overall, this flick is mean to sci-fi stories buffs, not that it is really original one, but simply that you don't get many sci-fi flicks often, and this one is not bad, it's a B movie sci-fi flick that you should watch without high expectations, and could be surprised.

This is one of the all time worst movies ever made. Just terrible. What is it about phillip K. Dick, (an author I really like and admire) that makes hollywood treat him with such utter disdain? They have taken a nice little O'henry story and filled it with every trite, hackneyed, and plain dumb cliche that you can imagine, and then, since it was still too short added an extra half hour of chase scenes so convenient as to be beyond belief. Can the cops of the future really be that inept?

This is another example of hollywood thinking that sci-fi fans are stupid. Vote with your wallet. Consign this one to the trash heap of movies. It is bad, it is insulting, and it is over. (thank god)

Other than that, the production design was quite good.

this is a terrific,well acted movie.it has plenty of action,a very good storyline and is also realistic.it asks many questions and leaves the viewer to answer most of them.i was drawn into this movie right from the beginning until the very end.there are some great,and unexpected (for me,anyway)plot twists.the ending i thought was brilliant.i felt the writers really captured the look and feel of a futuristic earth at war with the enemy.i also liked the fact that you never really know who the enemy is,until the very end.even then,i wasn't sure.if you are looking to be entertained,you should give this movie a try.if you like compelling and thought provoking action and drama,you should also give this movie a try.this movie has some intelligence behind it,which many movies today are sorely lacking.this is one of the best movies of the Sci/Fi genre i have seen to date. i wouldn't call it a masterpiece,but it is a very solid,well done film.My vote for "Imposter" is 9/10

This was a great film. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. In fact I watched it twice and was still not disappointed. I haven't read the original story this was based on but I do plan to find it. The film is a bit slow, but for what it is this is part of the process they did to create the story. The slowness at the start, for me actually helped the film to move along.

I liked the introduction and explanation of the war which helped set the mood of the story. The relationship with Sinise's character and Stowe was good. I doubt more minutes of screen time could have fleshed it out any better then what they had done.

Overall this is a good movie and certainly well above average.

It is also interesting to note that the three leads all went on to do cop / Crime type TV shows.

A half-baked science fiction plodder in which Gary Sinise tries to convince the authorities he's not actually a body-snatching cyborg with a bomb in his heart. Originally intended as one-third of a short story anthology, the studio called an audible midway through production and stretched it to a feature length by itself. The lack of preparation is crippling, as bad effects, terrible scenery, atrocious dialog and a heavily padded plot are exposed and emphasized by the longer running time. Sinise's character, the intended heart and soul of the picture, is incendiary and unlikeable, a standoffish prick who makes an already-bad position worse for himself in almost every situation. The awful lines he spits (seriously, the worst-written dialog this side of The Room) aren't helped by a hyperactive editor, switching angles several times in a single sentence. Awful in almost every sense, at least it goes out with a bang.