The Stunts of Minority Report Featurettes: вЂњMaglev EscapeвЂќ, вЂњHoverpack ChaseвЂќand вЂњCar FactoryвЂќILM and Minority Report featurettes: вЂњAn IntroductionвЂќ, вЂњHologramsвЂќ, вЂњHall of Containment вЂњ, вЂњMaglevвЂќ, вЂњHovercraft and HoverpacksвЂќand вЂњCyberparlorвЂќДЇeaturette: Final Report: Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise Count me amongst that number.ДЇrom Story to Screen Featurettes: вЂњThe Story, The DebateвЂќand вЂњThe PlayersвЂќДeconstructing Minority Report Featurettes: вЂњThe World of Minority ReportвЂќ, вЂњPre-Crime and Pre-CogsвЂќ, вЂњSpyder SequenceвЂќ, вЂњPre-Cog VisionsвЂќ, and вЂњVehicles of the FutureвЂќ ItвЂ™s a film that finally sees Spielberg grow up in public and itвЂ™s a film, like BLADE RUNNER, whose reputation can only grow and grow as it slowly finds its appreciative audience. Perhaps inevitably, box office in the States has been healthy, if not outstanding this is a difficult, awkward film, far removed from the expected disposable popcorn fare. MINORITY REPORT, with its engrossing, labyrinthine plot and its dozens of neat visual flourishes, will undoubtedly reward repeated viewing.

Scott FrankвЂ™s script is brutal and uncompromising, even where some of the expositionary dialogue is a bit clunky and of the вЂOh, I should have realised вЂ¦вЂ™ variety and the vertical freeways and the insidious mechanical spider-like people-seekers creature a future dystopia entirely believable despite the fact itвЂ™s only half a century away. Cruise gives a career-best performance as tormented cop Anderton and Spielberg finally overcomes his mawkish tendencies and creates a startlingly adult film, the stark, bleached cinematography giving the film and its characters an even greater sense of unreality. Granted, thereвЂ™s action and spectacle but, just for once, itвЂ™s incidental to the machinations of the plot, the icing on the cake rather than the filling. The filmвЂ™s trailer does the film a great disservice, painting MINORITY REPORT as an all-action, special effects extravanganza. Into all this whiz-bangery comes MINORITY REPORT, the thinking manвЂ™s science-fiction movie, a film boasting a plot heavy script whilst proudly displaying its film noir sensibilities. MEN IN BLACK 2 and AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER promise yet more flashy effects and mindless spectacle. STAR WARS rather came and went, SPIDER-MAN wrapped up the box office in its web despite not being outstandingly good. ItвЂ™s been an odd summer for blockbuster movies. ItвЂ™s an impressive, apparently flawless system of crime detection and John Anderton (Cruise) is one of the DepartmentвЂ™s most respected officersвЂ¦until a psychic image of him committing murder appears and Anderton, convinced heвЂ™s been set up, goes on the run to prove his innocence. Three talented young psychics (known as вЂpre-cogsвЂ™) are linked up to a battery of super-sophisticated recording equipment, held in liquid suspension and their predictive abilities utilised to foresee violent murders which are then prevented before they can happen by the officers of the Department of Precrime. ItвЂ™s the year 2054 and Washington is experimenting with a most effective method of bringing down its murder statistics.

Fortunately for everyone concerned, the Angels came out smiling and MINORITY REPORT is not only the best SF film of the year, itвЂ™s also probably the most intelligent and thought-provoking future thriller since BLADE RUNNER. It was either going to be a marriage made in Heaven or it was going to be Hell on Earth.

Steven Spielberg, the most over-rated film-maker of his generation, whose last genre outing was the mawkish and exasperatingly-overlong AI and the pompous Tom Cruise who recently dabbled with fantasy film in the sprawling and flawed VANILLA SKY. The omens really werenвЂ™t good for this one.

Minority report movie script