The Movie
The great Steven Spielberg's forays into science fiction have surely been uneven, from the highs of Close Encounters to the lows of A.I., and somewhere in the middle sits the big-budget murder thriller Minority Report, extensively adapted and expanded from Philip K. Dick's original short story. The future of law enforcement is on full display in Washington, D.C., 2054 A.D., as the "Precrime" unit employs a trio of precognitives who predict in detail crimes that are about to be committed. Cops are dispatched, ideally catching the would-be killer in the act, lives are saved and justice is served. And now this methodology is about to be approved and implemented nationwide.
But what if there were a flaw in the system? Precrime is already a political morass, but one of the three precogs has apparently dissented in the official predictions more than once, resulting a "minority report," only to have her confidence-shattering opinions buried by someone's secret order. And with the entire program on the brink of success/failure, that same someone will commit murder, and frame Precrime's top agent to protect what he believes in. The story doesn't always make sense, the dialogue might induce occasional eye-rolling, and the movie can be a little too in love with its own sci-fi "wow" factor, but a cast headed by mega-star Tom Cruise and featuring Oscar nominees as diverse as Max von Sydow and Samantha Morton do their part to keep this big, busy future grounded in humanity.
The Picture
Shot in the Super 35 film process, Minority Report suffers from a surprising amount of twitchy grain in this new director-approved 2.35:1 transfer, particularly in the backgrounds, or in atmospherically smoky scenes. The lighting is distinctive, sometimes harsh, with a deliberately bland palette. The ILM digital special effects are bold in their scope, but often look soft, despite a high video bitrate typically ranging from 30 to 40 megabits per second, owing to the complete lack of extras on Disc One and the limited audio/subtitle options.
The Sound
The sound design for this specific version of the future is aggressive, and ambitious. Targeted voices bombard us from all around in the train station of tomorrow as proactive electronic advertisements give us a hard sell. Action-wise, there are terrific moments as when a team of policemen smashes through a glass skylight from above, or longer sequences of a jetpack chase that segues to a fight on a working auto assembly line, plus wicked stun guns that shoot low-frequency sound waves. It all receives ample bass reinforcement, for an engrossing, highly enjoyable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix.
The Extras
Over an hour of new high-definition bonuses has been woven into Disc Two, where all of the extras are located. Chief among them is an elaborate Bonus View presentation, "The Future According to Steven Spielberg: An Interactive guide to Minority Report." It's a vintage 2002 interview, 34 minutes if watched straight through, which breaks away to storyboards and concept art, interviews with cast and crew, and behind-the-scenes footage/stills via onscreen indicators that are updated as the chat progresses and the 18 topics change. This is a combination of new Blu-ray material in HD and previously released SD content.
The additional HD featurettes include "Inside the World of Precrime," "Philip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg and Minority Report," "Minority Report: Future Realized," "Minority Report: Props of the Future," "Highlights from Minority Report: From the Set," "Minority Report: Commercials of the Future" and Previz Sequences, each focusing on a specific aspect of the production." Recycled SD featurettes include the two-part "From Story to Screen," the five-part "Deconstructing Minority Report," the three-part "Stunts of Minority Report," the six-part "ILM and Minority Report," "Final Report" and three Storyboard Sequences, plus 13 groups of still-frame Production Concepts.
Final Thoughts
Neither Spielberg's best nor his worst, Minority Report is a slightly long but still engaging murder mystery with some interesting comments on where our culture might be headed and some memorable imagery and visual effects. The video does not impress as much as the audio, but the new HD/Bonus View extras should entice the majority of fans.
Product Details
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