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Minority Report

Old 12-06-02, 10:04 PM
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Minority Report

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/379/379540p1.html

Old 12-07-02, 02:51 AM
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Here is another review:

http://www.upcomingdiscs.com/dvd_rev...re=date_posted
Old 12-15-02, 03:41 PM
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Any word from anyone on how "Minority Report" decodes into 6.1 since it's not an "official" mix?
Old 12-20-02, 04:01 PM
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My review

Well, this is my first post here. Tell me if you guys like this or not.

MINORITY REPORT

The Movie

Minority Report, to me, is Spielberg's best film, in addition is Tom Cruise's best film. What isn't this film missing that makes great films? Acting? Check, and damn fine performances. Everyone in this film plays their roles very well. Character development? Yup, that's here as well. Plot? That's also among the non-absent.

The year is 2054 and murder is stopped before it can happen, thanks to the Pre-Cognitives, or "Pre-Cogs". Pre-Crime Cop John Anderton is acused of a murder he's to commit in "less that 36 hours." Anderton sets out to prove his innocence, and in the mean time, we are presented a grand piece of cinema. The future perceived here isn't too far away. No question this was the best film of the summer, and I think it's second best of the year, next to Two Towers. Kudos to Spielberg, ILM, Tom Cruise, and the entire cast and crew of this film. Your work sure as hell paid off.

10 out of 10

The Video

This was my first time encountering the 2.39:1 ratio and what is known as the "Kaminski Effect". And I must say, both didn't bother me one bit. Yeah, this transfer is a bit grainy, but as Spielberg says on Disc 2, it's supposed to look like that. The colors are handled very well and the darks are handled even better. That's good, considering most this film has many a dark spots. As for the "Kaminski Effect", I thought it made the film shine on DVD. But like I've said, maybe I'm just blind.
9 out of 10

The Audio

Need a DVD to show off your new sound system, but your pal or gal doesn't want to hear the horrid dialoge of Episode II or sit through Fellowship for over 3 hours. Then Minority Report is your ticket. The "sonic-shotgun" scene sounds amazing, as does the "MagLev" and every other scene here. John Williams score is as powerful as ever, and dialoge is clear as a whistle. Nice job DreamWorks. Minority Report is presented in DTS 5.1 Surrond and Dobly Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Surrond.

10 out of 10

The Extras

Here is where I didn't expect much on this DVD, and I would have been happy with just an awesome presentation. Then I actually popped in disc 2 and was very impressed with the features. "From Story to Screen" is the first up, and features two sub-menus, "The Story: The Debate" and "The Players". The first is a great featurette on how the script guys adapted the short story. "The Players" features all the cast talking about their specific roles. Our next sub-menu is "Deconstructing Minority Report" and goes in-depth to how aspects of the films came to be. First up here is "The World Of Minority Report-An Introduction" features Sir Stevie discussing the gathering of scientists and futurists to get the movie to look like our world will in 52 years. Also mentioned here is how the film has the "washed out" look. John Williams has some interesting comments here for us as well. "Precrime and Precogs" is next, and gives us look at the development of the Precrime station. It then moves on to tell us how the Precogs were designed, and ends with Spielberg explaining the development and works of all the sweet gadgets in the film(i.e. - the jetpack and the sonic shotgun). "The Spyder Sequence" is next, and is a great featurette on how that scene came to be. The featurette boasts a nice breakdown of the sequence and shows CGI shots of when the spyders where in development. John Williams gives us insight on why he made the music like he did. Kaminski also goes into how he handled the overhead shots, and how challenging they were to get done. "Precog Visions" goes on to tell us how the Precog murder visions where done, a la Imaginary Forces(who did the best opening credits ever, Seven). The final featurette here is "Vehicles of the Future" and tells all about vehicles in the film. We see early MagLev CGI and designs of those cars. You then see concept art, early CGI, and behind-the-scenes footage. The next section is "The Stunts of Minority Report", and it covers "The MagLev Escape", "Hovercraft Chase", and "Car Factory". All three feature excellent depictions of their scenes and are worthy of a look. Next sub-menu is "ILM and Minority Report" and it kicks off with "An Introduction". Here we learn Tom Cruise had to act against something that wasn't there and ILM geeks tell us Spielberg always had insight to the effects. "Holograms" hits first, and covers how John's holograms of Lara and Sean came to be. Here, ILM tells how they had difficulty creating the effect. Next is "Hall of Containment", and shows how that wild, but cool sequence came to be. We move on to "Hovercraft & Hoverpacks" that gives a nice view on how the Hovercraft was made, as well as the Hoverpacks used in the "chase" sequence. Pretty much all you see is real, but they tell how ILM added the backgrounds. "Cyber-Parlor" is last, and shows us how actors were filmed in front a green screen, then placed digitally back with the actors who were in the parlor. "Final Report" is a discussion with Spielberg and Cruise on their expirence working with each other and closes with the DVD credits. Nice way to end these featurettes. The next menu is "Archives" and kicks off with "Production Concepts". Here we see galleries of art for the following: "Precrime", "Hovership", "Hoversuit", "Hall of Containment", "Spyders", "Precog", "Cyberparlor", "Buildings and Architecture", "Roadway Systems", "Vehicles", "City Apartment", "Greenhouse Plants", and "Objects". Storyboards for the "MagLev Sequence", "Alley Chase", and "Car Factory". Next here are "Storyboard Sequences" and it shows storyboards for "MagLev Sequence", "Alley Chase", and "Car Factory". Some of the art here is pretty nice. Following are "Trailers" which has the movie trailers and Activision Game trailer, "Cast" is info on them, as is "Filmakers" and "Production Notes" is exactly that. Special mention to the menus, which are very, very kickass. A commentary is absent, but these features all but make up for it. I want to give this part a 10, but I feel the animatics that were on the website should have been included. So, as much as it will pain me, I have to go with a 9.
9 out of 10

Overall

The movie is still one of my favorites of the year, and the DVD is one of my faves as well. The presentation is awesome, and the extras are better than I expected. I dunno what else to say here except you need to pick this set up. Since our BTTF DVDs are screwed, take your $40 and get this. Not only do you save $20, but you get a damn nice DVD as well. Highly, highly recommended.

DVD Overall Rating - 9.5
Old 12-21-02, 07:51 PM
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Halofan1 your hired

great review and keep them coming,

tommy
Old 12-21-02, 11:33 PM
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Thanks for the feedback man. I have more DVD reviews, I just need to know how to make new posts.
Old 12-21-02, 11:49 PM
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Halofan1,
Just click on the "New Thread" Button it looks like this =>

Last edited by DAC; 12-21-02 at 11:53 PM.
Old 12-22-02, 12:04 AM
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Thats the thing though, my browser doesn't show it for some ****ed up reason.
Old 12-27-02, 07:51 AM
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I thought this was a good movie. Well worth my $13 bucks.
Old 12-27-02, 01:55 PM
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Kaminski effect is?

Originally posted by Halofan1
Well, this is my first post here. Tell me if you guys like this or not.


This was my first time encountering the 2.39:1 ratio and what is known as the "Kaminski Effect".

Can you please explain what this is? I did a search here but other than identifying him as cinematographer, I can't find anything that says what you mean specifically by this...
Old 12-27-02, 03:36 PM
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Voila, do a google search and look at what you can get:

http://www.cameraguild.com/awards/kaminski.html

or for those who don't want to follow the link:

"Those who think cinematography is simply the mechanical act of capturing an image on film have never spoken with a cinematographer. Or more precisely, a cinematographer with heart," said two time Oscar winning cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, ASC.

Kaminski came to America from his native Poland in the 1980s. His association with Steven Spielberg began after the 1989 airing of Wildflower, a Lifetime television movie he photographed for Diane Keaton. Spielberg hired him to shoot the television production Class of '61. Since then he has added to his list of credits the Oscar-winning Schindler's List, The Adventures of Huck Finn, Tall Tale, Little Giants, How to Make and American Quilt, Jerry Maguire, the Oscar-nominated Amistad and The Lost World.

Kaminski's collaboration with Spielberg on Saving Private Ryan included discovering different visual textures with an imaginative mix of camera films, lab processes and specialized techniques, such as "deconstruction of the slickness that you usually get with modern lenses" – in Spielberg's words.

Kaminski achieved that look by stripping the coatings off the lenses. He also flashed the film and used the Technicolor ENR process to alter contrast. Spielberg wanted deeply saturated colors, an idea he attributes to watching 16mm Signal Corps Ekatachrome footage documenting the invasion of France by the Allies.

"We wanted to create the illusion that there were several combat cameramen landing with the troops at Normandy," Kaminski said in an American Cinematographer interview. "… We succeeded in emulating the look of that footage for the invasion scenes… with both camera tricks and other technological means."

Lenses in 1940 were technically inferior to today's, so Kaminski had a set of older Ultra- speeds stripped of their protective coatings to emulate the look of 50 years ago.

"Interestingly, when we analyzed the lenses, the focus and sharpness didn't change very much, though there was some deterioration; what really changed was the contrast and color rendering. The contrast became much flatter. Without the coatings, the light enters the lens and bounces all around, so the images become kind of foggy but still sharp. Also, it's much easier to get flares, which automatically diffuses the light and the colors to a degree and lends a little haze to the image."

Kaminski would often mismatch the lenses if he had two cameras running, using one with coated Ultra-speeds and one with stripped lenses. That lent a certain lack of continuity in picture quality, suggesting an appropriate disjointedness.

Kaminski and his crew shot many feet of film with the camera shutter set at 45 or 90 degrees, a technique that was especially effective in filming explosions. Every particle of blasted sand seems to be visible. The idea, which was born in pre-production testing, helped to create a sense of reality and urgency.

Another technique was borrowed from cinematographer Douglas Milsome, BSC, who also used it in an epic war film, Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. The camera's shutter is thrown out of sync to create a streaking effect from the top of the frame to the bottom. It's another way to enhance realism by giving the images the less-than-perfectly controlled look of actual battle footage.

Kaminski, who recently completed his directorial debut for New Line Cinemas—the supernatural thriller, Lost Souls, said he hopes to now switch between directing and being a director of photography.

Next Kaminski is going to partner up with Spielberg again in the shooting of Minority Report starring Tom Cruise and Bill Condon.

Kaminski graduated from Columbia College in Chicago, then went on to the American Film Institute in Washington, D.C. He is married to actress Holly Hunter.
Old 12-27-02, 09:04 PM
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Rented it and watched on Christmas night.

Much better than I thought it would be. I guess about 75% of the plot (I do that to most thrillers), but it was really cool movie.

Great rental, very good buy if you find a good deal ($13 or below).
Old 12-31-02, 12:32 AM
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Maybe it's just me, but the "extras" on disc two seemed light and promotional in nature.

When you compare them to really good docs, such as "The Beginning" on the Phantom Menace DVD, or the new touchstone LOTR:TFOTR:EE 2-disc 6-hour documentary, well, the Minority Report extras seem a bit anemic.

The ILM bits were interesting but not in-depth (compare with the extras even on Jurassic Park, for instance), the interviews were short and self-congratulatory (or Cruise complimenting Spielberg, and vice versa), and overall the entire second disc felt like a long commercial.

I wish they went a little deeper into the aspects of the story and characters. I would've liked to have *seen* the "brain trust" they interviewed to discuss the future technology, and it would have been really nice to have spent more time with the underrated Kaminski.

It's a shame, because this film is an instant-classic, and deserves better, IMHBAO.

I've already *bought* the disc. I don't need to be sold on it. You had me at "hello."


-- Jough
Old 12-31-02, 12:49 AM
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where are you guys finding this movie for 13 dollars? Where's the best place I can find it for at the moment?
Old 12-31-02, 08:53 AM
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A little off topic, but I'm having the same problem as Halofan1.

There are no icons anywhere for me. I've even tried it in Netscape as well. I can't see if a thread is locked, I can't jump to the last post in a thread and I can't start a new thread. I can see the smiley faces and stuff within the text, but there is no functionality on a post either. I can't edit a post or click on someones user information. This just started about a month ago. I can't seem to fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Old 01-03-03, 01:08 AM
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Originally posted by chsidwel
A little off topic, but I'm having the same problem as Halofan1.

There are no icons anywhere for me. I've even tried it in Netscape as well. I can't see if a thread is locked, I can't jump to the last post in a thread and I can't start a new thread. I can see the smiley faces and stuff within the text, but there is no functionality on a post either. I can't edit a post or click on someones user information. This just started about a month ago. I can't seem to fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
You have to turn your ad blocker off. The owner put the icons on his ad server so that in order to actually use the forum for anything other than browsing, you must let his ads through. I know a few people that weren't going to frequent due to the "screwy message board" (as they put it) until I told them what they had to do.
Old 01-03-03, 09:22 AM
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Wow, I didn't even know I had an ad blocker. How do I disable it? I looked under the advanced setting under internet options on IE, but didn't see anything. Please help. Thanks.
Old 01-03-03, 10:51 AM
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My ad blocker blocks the ads but still lets the icons through. I think mine works by both size and type. Pretty slick, I guess. And a little annoying of the site owners, eh?

-- Jough
Old 01-04-03, 08:37 PM
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Did we watch the same movie??

I rented this movie and thought it was ridiculous and predictable and borring!

It also had some STUPID attempts at humor:
Spoiler:
'O NO my eyeballs are rolling away!', 'O NO dont eat the bad sandwich--O NO not the spoiled milk too!', HA HA the hacker guy is afraid the precog will know about his lustful thoughts!


It also had plot holes and dead ends:
Spoiler:
for example the eye doctor has a grudge against the main character...o wait no he dosnt, what a nice guy (???). If he takes off his eye bandages HE WILL GO BLIND! O wait no its ok if you shine a light into it to scan it, you wont go blind after all. (???) Even silly animated flowers for no reason at all--is the lady a psychiatrist working with precogs or is she a biologist engineering plants with special powers? The 'Harry Potter' magical plants seem to be there just 'because they can' make them with CGI. Also, gee the subway train can alert the police where John is but when he uses his eyeball to access restricted areas (which he still has athority for??) no alarm is triggered??!! Plot holes a mile wide! Even when his wife used his eyeball after his arrest!! Even the Sci-fi channel has better continuity. The Precogs-- HEY DONT touch them! They're special and dont respond to people theyre not really like humans ok hmmm well gee when he took her out of her special sauce, that one girl only suffered from being cold and walking like shes drunk. Give me a break either they need to be in the soup or they dont, they didnt even need a plug into thier nervous system (ala matrix) the hacker guy can just stick electrodes on her skin and download. This is plot for the dumb.



and it hammerd home lots of plot that had already been revealed by other characters. There were so many "AHA! bet you didnt see that coming!" moments that of course had already been revealed in the previous scenes. The FX were old hat. Lots borrowed from Blade Runner or Fifth Element.

This movie couldnt end soon enough for me.

Last edited by Save Ferris; 01-04-03 at 08:56 PM.
Old 01-05-03, 03:41 PM
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Well, Im not good at reviews so Im not goin to try to get indepth with one, but I did think it was a very good film. Pretty much kept me on my toes the entire time. Cruz gave a great performance. I have yet to check out the extras but will soon. It did have some ring to The Fifth Element, but only slightly due to the female cog (sp?). All in all a great film in which many of my friends enjoyed.

Actually, I did not notice any real attempts at humor, did not think they were trying to attempt any.

Save Ferris- you must have a little pre-cog in you to know what the future scenes were gonna reveal.
Old 01-05-03, 04:02 PM
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It reflected Fifth Element because of the futuristic city and traffic scenes i think also.

It pounded home lots of the plot several times in case we missed it the first time
Spoiler:
like the 'echos' of the murder kind of thing. The 'bad guy' was presented with the *full* explanation of his crime 2 times at least--very sloppy editing.
It just seemd to me several times where there was supposed to be a 'surprise' and it came off being underwhelming.

The 'humor' elements seemed to be genuine attempts at humor because (if i remember correctly) of the music cues. Check this if u have the DVD. I seem to remember cartoony 'waah waah's' and loopy music. (no really!)

o yea another plot hole:
Spoiler:
Ok the bad guy put the body of the FBI guy in tom cruises apartment to look like cruise killed him... HOW? Wasnt his apartment being staked out? Did this old man drag the FBI guy out of his home and carry him into a monitored apartment? Its just silly to try to make that fit. Besides, wasnt cruises gun admitted as evidence after shooting the first guy? Every cop on the case would know Cruise didnt have his gun after that first shooting! Who wrote/edited this schlock??
Old 01-05-03, 05:01 PM
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Aight, when I watch it again I'll keep an eye out for all of this.
Old 01-05-03, 07:06 PM
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Well, just to address a few things...

Spoiler:

The "fed" guy (Colin Ferrel?) had Anderton's gun in his posession from the crime scene (although I don't know why it wouldn't be turned in to the evidence room - after all, it was the "murder weapon."

Secondly, the fed guy called the "boss guy" to Anderton's apartment - so he didn't have to move the body anywhere - it was already there.

Yes, a little too "neat." Also, how in the world did Anderton still have access? As a network administrator, it's so easy, even with Windows NT, to suspend an account. Is security that bad in the future?

Also, I've a feeling those screens and the holo projector is going to look very quaint and old fashioned when 50 years time has really passed. Some of that future technology isn't really that far away.
Old 01-08-03, 02:24 PM
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yes where do you find it for $13 ?? (first week sale?)
Old 01-08-03, 03:34 PM
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Just got my copy, it is AMAZING. I still love the movie just as much as my first viewing back in June. I checked out some of the extras, they're great as well. Still my pick for best of 2002. Highly reccomended.
And I've noticed the John Williams score much more this time, it's underrated in my opinion.

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