Crime

Drama

Science Fiction

Thriller

Strange Days

Lightstorm Entertainment

United States of America

English

Ralph Fiennes

Angela Bassett

Juliette Lewis

Tom Sizemore

Michael Wincott

Vincent D'Onofrio

Glenn Plummer

Brigitte Bako

Richard Edson

William Fichtner

Josef Sommer

Joe Urla

Nicky Katt

Michael Jace

Louise LeCavalier

David Carrera

Jim Ishida

Todd Graff

Malcolm Norrington

Anais Munoz

Ted Haler

Rio Hackford

Brook Susan Parker

Brandon Hammond

Donald 'Donnie' Young

B.J. Crockett

Dex Elliott Sanders

Ronnie Willis

David Packer

Paulo Tocha

J. Michael Muro

Ron Young

Art Chudabala

Erica Kelly

Marlana Young

Ray Chang

Raul Reformina

Chris Douridas

Billie Worley

Amon Bourne

Lisa Picotte

Kylie Ireland

Dru Berrymore

Stefan Arngrim

Agustin Rodriguez

Kelly Hu

Nynno Anderson

Liat Goodson

Honey Labrador

Delane Vaughn

Mark Arneson

James Acheson

John Francis

Zoot

Royce L. Minor

Milan Reynolds

Russell W. Smith

Sarah Abukutsa Marshall

Russell Hines

Michael Jaasi

Maurice Marshall

Carolyn Adunni McPherson

Jennifer Reeves

Charmain Renata Hubbard

Reginald T. Thornton

Chester A. Whitmore

Lori Simone Wilkerson

Justin Armao

Ed Arneson

Yan Birch

Andrew Calder

Carlos Campos

Jaime H. Campos

Louis Campos

Robert 'Duckie' Carpenter

Dian Childs

John Daniels

Gregory Diamond

Sebastian Feldman

Masaaki Fujimori

Annette Goodman

T.J Jones

Johnny Kim

Gianluca Lazzaroni

Joe Martinez

Me Phi Me

Raja Gemini

Tom Tom Typhoon

Peter Wick

Colin O'Herlihy

Michael Satterfield

Skin

Paul Malinowski

Duane Trower

Steve Tulipana

Heidi Miller

Jay Cocks

Ellen Mirojnick

John Warnke

James Cameron

Lilly Kilvert

Kathryn Bigelow

Matthew F. Leonetti

Steven-Charles Jaffe

Kara Lindstrom

Graeme Revell

Melissa M. Thomas

Sharon Bialy

Linda Grimes

Debi Manwiller

Richard Pagano

Eric Chambers

Al Goto

Keith Campbell

Marian Green

Christopher Warren

Henry Kingi Jr.

Patricia M. Peters

Albert Cho

Jeff Evans

Debbie Evans

Steve Danton

Ira Shuman

Sam Hoffman

Mike Gunther

Suzanne C. Geiger

Dick Hancock

Paul E. Short

Eliza Coleman

Deborah La Mia Denaver

Sonja Davis

James Turner Jr.

Cheryl Scarano

Pamela Alch

Laura Connolly

Terilyn A. Shropshire

Danny Epper

Denise Lynne Roberts

Chino Binamo

Stevie Lazo

Ann Culotta

John Alden

Georgina Williams

Anna Southall

Mark Sayles

Gary J. Wayton

Gilbert S. Hernandez

Bill Babington

Marietta Carter-Narcisse

Robert L. Stevenson

Edward Poveda

Deborah Hopper

Peggy Schnitzer

Brett A. Jones

Hubie Kerns Jr.

Jimmy Ortega

Will Leong

Kira Tashjian

Christian J. Fletcher

Don Ruffin

Monty L. Simons

Jeff Mosley

Gary Guercio

Brian J. Williams

Lynn Salvatori

Ericka Bryce

Paul M. Lane

Eddie L. Watkins

Kim Kahana Jr.

J. Mark Donaldson

Jim Stephan

John Casino

Christopher 'Critter' Antonucci

Gene LeBell

Jennifer Caputo

Larry Holt

Barbara Anne Klein

Howard E. Smith

Christopher Amy

Kenneth D. Collins

Mark Hansson

Richard Dalton

Philip C. Pfeiffer

Eddie Matthews

Rebecca Strickland

Brian Ripley

Donald Frazee

Donald Myers

Milos Twilight

Harrison Zanuck

Richard L. Blackwell

Jeffrey Eith

Filipe Manuel Neto

**A sci-fi dystopia with a good political conspiracy plot in a film that cinema preferred to forget.**

I think I've seen at least twenty films about the Millennium where times are shown with great pessimism. In this specific case, the end of the millennium is a time of social and political chaos, in which society moves without a clear direction, given over to fleeting pleasures and criminal acts. And in the midst of all the dissolution of morals and values, a mechanism emerges that allows the recording of the memories and sensations of the person who uses it, leading to a black market in illicit recordings of crimes, sex and controversial acts: thus, a man who never stole, killed or cheated on his wife can experience all of this without necessarily having to do so. But what happens when a recording keeps evidence of a murder?

The film has qualities, and presents a story that mixes sci-fi, political thriller and a little romance, in a mix that has aged very well, even though we are now firmly into the millennium. The project began around 1985, and is one of the few results of the partnership (professional and loving) between Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron. He had the ideas for the script, and she assures us of the elegant direction, the impactful and suitably dark cinematography, effective visual and special effects and a costume and set design strongly influenced by punk and metal aesthetics. The film was named after a song by the “Doors”, and was a huge critical and commercial failure. Therefore, everyone involved preferred to forget it.

I can't help but consider the oblivion as unfair: it's not a perfect film, the story is too complex, it seems too stilted, like a hot air balloon, and it's excessively long (less than thirty minutes of dead scenes would have made things more dynamic). However, it is an immersive film that addresses, in some depth, people's appreciation for superficial pleasures and ways to escape a cruel and oppressive reality. This is still a very topical issue, as is the whole plot surrounding excessive police violence. And finally, I need to highlight the quality of the “first person” footage, when the mechanism is used, and we see things through the character's eyes.

Ralph Fiennes gives us one of the most complex and interesting dramatic works of his career, making the most of his character's multiplicity of contradictory feelings and emotions. Angela Bassett also shone in this film, in an intense and action-packed role. Juliette Lewis does a pretty decent job, especially when she sings, but I can't help but consider that the actress's nudity is somewhat gratuitous and exaggerated, perhaps to sexualize the character. Michael Wincott is an effective villain.

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Strange Days

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Ralph Fiennes

Angela Bassett

Juliette Lewis

Tom Sizemore

Michael Wincott

Vincent D'Onofrio

Glenn Plummer

Brigitte Bako

Richard Edson

William Fichtner

Box office

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